After 2 weeks of incessant mud slinging, accusations, counter accusations and countless police reports, the day of reckoning has finally arrived! It has been 13 days of constant talk and few productive actions as the country comes to a standstill for its politicians to state their case for a 4 year term of self-enrichment (and voters hope some public enhancements too!). Honestly, I do not think I will be the only person who is relieved that Election day is here and after this, life will be back to normal again.
I mean, I have always had little time for politicians; as a breed, they all claim to be doing it to serve the common people, to further the interest of their constituency etc. However, when you think about it, don’t you realise that you often see your assemblyman/senator/governor/representative/MP ONLY during election campaigning periods? Look at it this way, they go down to the local squares and markets to shake hands with their constituents every single day during the campaigning period, do you suppose these same constituents actually see their politicians again the week after election? Chances are, they will have to wait another 4 years before he comes along to disturb their peace! (Not that bad when you think about it. He brings loads of people who will not be buying anything anyway so its actually nothing but trouble!) This is not something peculiar to Malaysia but I guess the media spotlight these past weeks have brought the issue to the fore again.
I believe its fair to say that Malaysian politics is not clean (as with politics anywhere else! The very dynamics of the job makes it almost impossible to be clean – almost because it would be unfair to the minority who manage to keep their noses clean). I am probably not the only one to hear about beautiful street lamps in Johor which cost MYR100K per lamp to install and the fact that a lot of construction projects across Malaysia are contracted to Indians. Who can forget Putrajaya as well? When Myanmar moved its capital to Naypyitaw (200 miles inside the jungles!), I immediately thought of Putrajaya. I’m not saying the reasons for the building of these 2 cities are similar but I am drawing attention to the costs involved. Although Malaysians are not exactly starving, but you have got to ask yourself, why on earth build Putrajaya when KL is perfectly fine? If the government had conducted feasibility studies (spending lots in the process) then I assume it must have gauged public and private sector opinions on such a plan. If so, why till today, when people talk about Malaysia, KL jumps to mind and not Putrajaya? Of course, you can say that was under the previous administration (hints of awarding contracts perhaps? pump priming the economy after the Asian financial crisis maybe?) but when you consider that the present administration happens to be the one that spent US$25M to send some model cum engineer (they actually exist?!?) on a all expenses paid holiday up to space! (alright, maybe the deal was negotiated at the end of Dr M’s administration but from 2003 to 2007 is 4 long years! The present administration had plenty of time to change plans considering that they had time to decide who should be the next High Court Judge before informing the selection committee of the ideal candidate)
Of course, maybe I am too critical of the present administration, Mr A has been busy building corridors across Malaysia, massive infrastructure investments which are supposed to boost the economy. That is a noble intention so perhaps I was wrong, they really had no time to think about the astronaut issue, whether US$25 million could be better spent in alleviating poverty and building basic infrastructure in rural Malaysia or East Malaysia. The more i think about it, the more I am starting to believe, the government has been too busy. You need more proof? Why, crime rate in Malaysia has gone up since Mr A took over! They have been so busy chasing white collar crime, patrolling high class estates and new developments that they have no manpower to police the streets.
Sigh, I digress. Back to the issue, Election Day! I may be critical of politics but I am also an advocate of choosing the lesser evil. Running a country is no joke, you are not a good administrator just because you speak well. You need a large bureaucracy, the means to attract sufficient candidates and the ability to push through measures. In this case, Malaysians and Singaporeans have similar fates, they can only choose the one party to govern their countries. However, voters can still make a point! If you feel that you are not being heard, you can always voice it out with your vote. Deny the government an overwhelming majority and it would be signal that people are unhappy. Unfortunately, this does not necessarily lead to change for the better of course. So to all undecided Malaysian voters out there, please vote wisely! You can visit www.kennysia.com and use his kennysia.com Who-To-Vote-This-Election Decision Generator. Its pretty interesting! I tried and the generator told me I should vote opposition (if I were to vote, that is). Haha not much of a surprise considering what I have written right?
I just want to end by saying, the choice is yours, the selection of alternatives may not be perfect but nothing in this world ever is. Vote with your head, not your heart. Go for the person whom you feel can do the most for you, not talk the most or the best.
VS 
