Rakyat, not handouts, decides nation’s fate

For the sake of truth and accountability, it is hoped the rakyat despite becoming recipients of the various handouts by BN, will exercise discretion in determing the fate of this nation.

It is giving the “awakened” rakyat goose bumps to watch how the ruling Barisan Nasional government is scampering against time to dole out politically-motivated goodies, one after another.

Helming it all was the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia which has been nothing but an insult in the true sense of the word, for the beggarly RM500 far from meets the people’s needs, keeping today’s escalating cost of living in mind.

Still, the rakyat who benefited from BR1M is grateful but should stop at that. There is no need to offer eternal gratitude to BN for BR1M which comes with a hidden agenda, one that is aimed at serving the interest of BN leadership.

With the naive rakyat appeased through BR1M or the 1Malaysia People’s Fish Shop or the 1Malaysia restaurant, it was time to move on and win the hearts of senior citizens at old folks homes and then the taxi drivers. Next in line is the soon-to-be launched the 1Malaysia bookstore and the 1Malaysia clothes outlet.

On May 29, at a luncheon to celebrate Mothers’ and Fathers’ Day with 1,000 senior citizens at Rumah Sejahtera Seri Kembangan, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak promised that old folks homes registered with the Social Welfare Department would get free Astro subscription.

Najib, who is also the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, assured 48 old folks homes under the ministry monthly medical check-ups by the Healthy Ministry.

Should we be proud to have such a “conscientious” leader? Far from it as it took Najib four long years from the time he took over the country’s leadership in April 2008 to realise that old folks could do with some entertainment, be it a Bollywood movie or a Jackie Chan flick.

Likewise, it is only now when the 13th general election is just around the corner that Najib, who is the BN chairman, has decided that when it comes to health, old folks must not be neglected or discriminated.

The BN government has to swallow the bitter truth that the rakyat finds no reason in rejoicing because the care and concern shown now comes not from the heart of a so-called caring BN government but from the conniving and scheming minds of its power-crazy leaders.

But then times are hard and BN is hoping that any help rendered, especially financial, will make the needy rakyat think twice before voting for the opposition under the Pakatan Rakyat patronage – and after its unbelievable defeat in the 2008 general election, the BN government is not shying away from deploying any means possible to garner the people’s support.

Rakyat decides fate of nation

For the sake of truth and accountability, it is hoped that the rakyat despite becoming recipients of the various handouts by BN, will exercise discretion in determing the fate of this nation.

Should BN think it can decide the destiny of the country at the cost of just a few hundred ringgit, it better think again; to sweep the real issues under the carpet and hoping the rakyat will forget them is an obsolete trick.

To hide the truth because it reveals the ugly side of BN is going to cost the government, one way or another. Both the prime minister and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin have a lot to answer for each time issues of cronyism, nepotism and corruption crop up.

For instance, why was Najib silent when it was reported that the offspring of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Nazri Aziz, had assaulted a security supervisor at the Mont Kiara condominium in March this year?

Mohamad Nedim, who drove a Porsche, felt offended when the supervisor asked him to register his details. He choked the supervisor’s neck and punched his head.

Brickfields district police chief Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid then confirmed that two police reports related to the incident had been lodged under Section 160 of the Penal Code for committing affray but, like all wrongdoings involving BN politicians or their families, this case too died a sudden death.

City CID chief Ku Chin Wah later declared Nazri’s son was not the guilty party and placed all blame on Mohamad Nedim’s boduguard. But then what about the CCTV there which recorded the truth?

If Mohamad Nedim, who carries his father’s name card to force his away around, has gone unpunished, it is because of the corrupt and compromised system at work, where VVIPS can do the most heinous of crimes and still return home to sleep on their plush beds.

Furthermore, the Mont Kiara condominium management was under pressure to hush up the incident all because security firms depend on the federal government, that is, BN, to renew their licence.

Is this BN’s idea of being truthful and accountable to the rakyat? Is this how its 55-year-old Twin-3K has been at work to ensure peace and security; stability and harmony; prosperity and development?

Truth is hidden

The Mohamad Nedim case is only the tip of the iceberg where the culprit bullies his way around using his influential father as the “licence” to do “as I wish”.

Just how many more crimes committed by families or cronies of BN will go unpunished? And to what extent will BN stoop in cosseting its “partners in crime”?

Dare Najib or Muhyiddin explain the discrepancy in determining who bears the brunt of the law and who does not? Why is it that each time a detainee dies or goes “missing” while in police custody, BN is far from rattled by such happenings?

Be it Nazri’s delinquent son or the former Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Shahrizat Jalil, who has been absolved of any wrongdoing in the flopped National Feedlot Corporation project, the rakyat is in no mood to put up with the corrupt bureaucracy, which shows no sign of turning a new leaf.

Is there any surprise then why the Bersih 2007, Bersih 2011 and Bersih 3.0 happened? Too many compromises have been made by BN and that too at the expense of the rakyat. To try and cover up its own wrongdoings and distract the people’s attention to the mistakes made by Pakatan will not secure BN’s fate at the polls.

Does BN have what it takes to repent and redeem itself and come clean to the rakyat? If it does not and has no intention of doing so, the best thing to do then is to shut up. By blowing its own horn, BN is at best contributing to the polluting cacophony long plaguing the rakyat.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.