One man, One vote

 

Why scream Anything but UMNO (ABU)? We instead should be screaming Anything but Corruption, Anything but Intolerance, Anything but Inefficiency and so on. When we scream ABU, we are basically giving Pakatan Rakyat leaders carte blanche to do as they please for they know that our vote is secure. 

Adam Netto 

As a Malaysian student studying in Germany, I would like to talk about the Brent Spar controversy. In 1995, despite reservations from various parties, Shell planned on disposing off the Brent Spar, a North Sea oil storage and tanker loading bouy, by sinking it in deep Atlantic waters. A Greenpeace organized boycott of Shell led to a 10 percent drop in sales in Germany. Faced with a loss of revenue and a tarnished brand image, Shell shelved its plans to sink the Brent Spar and found a more environmentally friendly method to decommission the Brent Spar. Basically, the German consumer showed Shell who really calls the shots through their cheque books.

I use this case study as an analogy to the strength we, Malaysians, wield as voters in the upcoming general election. As tax paying citizens, we are basically consumers choosing the best product i.e Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional, which will benefit our country the most these next 5 years. 

Now, we would not walk into an electronics shop, hand over a lump sum of money to the cashier and say, “Anything but an Iphone, please.” So, why scream Anything but UMNO (ABU)? We instead should be screaming Anything but Corruption, Anything but Intolerance, Anything but Inefficiency and so on. When we scream ABU, we are basically giving Pakatan Rakyat leaders carte blanche to do as they please for they know that our vote is secure.

Let us take a lesson from the recently concluded American Presidental election. On the road to reelection, President Obama won Massachusetts, the home state of Mitt Romney and where he previously served as Governor, and Michigan, Mitt Romney's birth state. The voters in those states kept sentiment out of the picture and voted the best man, in their opinion, into the White House. With that in mind, when Election Day arrives, I will vote for the candidate I believe best serves the interests of my country, my family and myself regardless of which party he/she represents. I hope you do the same.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Spar

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/17/world/oil-companies-face-boycott-over-sinking-of-rig.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/06/politics/election-2012/index.html