Today is the first anniversary of the political tsunami that hit Malaysia. There are plenty of lessons our politicians should have been learned by now but in many cases, especially the Umno politicians, they are still in denial mode. Every thing has still remained the same after one year. In some cases, they have become even more insular and racist, believing that the race card is the only way to win back the votes. They have failed to notice that in many protests, it is the Malays who are out in the front, not the Chinese and Indians. In past elections, it was the non-Malays who threw the lifeline to Umno because they could not accept PAS.
For the Pakatan Rakyat, the loafty principles which they preached have been compromised by them long ago. They pushed for mass defections and hope to seize a democratically elected government. So, they set the Sept 16 deadline and many were indeed fooled into believing. A year later, the patch work has surfaced as in Penang, where below par politicians were put into offices and they seemed unable to live up to expectations. In Perak, two PKR exco members were arrested for corruption. In the case of Elizabeth Wong, the theory has continued that she was a victim of internal politics. But is this all important when the financial tsunami is coming our way? See my column on what the politicians have ignored.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
"In past elections, it was the non-Malays who threw the lifeline to Umno because....."
How very true Dato Wong, only you have twisted the half truth that Chinese and Indians are afraid of PAS. It is more correct to say, these are the 'ZHOU GUO' of UMNO need I say more Dato?
Obviously, you have lost touch with the sentiments of ordinary Chinese and Indians today.
History shows that many empires, and even modern day governments, fall during economic downturns. So it may be inevitable that BN will get swept away during this financial crisis. Our prayers for the fall of will be answered, maybe not in the way that we had in mind, unfortunately. And it is not just in Malaysia. The fall of the republicans in the USA came about with a backdrop of a financial crisis too. The thing too fear is that, there will be people in authority that may be going on an all out dash to fill their pockets before the crash. Well, nobody said that change will come without some pain. You either get a slow rot and slow death, or else you get a sudden death with a big turmoil, before rising from the ash again.
ASHtoASH
What financial tsunami?
The Malaysians are still in slumberland. They may all think it is just one big wet dream, and they will wake up to a sunny day. And who is to blame? Our PM, DPM and the Ministry of Finance have been telling the Malaysians over and over again for the past 12 months that Malaysia was insulated, and there will be positive growth. And the main media, STAR, NST etc played their part in repeating that propaganda. Yes the stupid Malaysian people were lulled into slumberland and are totally unprepared for the recession. The government has done NOTHING. And even the recent half-cooked plans are a joke. All the energy had gone into intra-party elections as well as power grabs and sabotage of the opposition held states. Even today, it is all still about getting the pork barrel rather than saving the Malaysian economy. God have mercy on us all.
Brilliant, disguising yr article as 'neutral' while bashing PR, old habits and loyalties die hard... and I am not a PR supporter by the way.
dear Datuk Seri Wong,
my oh my, how much a day could change a man, or a man's perspective.
earlier you are so visionary about PPSMI, the next day, u point your finger at the ultra UMNOs?
why? someone upset about the earlier piece about PPSMI and demanded some balance?
tough job.
anyway, correct me if i am wrong, Datuk Seri, that i think in a democratic and liberal society, everyone deserves an equal chance to speak and express their opinion, regardless of race. i am saying this because typical Malaysian would always think within their racial and religious perspective, no matter how liberal they claim they are.
not your fault.
in another words, if Chinese can openly criticise Malays, then the Chinese should also accept the fact that they will also hear something nasty from the Malays. or Indian balun Chinese, then Chinese balun balik, and it goes on and on and on...
the only advantage is, average chinese and indian can read Malays, while majority Malays can't read mandarin or Tamil. so chances are, non-Malays will always feel that they were abused, or verbally abused, by the Malays, and Malays will never understand why everytime non-Malays read the Utusan, they get angry at Malays.
