LETTER | When handing out government aid, it is common for leaders to call on the people to be grateful.

Being grateful is indeed a virtue. Those who are not grateful to the Almighty would never be satisfied with what they have.

We should also be grateful to our fellow human beings, particularly those who have gone out of their way to help others, such as donating their money or time to help the less fortunate.

Likewise, politicians voted in to serve the people should be grateful to the electorate. Instead, many called on the rakyat to be grateful to the government because it has the power to give or deny aid.

All along, I thought it was the duty of the government and elected leaders to serve the nation and rakyat.

Asking the people to be grateful means the rakyat were granted favours, which could be withdrawn or discontinued from those who are ungrateful.

As such, the rakyat should re-elect only members of Parliament and state assemblyperson who have shown gratefulness by serving the nation and their electorate, not those that lord over them.

Winning elections should be just the means to serve the people and not the passport to gain power or popularity with equally selfish supporters.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.