Most Read
Most Commented
Read more like this
mk-logo
From Our Readers

I just hope the general election will be over and done with soon.

Almost every day we get to read in the mainstream and alternative media on how the political parties and their upstarts are trying their level best to market themselves as the true representatives of the people.

However, the big question is, are they? Many are in it for the perks that come with the job. They will not admit it but certainly their lifestyles and those of their immediate family members show otherwise.

Very rarely would you come across a former minister or state exco member who is "poor" and without a prefix to his or her own name.

Unfortunately for some of them, when their houses are broken into by thieves, photographs of their palatial homes taken during police investigations are there for the people to see and judge for themselves.

If they were not well off, would the thieves even bother breaking into their homes in the first place?

Of course, there are also some politicians who really work hard to serve their constituents and these representatives are seldom in the limelight unlike their party leaders.

These people have earned their keep and I am sure they will be re-elected if they are re-nominated to stand again.

Any political party would be foolish to lose such hard working representatives of the people for they enhance the image of their respective parties.

Coming back to the impending general election, it is sad that PAS continues to harp on its Islamic agenda when the majority of its members are aware that it is not possible in a multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia.

It is the conservatives in the party that want their minority voices to be heard.

Even Umno never stressed on Malaysia being an Islamic country except for a unilateral declaration by a former prime minister which was his own personal opinion anyway.

Then we have the MCA president beating his war drums wherever he goes in trying to frighten the non-Muslims especially the Chinese electorate that a vote for the opposition coalition is a vote for PAS.

He seems like a very old record repeating events in Perak on how the DAP being the largest party in the state assembly had to surrender the post of menteri besar to PAS.

The people are aware of the reasons and circumstances leading to it, they are not stupid!

The fear syndrome did not work the last time and I doubt it will. Therefore the MCA president had better sing a different tune.

As for PAS intending their president Abdul Hadi Awang to be the next prime minister and the person himself probably saying in jest that it would be "shiok" to be prime minister, I say to them, please don't count your chickens before they are hatched.

Remember how the three Gerakan candidates were jostling to become the next chief minister? The people of Penang showed them the door instead!

Also Hadi should be reminded that he, too, was a one-term menteri besar of Terengganu before his party was dumped by the electorate.

To be a prime minister is not like being a nenteri besar. It is a very heavy responsibility and one has to be an all-rounder and not just specialise in one area of expertise.

I do not question Hadi's credentials as an ulama which I am sure are impeccable but can he or his other ulama in PAS really think they are qualified to be the prime minister of the country?

Can they really handle serious discussions with world leaders and speak English at International forums?

As English continues its free fall from grace in the country due to some flawed education policies which have yet to be arrested, there are already some ministers in the present cabinet who cannot measure up to the current prime minister or our past prime ministers in the command of the English language.

These people would certainly look silly if they can only answer questions posed to them by foreign journalists in monosyllables.

For myself, I have already made up my mind on who to cast my vote for.

It is the fence sitters that needs convincing and I hope by the time they decide they would vote wisely on who they want to be their government for the next five years.

Do not later grumble and curse that you should have voted for the devil you know rather than the devil you did not know. Remember you deserve the government you elected!

ADS