Your country needs you

A satire regarding Anwar Ibrahim’s sneak preview of what a Pakatan Rakyat-led federal government will do should it win power.

COMMENT

Very soon, Malaysia will be called to exercise its civic duty to vote in a new government.

As always, many silly Malaysians will make a mistake and vote in the wrong one. Like what happened in 2008. The prime minister has called on Malaysians to vote wisely this time, to guarantee the future of this nation.

If we reflect back on Barisan Nasional, what has it ever done to incur the wrath of the rakyat? BN has always been consistent. The race-based coalition is time-tested and has survived the acid test for half a century. Why bother to change the government?

Umno has always been there for the Malays. MCA and MIC have always protected the non-Malays and fought for their rights. In fact, they seem to have more rights and individual freedoms than the Malays themselves!

All the opposition does is talk! They have no track record to govern a country or manage its critical finances. All they do is oppose, that’s why until today they still remain as the opposition.

Malaysians should be cautious at the sweet promises and “chocolates” offered by the opposition. If any of its promises are true or valid, BN will have implemented them a long time ago.

They keep opposing the National Economic Policy (NEP) which has inspired so many towering Malays, while the spill-over has benefited so many non-Malays like Vincent Tan and T Ananda Krishnan.

They kept opposing the ISA, which has kept the country safe from the Communists, terrorist threats like the Al-Qaeda, and those who threaten national security, until the government had no choice but to accede to their demands and had it abolished.

The security vacuum had to be replaced with milder Acts like the Assemblies Act and Evidence Act but the list is not exhaustive.

They kept accusing the government of high-level corruption, although one must know that BN cannot stop certain corrupt leaders in the government who are acting completely on their own without its knowledge. So please don’t lay the blame on the BN government.

Those found guilty like Dr Mohd Khir Toyo had been charged and his datukship stripped. Even a former MCA president and deputy has been charged and awaiting trial. Two menteris besar were severely reprimanded for money politics, but duly forgiven in the true kindred spirit of Umno.

So how can the opposition say that BN is not doing anything to weed out corruption?

Government doesn’t owe people a living

One of the opposition’s favourite lies is that the rakyat are the real “bosses”. That is absolutely untrue. The government’s job is to govern the people, make stiffer laws to ensure that the people do not go out of line, or pose a national security threat. It doesn’t owe the people a living!

Can we trust an opposition leader who is up to his armpits in controversies, or a DAP leader whose lifelong dream is to see a government change, and a PAS leader, who is willing to sleep with the opposition, just so that it gets to rule this country?

The opposition’s latest bait to draw voters is really unfair and downright ridiculous.

Abolishing toll on the highways that will cost the country RM5 billion and another RM7 billion for welfare programmes and health care?

Not to mention the absurd idea of giving free education that will cost the government RM6 billion a year. This money can be better used to build skyscrapers, highways, MRT commuters or to renovate dilapidated government buildings or palaces.

The people must know first-hand that a drastic change in the government will be detrimental to the nation’s future. There will be gross mismanagement, chaos and civil disturbances. It may also lead to bankruptcy and the deterioration of the democratic process.

If Pakatan is ever allowed to govern this country, it will trigger a horrific chain of events as detailed below.

So ponder very carefully on each point before we make the same silly mistake again:

