OUR WAY OF LIFE IS NOW UNDER THREAT: 'No-show' BN govt is to blame

It is usually at festive seasons for over the last few years that more and more Malaysians believe that their Quality of Life and the Malaysian way of life that they savor and which is so familiar to them is beginning to come under threat due to the sloppy, inept and corrupt governance of Barisan Nasional (BN).

There are now a number of factors that are appearing to threaten the Malaysian way of life and Malaysians are fed up and exasperated and have virtually given up hope on the BN government to put things right for them.

And Malaysians fully deserve to be up in arms with the BN government as it has been “no show” as far as they are concerned as the government has failed to address very severe and critical issues which are a daily worry and concern to Malaysians.

The BN government’s stubborn resistance in trying to solve these pressing issues is due to the “corrupt inefficiency” of government machinery, and instead, the BN government seems to want to put the blame on opposition parties for their own lack of political will in solving these problems and issues.

Chaotic and confusing transport woes

Every festive season and during the year-end school holidays, Malaysians are witness to horrendous traffic jams and congestions, even in far away and remote corners of the country, and this is a really baffling situation, which clearly shows that the BN government has really little control or has probably lost control over what is happening in the country.

The problems of mobility or the many and varied transport problems which Malaysians face despite owning luxury cars and vehicles is the most clearest indication in the country that all is not well with the governance of our country.

In trying to solve the problem the easy and lazy way, the BN government has put into place measures that can be considered as done “according to their whims and fancies” rather than taking a good, hard look at the situation and coming up with lasting solutions that will ease greatly the burden on the people.

For some people, these traffic and transport problems may be the butt of jokes, but most Malaysians are angry and greatly frustrated and it is no laughing matter for them as they feel that the only way these perennial problems can be solved is to boot the BN government out of office.

Whatever has gone wrong to cause our traffic dispersal schemes to go haywire, the burden of responsibility should be rightfully shouldered by the BN government and they should not try to wiggle their way out of being accountable.

The problems of transportation in this country have become a severe crisis that has also threatened to jeopardize the economy and cause the daily problems of Malaysians to multiply and create even more suffering.

Going, going and going up, up and away

Malaysians used to laugh at Indonesians by saying that they have to pay thousands of rupiah at Starbucks Coffee outlets just for a cup of coffee. But now the jokes are on Malaysians as Indonesians bet on when the next price increase for a “teh-tarik” is set to take place in the country.

Malaysians of the older genre especially remember that Chinese tea only cost ten sen about thirty years ago. Now it costs between fifty to eighty sen at coffee-shops.

The price of a glass of tea is RM2 at most outlets. Some people think these prices are still okay and in line with the rising cost of living and inflation.

Prices of food and drinks and daily essentials and household items are no longer affordable as it used to be for a growing number of Malaysians, even the middle-class segment.

But what most Malaysians feel angry and upset over is the fact that wages and salaries have not increased to keep pace with greater productivity and this despite the fact that prices of most goods and services have risen tremendously over the last decade.

Malaysians are again angry with the BN government for increasing the wages and salaries of civil servants, this despite the civil service being grossly bloated and inefficient, their productivity being questioned and because of the fact that the bulk of government servants form the vote bank of BN.

Despite the BN government racking up the private sector to bend over backwards to boost productivity and contribute more to the coffers of the Treasury, the reciprocal benefit of working hard is not enjoyed by private sector employees, but by the many government servants who should be made redundant in the first place.

Housing a nation

At the last count done of property ownership it was found that there are still a large number of Malaysians who do not own a property and that a significant number of households are renting their premises.

This in small measure has undoubtedly caused the number of homeless Malaysians to go up and is easily witnessed to by the number of street people that can be found grouping together to sleep in the open air or at five-foot ways in the city.

Yet at the same time there is this great race to build and develop all kinds of residential and commercial properties. Unfortunately most Malaysians have been edged out of ownership by the high and exorbitant cost of purchasing these properties which are then gobbled up by foreign investors.

This has caused a scenario where, while Malaysians labor away hard, it is foreigners that are causing an influx of their arrival on Malaysian shores and snapping up properties. The BN government has obviously and clearly lost control of assisting and helping locals to realize their dream of home ownership.

With a population of 28 million Malaysians and a significant proportion not owning properties and uncontrolled arrival and influx of foreigners, the country is witnessing an unleveled playing field in which the BN government has not done anything to protect Malaysians in the era of globalization.

There is this clear evidence that the BN government is a house in disorder and they need to see to the housing woes of Malaysians if they are even to sniff the chance of a simple majority government in the 13^th GE.

Time for Malaysians to deal BN the deathblow

While these are but several pressing issues that have been highlighted to show the incompetency and couldn’t-care-less attitude of the BN government towards Malaysians and yet favoring and preferring to provide bits of cash handouts as compensation when in reality foreign ownership has caused Malaysians to lose out in their own backyard, why talk of trying to seize control of equity in foreign lands?

BN is obviously striving to push their pipe dreams in favor of the minority elite in this country. In reality, the advent of globalization to which BN were fully unprepared by playing the old politics of race and religion have caused Malaysians to lose out in the global race.

It is imperative that there be a change of government and not just a BN government that wants to reform itself. Time does not permit BN to be given any more chances. It is evidently risky to let BN continue to govern Malaysian and giving them precious time to bring about reforms will eat away at whatever prospects Malaysia has of catching up with global leaders and powerhouses.

The best option for Malaysians is to switch to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and give them the mandate to govern and all the backing and support needed to bring about quick and sweeping reforms to fast-track Malaysia on the path of globalization.

Unfortunately for BN, it has been given 55 years to govern and the end result as is to be evidenced now is that their political ploys and strategies have backfired and caused their downfall and due demise.

While it is high time to bid a quick farewell to BN, it is also necessary for all Malaysians to rally around the egalitarian policies of PR for the future of Malaysians and Malaysia.

Malaysia Chronicle