"hey, paper Melayu cakap pasai isu orang Melayu, salah ke?", Ali wondered.
how about Sin Chew or Nanyang or China Press starting to have license for bilingual version, you know, bulat bulat translate what was written in Mandarin, and let see how the Malays would feel.
i say man, kalau kita nak berlaku adil, maka lets do it on even playing field, language wise. start from there and see where we would end up.
the truth is, it is a cynical world and everyone think they have the right to balun people, but when people balun back, they started to cry foul and felt hurt.
"Mama, Ali meh wa", Siew Mei cried.
so, tsunami no tsunami, Malaysians will find a way to settle down. We have been blessed for so many years now, it is only safe to assume that God will test us at one particular point to see how we much we have learnt from the pass lessons.
If we fail, we fail. be it BN gov or PR gov, Malay gov or non-Malay gov.
lets look beyond what the politicians have ignored, lets start by looking at ourselves and think what we have ignored.
best wishes Datuk Seri Wong.
regards,
a mandarin-spoken Chinese who read your latest piece and become very confused.
my name, is CW, dont mind telling.
For The election of Umno all Malysian have stake , the delegates must choose based on meritocracy and what good for Malaysia
Malaysia need a credible team of Najib-Muhyiddin to lead us to face the financial tsunami , other jokers
not accepted....Malaysia have to speak ..the problem is today not 5 yrs from now....
UMNO had been and still are the party governing Malaysia, abetted by the other BN components. Therefore any fault in the way the country is run has to be attributed to UMNO. Let's not pass the buck to Pakatan Rakyat. You can blame them when they are running the country, and I am sure there will be many occasions when we can throw bricks at PR. But meanwhile the crap is on the shoulders of UMNO/BN.
WHERETHEBUCKSTOPS
I am Chinese Malaysian, and non-Muslim. But, NO, I am not afraid of PAS. PAS talks about banning liquor, gamabling, and curbing the night clubs. I am OK with that. But I am not OK with UMNO/BN's corruption, ISA, SA, OSA, sabotaging or PR-governed states, abuses of the NEP, cronyism, etc. Of course there is no guarantee that PR will be any better if it comes into power. But it is important to have a balance of power with a two-party democracy. And it is important to have PR take over the country to uncover all the dirt that are currently covered up by BN. It is good to have two parties taking turns to govern Malaysia, so that dirt gets uncovered quickly and the guilty people punished accordingly. Power must be restored to the people.
CITIZEN
Politics will always be politics. You are right that in some cases, they have become even more insular and racist - this is always the convenient card to play when one is thrown into the corner. A convenient smokescreen to cover up larger more insiduous issues.....the economy being one of them.
You are correct to point that out!
I am not a supporter of BN and acknowledge that PR has yet to be tested. But there are too many wrongs that have been allowed to continue under the current administration that the average rakyat can only gawk at and shake their heads in disbelief.
We are in for difficult times and our policy makers continue to squabble. As a taxpayer, I am deeply saddened by this. What I am worried about is that the resources of our nation will continue to be misused and channelled into the pockets of the very people appointed to be custodians of public funds.
The country is a mess - and watching the UMNO general assembly and the money politics that is so rampant the rakyat can't see how things will improve unless there is a drastic change?
Good governance, accountability and nipping corruption in the bud....
That is what the rakyat is talking about and you are right that no one is listening.....
CW,
Seemed it is so easy for you to comment about Penang's issues under PR govt. do you expect 18 years of accumulated rubbish to be cleanED up withIN less than a year. Considering after PR formed the state government many documents were 'stolen'... i would like to use a better word but i can'T find it. Missing files - definitely not!! If you think some of the PR leaders are not at par, then what can u do to advice or help instead of just sitting from your desk and REPORT like a junior reporter. Common Datuk Seri ...you can do better if that is your lastest title and being a Penangnite, be REASONABLE in what you write or is it NORM of the media like what that has been reported in NST about the Penang CM!!! Speak the truth, and the truth set you free! wonder this verse is in the bible, an add on to REAP WHAT U SOW...
Post a Comment