Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man’s world
Money, money, money
Always sunny
In the rich man’s world
- Lyrics from a hit song by ABBA
Is GE15 all about money? Why is everyone screaming about money? Is it because it is raining money in some areas? Or is the fixation and obsession with money going to win votes?
Pakatan Harapan chief Anwar Ibrahim declared that if appointed as prime minister, he would forgo his salary in solidarity with Malaysians who are struggling with rising prices of goods.
He claimed the people were “sick” with prime ministers living lavish lifestyles while the common folk are struggling financially.
“I will be ashamed to take a prime minister’s salary while the people suffer with rising prices of goods.”
Not to be outdone, his choice of candidate for Sungai Buloh, R Ramanan, was equally “generous” with his pledge to give his monthly wages to houses of worship if he wins.
Perhaps, Ramanan can afford to turn down tuppence from the rakyat because he has over RM60 million in assets and 13 motorcycles and several cars to his name.
Why aren’t candidates talking about our education system and the corruption that has pervaded our society?
When the British left our shores, then Malaya and Singapore were left with the same education system. Successive education ministers tinkered with the syllabus.
Look at how Singapore has progressed while we have not only digressed but have refused to adapt to changes.
We have scores of universities and a few hundred university colleges and other institutions of higher learning - but what kind of graduates are we producing?
Some of them cannot string two sentences in English and not surprisingly, our graduates are working as garbage collectors across the Causeway.
Isn’t anyone going to highlight this issue or are they content with keeping young Malaysians to accept what the government thinks that they ought to learn?
Doesn’t anyone give a toss about placing language and religion above science, technology and other related subjects?
No, even the most ardent candidate does not want to speak up and perhaps, has taken a cue from Rafizi Ramli’s ”guard Malay feelings”.
Have they all concluded it is best to fold their arms and watch educational standards deteriorate?
Umno chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced free tertiary education for M40 students and tablets for deserving students, but that’s just the hardware. What about the operating systems and the software?
1MDB scandal forgotten?
Has anyone some thoughts on the syllabus and educating our students in line with the market demands? Little wonder we have a few hundred thousand unemployed graduates.
Are they satisfied with graduates coming out like garments out of an assembly line?
Has everyone forgotten the 1MDB scandal? Has everyone forgotten the casino visits, the art collections, properties across the globe and the yacht and former prime minister who is now in prison?
Outgoing Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz told the Parliament in March that the 1MDB debts of the government were RM32.3 billion in principal and RM6.5 billion in interest.
Has everyone forgotten how the nation was brought to its knees and citizens will continue to pay for the imprudence of those responsible?
This and the next generation will continue to pay the bill for what has been described as the biggest theft of public money.
All parties have taken anti-corruption stands in their respective manifestos. But how are they going to be fulfilled? Zahid could only say that no BN politician would head the MACC.
Saying this was a clear signal of BN’s efforts to weed out corruption and misperception and that it was involved in corrupt practices.
Really? His defence has been called on 47 corruption charges in relation to Yayasan Akalbudi, a foundation that he leads. Of the total, 12 are criminal breach of trust charges, eight are for graft, and 27 are for money laundering.
“Once BN becomes a strong government (after GE15), we will take action against anyone, including those from BN or any party that is involved in corruption,” Zahid said. Written on running water or yet another election gimmick?
Caretaker Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government has taken appropriate action on the procurement of the littoral combat ship (LCS) issue and did not ignore the matter.
“Those who were accused to be involved in misappropriation and so on had been investigated by the MACC and some people had also been brought to court, so the matter is ongoing and we did not ignore it,” he said.
Ismail Sabri has not been generous with the truth. What he claimed was not exactly true or accurate.
Only one - former Bousted Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) managing director Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor - was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust totalling RM21 million.
By a long shot, these charges against Ramli have nothing to do with the LCS scandal, as they predate the issue of the letters of award for the RM9 billion LCS procurement, which were issued on Dec 16, 2011.
Ramli was alleged to have approved payments of RM13,541,140; RM1,360,716; and RM6,182,295 to three Singaporean companies without BNS' board of directors’ approval. The payments were allegedly made between July 26, 2010, and March 25, 2011.
But what about the others who were, directly and indirectly, fingered in the forensic audit report (which highlighted all manner of financial irregularities) on the RM9 billion littoral LCS procurement?
But Ismail Sabri could be looking for another hail of “bullets” to use against detractors who claim he had done little to combat corruption.
After all, not too long ago, he gave his party members “bullets” to be used against former attorney-general Tommy Thomas who brought charges against his party bosses – Najib Abdul Razak and Zahid.
Is this campaign limited to highlighting opponents’ scandals, misdeeds and possible criminal acts? No one wants to focus on a better life, more reasonable prices of essentials, a world-class education system or even a stronger ringgit.
Is mud-slinging the new mantra for winning elections? - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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