Topple BN to quit smoking

There is a syndrome in Malaysia and it's called the 'Blame BN' syndrome. Those who suffer fom it blame everything under the sky on the ruling coalition.

COMMENT

Why did the chicken cross the road? Because of the racist apartheid policies imposed by the dictatorial, undemocratic regime of Barisan Nasional (BN). The chicken longed and yearned for freedom of speech and democracy, and so it sought greener fields and migrated to Singapore.

Why is there a traffic jam along Jalan Tun Razak on a Saturday night? Why is Bob Lokman having issues with his children? Why don’t Malaysians stop at zebra crossings? Why is PAS against Seksualiti Merdeka? Why is our children so naughty these days? Why did so many PKR MPs leave the party?

Why did Anwar Ibrahim fail in his Sept 16 coup? Why are there so many smokers? Well folks, the answer to your questions lies with BN and all you have to do is to vote against BN in the next general election.

Regardless of policies or manifestos, let us even discount their previous record of governance in the various states; if we can topple BN in the next general election, everything will fall into place – Jalan Tun Razak will be clear of traffic, Bob Lokman will be a better father, PAS will turn liberal and abandon hudud, children will behave, you will become better drivers and through divine intervention on behalf of some holy “Tuan Guru” or “Pemimpin Anugerah Tuhan”, people will stop smoking. Those who still smoke after that are confirmed BN supporters.

Far-fetched? Yes indeed. But if you read some of the comments posted on FMT, or even some of the opinions penned, that is the case.

But allow me to digress, being one of the few columnists (perhaps the only one) who has the tendency to write things that the regular rabid commentators of FMT find appalling. I find that it is my pleasure to burst your bubble at least once a week.

After all, to continue this love-hate relationship, I will have to play my part, which is to love writing things that some of you really hate, a form of literary sadomasochism relationship.

No media is neutral

But in all seriousness, isn’t that the case? This is exactly what we see in our politics, which I like to refer to as the “Blame BN Syndrome”.

Let me give you an example: when Anwar Ibrahim and Prof P Ramasamy went to Kampung Buah Pala and promised that when they win in Penang, Kampung Buah Pala will be allowed to remain, people are not going to remember that. The excuse that Kampung Buah Pala was already planned to be demolished by the previous BN government is not a good excuse.

The reason why those people voted for you is because they wanted a change of policies, not a continuity from the previous administration. But that is exactly what we get: politicians from the opposite side who fail to keep certain promises; rather than taking the approach of rectifying a probblem, they often spin the issue and blame it on their political opponents.

Sadly though, the media which is supposed to be a medium of analysis also falls into the same trap. We often blame the mainstream media for failing to provide balanced or objective reporting, yet the alternative media does the same or worse.

I don’t believe that any media, be it alternative or mainstream, can be truly neutral. To say that a certain media or news organisation is neutral is to imply that it is boring.

Let us be honest: human beings are not meant to be neutral; we are biased by nature. But one must not let bias cloud his/her sensibility and judgment.

For instance, it is fine to say that you are not fond of BN but at the same time feel that the move in transforming the government with various reforms is the right way to go.

Stating this doesn’t mean you are a BN cybertrooper or you have been paid millions by Rosmah Mansor and Apco to conduct a sneaky propaganda compaign.

Then there are politicians who think that the only route to Putrajaya is to point out how bad the current government is. Doesn’t matter what their own policies are; just keep discrediting and planting the seeds of hate and discontent as much as possible to ensure a success in the polls.

It will probably work for a while but here is the thing that one must always keep in mind – being angry takes up a lot of energy and people cannot be angry all the time; it is too tiring.

Occasionally, people may find that shouting slogans on the street and attending rallies are fun and a great way to express yourself (and good exercise). But there will come a time when people will get tired of it, stop shouting and begin to ask the question: “What can you do for me?”

‘Rakyat’ – misused word

I think the word “rakyat” is one of the most misused words in Malaysian politics today, for there is a difference between the voice of the “rakyat” and the voice of “Pakatan Rakyat”.

Sadly, it is the latter which often overshadows the former. So instead of getting a clear picture of what people really want, what we get is more politicking with no substance.

The thing is, the days of blaming BN is long over. It may still be popular among some but it wont work in the long run, now when Pakatan is the government in various states.

If you think that you are a better alternative, then do present your case, have a common platform and when I say a common platform, having an orange-coloured book which only one party seems to promote is not a common platform.

Show to the rakyat that Pakatan is ready to govern, tell us what are your plans, what sort of a country will Malaysia be if you win and please, for God’s sake, if you say you are ready to take over Malaysia, then by all means show us a Cabinet. Asking for a shadow Cabinet is not a BN conspiracy, it is common sense.

Zaidel Baharuddin is Mr Right, Mr Right Wingm that is, electronics engineer by day, writer by night, Frank Sinatra fanboy all day long, catch me at WirawanWeb.com, lipassepi.blogspot.com or follow me on twitter via @Sinatra_Z. He is a FMT columnist.