Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Whither Malaysia?

Looking at all the happenings around us, one can't help but think about the direction Malaysia is taking.

In the recent election, the government lost 5 states mainly to 3 reasons. Namely,
a) corrupt politicians in the ruling party
b) arrogance displayed by the ruling party towards other Malaysians of different race
c) racial policies practiced favouring one particular race

It seems the surviving party leaders are still in limbo and not aware of why they lost so badly. The recent rebate offered by the government to offset the steep price hike in petrol does not really help the poor people who are the ones in real need. They do not own cars so they can't get any rebates! The rich man with many cars will be getting more money. And further more, why allow Pos Malaysia (a public listed company) to distribute the rebate for which they will charge a fee. Should it not have been the work of the Department of Vehicles? They work for the government so there will be no fee involved. To see who benefits, one needs to find out who has a major share in Pos Malaysia and I won't be surprised if you should find some politicians in that list.

To make matters worse, the PM doesn't even have control over his party members. The other day one of them (a woman) threw a racial slur in the state assembly! The gall of that woman. The PM has yet to say something. They always talk about racial harmony and sensitivity towards others. If someone says something about Islam or the rights of the Bumiputra, that is being insensitive. Other people also have feelings.

Right now I have this image of Malaysia being placed on an iceberg and set to drift towards the equator. Based on the political scenario at the moment, that's the feeling right now.