• Petrol prices will be reduced, which will cause more Malaysians to drive their own cars instead of using public transport, leading to more pollution in the Klang Valley and the rest of the country.
• A reduction in staple food prices will cause Malaysians to eat more than their fair share, leading to premature obesity.
• Education loans will be abolished leading to our children being less focused on their studies as they do not need to repay their loans.
• Meritocracy will be fully restored, heightening intense competition for places in public educational institutions, government institutions, the public and private sectors and the civil service while promotions will be based on merit and good governance. Only students with excellent qualifications will be allowed to pursue tertiary education overseas or be guaranteed places in local universities.
• Open tender exercises that will affect a large segment of contractors who cannot compete equally on a level playing field.
• A total revamp with “check and balance” will tax the patience of those in the civil service, with a focus to cut down on red tape while politeness and dedication to service will be introduced in all civil and public departments.
• MACC will go under the purview of Parliament, thereby restricting its independence to select and prosecute without fear or favour.
• Independence will be restored to the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary which will reduce the government’s hold on power, while the judiciary will hand down verdicts contrary to the government’s interest. A coup d’etat may occur if the armed rorces are given too much independence.
• The police, too, will take their own initiative to investigate sensitive cases on their own, and haul everyone up for breaking traffic laws even if it were minor ones. The separation of powers of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature may also lead to a true democracy so unlike our pseudo-democracy practised by the current administration.
• VIP’s like Datuks and Tan Sris may have to queue in line like everyone else, instead of being allowed special treatment.
• Equal rights may cause the majority race to lose their supremacy and superiority, and may ridicule the Bumiputeras special status. It may even lead to everyone being bestowed the same rights in the spirit of Ketuanan Rakyat.
• It may also cause the Malays and Muslims who have been lovingly protected by Umno against sinning unconsciously, to demand for more individual freedoms.
• Unbridled freedom of expression may also embarrass our country’s plurality.
• The proliferation of churches and temples will mar the landscape while widespread religious freedom may affect the sanctity of Islam as the religion of the federation.
• Malaysians will start to attend open houses for Christmas, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and Hari Raya again, after a long Sabbath. Valentine’s Day may again be aggressively celebrated.
• There may be a bigger increase in entertainment outlets like massage parlours and pedicure outlets, which is already happening in Selangor under the Khalid (Ibrahim) administration.
• A high minimum wage touted by the opposition will decrease our economic advantage, causing employers to demand longer hours and more output from employees, while at the same time pushing up the standard of living.
• Migrant workers will be sent back in droves, so that Malaysian blue-collar workers get to enjoy better wages.
• Curbing the mass issuance of citizenship to legible foreigners leading to a drastic drop of new citizens and impeding our aim to achieve our target population of 70 million by 2020 (Vision 2020).
• Malaysians will have to work very hard to earn a living as cronyism will be abolished, and so too the Ali Baba culture so closely associated with cronyism. Cronyism isn’t all that bad, as most cronies will sub-contract out the projects to others and the spill-over will benefit every race.
• There will be a free market economy, which will be disadvantageous for those who are wholly dependent on the NEP.
• Financial institutions will review their policies to give bank loans only to those who can repay.
• Malays, Chinese and Indians will start to unite, shedding their inhibitions to accept each other as fellow citizens, becoming colour blind, and work together in harmony that will spell the end of race-based political parties.
• A spendthrift government will retard economic stimulus, so necessary to propel the country forward economically, leading to a bankrupt nation, as funds will be re-channelled to improve the people’s living standards.
• Abolishment of the Official Secrets Act and the Sedition Act may open up a pandora box of dirty secrets that is better left unopened.
• A discontinuation of Billion Ringgit Mega Projects that is so necessary to stimulate our bearish economy.
• A tighter rein on our natural resources like oil and gas, timber and our giant plantations that will reduce our international exports edge and much needed foreign exchange.
• Independent Power Producers (IPPs) will starve without any forthcoming subsidies while electricity may go up again.
• The Prime Minister’s Department will not be able to administer effectively with a spending cut of RM4 billion a year.
• BN politicians may end up in the opposition bench, lacking hands-on experience to handle their new political role.

New landscape

Malaysians will start to wake up to a new, strange landscape filled with drastic changes so alien to their mundane lives.

Seriously, we don’t need to change the status quo. We should be contented with what we already have, while allowing the government a free rein to run the country.

The prime minister has recently announced that all the objectives from Budget 2012 have been achieved, while the deputy prime minister has stated that all of Bersih’s demands have been met.

What more can we expect? Why allow a small matter like the electoral roll discourage us from making the right choice?

Why act like hooligans with mob-like tendencies to march in those dirty Bersih rallies?

Now if you have pondered and contemplated on all of the above points, I am sure you will agree that we need to exercise our civic duty to save this nation from itself.

So follow your heart and do not repeat the same mistake back in 2008… again.

A tour guide, trained pilot and naturalist, Iskandar Dzulkarnain has been writing a few years now and with his articles appearing in most of the E-media.