Politicians Will Fail You

In the last general elections, I decided to exercise my voting rights as a Malaysian. It was the first general election which I was legally eligible to vote in. I got myself registered at the post office months before the cut-off period. And on the day itself, walked to the nearest school (which was my designated voting station), waited in line to vote and finally voted.

I voted for the opposition - thinking that perhaps a little more support (my vote) would boost their position and allow them to make a little more noise that would matter a little more to the government. Besides, the young blood in the opposition parties seemed promising and did not fit into the politician cookie cutter that we see with the BN coalition. Little did I know, a lot more people were thinking the same thoughts as me and the opposition parties garnered quite a big victory, although not enough to become the ruling government.

A number of the opposition parties grouped together to form another coalition - PR - which would be headed by our ex-DPM Anwar Ibrahim.

The point is... recently there has been a number of PKR members of Parliament (MPs) - who were elected by the rakyat (us) - quitting the party, initially stating that they will remain independent but later defecting to the ruling coalition. You can read of a recent case here (<--clickable link). I agree that PKR hasn't been a bed of roses but it's still young with a lot of teething problems to settle and not to mention those BN defectors who now want to return to their previous party. Why are our politicians acting spineless, just drifting where the wind blows and lacking in commitment to a particular party - like they have no roots. What kind of fruit will a tree bear if it does not have roots? None.

This just shows that you can't trust any politician. They promise you the sky but that is all that they can deliver - thin air. We voted them in thinking that there will be change. Although there has been a little change (for the few who truly love Malaysia and are serving the rakyat), but it is too rare like finding an uncut diamond in a mountain of sand and whatever little influence they hold is overridden by the corrupt lot. This is why I find following the local political scene so frustrating and sometimes it really seems like a joke that I expect will disappear after I stop laughing at its absurdity, but it doesn't... and it remains as news in the newspapers. Funny how they think we are a stupid bunch of rakyat who will just swallow whatever fallacy they wish to feed us!

This is the reason why there has been an exodus of 30,000 Malaysians to other countries around the world. If the politicians (ruling or opposition coalitions) are not careful, our country's best movers and shakers will uproot themselves and leave the country. And then what will Malaysia be left with?