After the clowns, now comedians joining PKR

• Rap artist has officially joined PKR
• Together with comedian 
• presented membership cards 

My comments :  What a coincidence. Just two days ago I was talking about this with some friends over some really excellent banana leaf mutton curry.

It is also linked to what Zahid Hamidi said at the Umno assembly recently and what Dr Mahathir said earlier before PRU14. 

At the recent Umno assembly Zahid said Umno had to come up with "catchy things" to tell the people which would make them vote for Umno. (Yes I know he did not actually use the word 'catchy'. He spoke Malay but that is how I 'caught' it too.) 

For example Zahid did say that Umno would strengthen the shariah laws. These are the catchy things they want to use to 'catch' the votes of the Malay people. They are all focussed on the Malay votes. They just want to throw these scraps to the voters. In Malay it is called 'jual air liur'.

Dr Mahathir promised that Manifesto which included abolishing the toll roads, among many other things. That really got the peoples' attention and their votes. I aided in the process as well. But after the elections Dr Mahathir said 'Well it was just a Manifesto, We are not going to deliver what we promised'. 

That is when I decided to call it quits. Its not that I am some kind of great sage with unyielding and unbending principles (though I am discovering that I am extremely unyielding when it comes to upholding principles - the things that I believe in).

I called it quits with Dr Mahathir because we have to change the entire trajectory of this country. The old policies since the 1970s have destroyed much of the chances the Malays had of catching up with the rest of the world. And if the Malays do not catch up, this country will have endless problems. The problems that need to be overcome are Malay problems. 

That Manifesto had a good chance of changing that wrong trajectory. But when Dr Mahathir went back on his word, including abolishing and then not abolishing the Sedition Act,  I realised it was just the bad old habits repackaged in new wrapping and ready to be served to the people again.  Plus he announced yet another "national car project". Nauzu billahi min-al syaitan nir rajeem. That was it. 

Dr Mahathir had no more ideas.

This situation is worse with Zahid Hamidi. And now the PKR. Zahid will not even be able to read and understand what I am saying here. 

All these people see is 'the elections are coming, we need to win 80 Parliamentary seats, 50 seats, 60 seats etc. We need to say something new to the voters'.

They are looking for catchy phrases, false promises, false Manifestos, happy tunes, feel good stories, religious sentiments, racial fears etc to 'catch the votes'. That is all.

They just do not know that the entire system is long, long overdue for an overhaul.

The PKR is hiring comedians and rappers. There are enough clowns in the party.

The fact that Brader Anwar personally welcomed these folks into the party shows that he is appealing to amusement to 'catch' the voters. Nothing serious. Just jokes, happy happy entertainment and music to lull their minds. Nothing more serious than that.   

I dont think Brader Anwar will be handing out memberships to any economists, non-fiction writers, engineers and such. 

The question is who is left in the PKR? The party has lost so many stalwarts. Anwar Ibrahim has forgotten that when the Pakatan Harapan won the elections in 2018, he was inside the jail. He had little part in doing the actual campaigning on the ground. 

His party stalwarts like Rafizi, Nurul Izzah, Baru Bian, Tian Chua, Xavier (and a few others)  have either stepped out, stepped back or even quit (like Xavier) from the party.

So who does PKR have in its frontline trenches to face the next PRU15? I believe they still have some time because the PRU15 will not likely happen till full term expires in 2023.  And talk is the PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will continue with a second term. 

But 2023 is only two years away.

PKR does not have people anymore. More importantly they have not articulated any new policies. 

The Malay parties (UMNO, Bersatu, Pas, PKR, Amanah) are going to find it difficult to corner the Malay votes because the situation in the Malay economy and Malay society is not improving as much.  This is April already. Between now and July/August it will be the graduation season at the many government universities, colleges and institutes. Another 350,000 young people will be entering joblessness. 

I dont know how the universities have handled the lockdowns over the past year. Will their senior students be graduating this year? If they are will they have covered all their course works? But for a certainty there are few jobs waiting for them.

That is my old Boss Tokpa saying something positive to keep people's hopes up.

But it does not work that way. Over 300,000 graduates and another few hundred thousand SPM leavers entering the job market into another slow year does not bode well for the country and Malay society in particular.

But the rich are still getting their cut of the action, especially the Malay rich. Cut of the action means without much effort. Where money can be made way beyond the amount of effort put in. Money made by taking from taxpayers funds. The people's money. 

That is the game that is not changing. It will all come to some jarring jolt someday. 

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.