Upon comparing the Lunas by-election with the presidential election of the United States which was held almost at the same time, I am not sure we are practising the right kind of democracy in Malaysia.

First of all, why is BN using the government's money to 'buy' votes by building roads and everything in Lunas? I am not saying building roads in Lunas is a bad thing. But, why was that project embarked on during the campaign period, of all times? Any sane person can see that BN was doing a kind of bribery. Denying it makes it more obvious.

Secondly, I do not see any healthy public debates between the three nominated candidates. Such public debates are vital to let voters know the kind of person they are going to vote. Both BN and BA claim that we should vote for the party instead of the candidate itself. I wonder why we have to do that.

Does it mean that we should choose whatever Tom, Dick and Harry who may not even care about voicing out our concerns at the Parliament or State Assembly? Does it mean that only BN and BA or any political party has the final say on the candidate and the opinions of the voters do not matter? Well, I hope this is not the case.

Any political party should conduct a thorough ground survey before choosing the candidate for their party. Voters are entitled to know their would-be representative at the parliament or states assembly. If we do not know our candidate and what he/she is capable of, why are we voting for him/her anyway?

Thirdly, by-elections and general elections should both be fair. In Lunas case, any donations, contributions or projects should be carried out in the name of each political party, and not the government. If those contributions are done in the name of the government, it would be as if the government is offering bribes to the voters in return for their votes. This in turn puts the opposition in an unfair situation since they do not have access to the taxpayer's money.

In the case of US, each candidate has to raise his/her own fund for campaigning purposes (which lasts about one and half years). The fundraising also reveals if the amount of support the candidate has or needs to win the election.

I believe that if someone has the charisma and the capability to be a leader, many will support him in whatever way possible. It doesn't really matter if he/she has no funds to campaign. At the end of the day, it is up to him to voice out the opinions and wishes of the people he/she is representing.

And that is what we want from our representative. Not politicians who are just good at shouting "reformasi", "human rights", "justice for all" but neglect the people who voted for them in the first place.

I hope all political parties in Malaysia will go back to their most basic objective - to represent the people who chose them, and not carry out their personal political agenda.

To you voters out there, bear in mind, we are the boss. Vote for people whom you think are capable of doing what you think is best for the rakyat . Tell them what we want. Don't expect them to tell us what is best for us. We are the ones that make up the nation, not them.

Patrick