Najib’s grubby voucher

In any first world nation or proper democracy, a leader who insults the citizens with offerings of money would have been hounded out of office, in disgrace.

COMMENT

Our apathy is probably the worst obstacle, which we have to overcome, before we can even dream of a change in government, to deal with corrupt politicians. If only there were enough Malaysians prepared to ask what they can do for their country, and not just what their country can do for them.

The dependency culture perpetuated by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak sets a dangerous precedent; the rakyat regularly expects small injections of cash like BR1M, whilst the politician is deluded into thinking that he is popular.

Without the money, would the electorate be willing to support the politician? Deprived of his cash offering, the politician may suddenly find that he lacks appeal.

Only an irresponsible prime minister like Najib would deplete the funds in the treasury to feed an insatiable craving for handouts. Our apathy prevents us from doing anything about this shameless bribing of the rakyat with their own money.

BR1M and the Petronas handout may have returned RM100 million of the taxpayers’ money but this is insignificant when compared to the billions of ringgits which Umno leaders have pocketed in commission from the Scorpene deal and various other government contracts.

In the run-up to any general election in Malaysia, the cash handout has become a major feature of life and many have come to accept it as the norm. Despite our towering skyscrapers, our endless fascination with designers’ shops and our appetite for the latest communication gadget, our thinking, like our country and its governance, is still third world.

Even our Election Commission (EC) is third world with its chairman shamelessly showing that he is partial to the government. Independence, moral integrity and professionalism are ideals which are in short supply in Malaysia.

In any first world nation or proper democracy, a leader who insults the citizens with offerings of money would have been hounded out of office, in disgrace.

If the RM1,000 cash bribe given to Petronas employees had been offered to the employees of a national oil company in a first world country, there would have been demands for the leader of the nation and the senior management of the company to resign.

There would have been calls for the money to be ploughed back into the system or used to benefit the public in some way. In some countries, there would have been mass demonstrations and objections from politicians from both sides of the divide, until the policies are reversed.

In Malaysia, life continues as normal. No one bats an eyelid when the electorate is bribed and after a few complaints, the rakyat simply waits for the largesse of the government to benefit the next section of the community.

Bribes may backfire

A single-mother I know, who lives in KL, has come to depend on Najib’s BR1M to subsidise her meagre income. Her siblings and aged parents live in a village, so trying to juggle work and life with her three young children, without the support of an extended family network, is a struggle.

She lacks a higher education and has no special skills, so is forced to accept lowly paid jobs near to where she lives. She rents a room and shares the baby-sitting with her neighbour, another single mother with two children. Both are divorced and despite going to court, found that their husbands had avoided paying any child maintenance for the upkeep of their children. The women were loathe to return to court to pursue child maintenance because of their lack of funds.

These women claim that they would vote for a party with policies that benefit the single mother.

They want a party that looks after their interests, provides them with skills and training for a particular job, perhaps in home-based work, provides cheap child-care facilities, offers financial opportunities to be self-employed and also, tightens up the enforcement of the syariah courts for maintenance from former husbands.

These women have little or no savings, are deprived of support from friends and family, have no social life to speak of and most were dependent on their husbands, whilst they were married. Those who married soon after they left school were not trained to work, whilst older mothers found it difficult to find work.

Most claimed that the cash handouts should have been put to better use, in associations which would assist them to become financially independent, so they would help boost the economy and not be reliant upon government assistance.

The youth in our country has been enticed with cheap smartphones and similar bribes, but the elderly people, whose contributions helped shape this country, appear to be neglected.

Rather than a cash handout, many would opt for cheap, good medical care, decent residential care-home facilities, places to socialise, and assistance to help them lead independent lives in their own homes with social workers visiting them on a regular basis.

The bribes that Najib has given to voters may backfire. Voters are intelligent people, with self-respect and integrity. The regularity of Najib’s bribes can mean only one thing: he knows he will lose GE13.

He has been advised that BR1M and other handouts are not working. He told us to tighten our belts, whilst he splashes out with our money.

Before long, we will join the Greek Club, by becoming a bankrupt nation. Worse still, we may end up like Cyprus where the money in the bank accounts of the island’s population is being used to prop up the country.

If you care about your country, go out and vote for what you think is right for you, your children and your nation. Certainly, do not allow yourself to be influenced by a man who has little to offer apart from a grubby BR1M voucher, and do not squander your vote by abstaining from the election, or spoiling your ballot paper. Every vote will count.

Mariam Mokhtar is a FMT columnist.