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“You were right to tell the teacher about the boy who you saw cheating... You should understand the rights of a prime minister (PM)... Good healthcare should be a right and not a privilege”.

Notice the difference?

I think that is the beauty of the English language. It is so appealing and look at the 19th century literature. It is outrageously beautiful.

Understanding the difference between ‘individual rights’ and government-provided ‘privileges’ is as important as understanding the difference between freedom and slavery. A right is defined as an entitlement and it is totally different from a privilege. Privilege, on the other hand is a peculiar benefit, advantage or favour and can be revoked because they are conditional.

It is perplexing why a VIP wants people to understand the rights of a PM before raising questions and said it was the privilege of the PM to use a private jet for official or unofficial visits.

At a time of declining economic growth and budget cuts on health, education and everything else, it does not seem appropriate for, out of all things, non-official overseas expenditures to be borne by the government.

For readers’ information, the PM at the National Export Council (NEC) meeting in February last year directed the relevant authorities to promote domestic tourism aggressively to encourage Malaysians to spend their holidays locally. “This will reduce the outflow of the ringgit and increase local economic activities,” he said after chairing the meeting.

Further, are we not operating under the Westminster parliamentary system? In the United Kingdom even the funding of the Royal Household is subject to the same audit scrutiny as other government expenditures via the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee.

It is also uncalled for, especially for a leader and after a new year just started, to call people stupid. This does not augur well in our march towards developed nation status.

We should be reminded of the PM’s new year message where he spoke about a commitment to good governance and looking forward to 2050 National Transformation policy (TN50). A nation we aspire to be by the middle of this century. A nation confident in ourselves, celebrating our diversity, proud of our successes, and always looking to ensure that all our brothers and sisters are fully part of this great journey that Malaysia is on.

I do hope the PM can remind all his subordinates on his 2017 new year message that we are all brothers and sisters. And hopefully they will listen and abide.

What say you...

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