Our ‘me, myself and I’ politicians

It is high time our politicians dropped their egos and their constant cry of “Me, Myself and I” and took the interest of the people to heart.

Malaysia is simply not the stamping ground for self-centred, egotistical, selfish and greedy politicians who believe that they are all that matter in this world while everyone else is merely footstools to be made use of.

In the past week, we have seen the worst display of this attitude at the PKR congress and Umno general assembly.

Even in Sabah, we witness this phenomenon as PBBM attempts to muscle their way into the impending Kimanis by-election by first stating that a PBBM candidate ought to be given the opportunity to contest the Kimanis seat.

Not content with that, the Penampang PPBM chief John Ambrose is now pushing for the party to be given ministerial positions in the Warisan state government!

When a politician takes to the floor at their party’s congress, he or she has limited time to be heard. In that allocated time they are supposed to prick the conscience of their fellow politicians and Malaysians at large with issues that are affecting the well being of the “rakyat”.

They should be inspiring the government to come up with sound policies that are for the people, by the people and with the people.

They should be goading the government of the day to improve health care for its people for example and speak about improving the quality of life for the people in general.

They should be talking about bread and butter issues, especially those affecting their own constituents.

Instead, they use this 15 minutes of fame to grab attention for themselves under the glare of cameras and media coverage for all the wrong reasons.

Take the case of Wan Hisham Wan Salleh, the Terengganu delegate at the Umno general assembly. To say that communists infiltrated Putrajaya is, in fact, stating that the prime minister, the home minister, the inspector-general of police and all other government instruments are not only sleeping on the job but are also encouraging this infiltration.

He could have spoken about the economy and the outflow of funds from Bursa, for example, because it has an effect on the well being of the nation.

But he did not. He preferred to draw attention to himself.

Omar Faudzar, a Penang Umno delegate, made a serious allegation about DAP bringing in Chinese and Indian tourists as phantom voters at GE14.

How do statements like these improve the well-being of those suffering under the burden of the rising cost of living?

At the PKR congress, what was supposed to give future prime minister Anwar Ibrahim and his party colleagues the opportunity to speak up in the interest of the people, turned into a fracas and a show of one-upmanship. Why were the concerns of the people overlooked?

It was a golden opportunity to bring the concerns of the people to their government, but it was all about power play.

Except Mohamad Sabu’s Amanah which raised some real concerns about the welfare of this nation at the party’s convention, all others saw it as an opportunity to raise sensitive issues and flex their muscles.

Truth be told, I believe most people like me who followed these annual meetings were looking for that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow which would have given birth to new hopes and promises.

Alas, there was absolutely nothing. Except for “Me, Myself and I”.

Clement Stanley is an FMT reader.