I've been meaning to update my blog about my recent trip to China while things are still fresh in my mind but quite frankly, got no mood lah. I'm still boggled or gobsmacked, to be a pommy about it, about the things that happened while I was away. The Sosilawati murder for one and quickly after, the farce that's been going on in Pakatan.
I tell myself that although this country probably won't be my retirement home, its hard for me to whistle dixie and look the other way. Not when my extended family, especially my lovely nephews and nieces, have no choice but to live here probably all their lives.
On the grisly Banting murders, all I can say is I hope those responsible will be put away forever. They are a danger to society. I don't share the view that everything bad is politically driven. No, this is the work of criminals plain and simple. Its an anomaly, a statistical one-in-a-million thing that lurks in all societies. The faster we make an example of those responsible, the faster we can get on with our lives.
The second thing is the on-going electoral drama in PKR that is generating way too much irritating noise for me. Let me say this, I'm not a party member and I don't personally know anyone who is but the way things are reportedly going down, my hopes of a better tomorrow are melting faster than an ice cube on a hot July day.
PKR apologists like say two things. One, give them a break lah. They're new, sure got teething problems wan. What do you expect?
Second, ya lah they're not perfect but like them or not, let those people take over first lah, then allow the new generation to take over later and change the system from inside. Anything is better than what we have now.
Okay, here's my take.
The first excuse about being new. That's bollocks. Yes the organization may be newer than its nemesis but its leaders are not born yesterday. Let me give you an analogy. If I hire a CEO with 15 years experience to run a company, if he slugs it out for a couple of years, runs it aground and then tells me its because he's still new, I would have kicked his butt out the door the next day. I paid him for his 15 years of experience and excuses like that don't work on me. So no, if anything it just tells me the guy is in way over his head and had oversold himself when he applied for the job.
The second excuse about closing one eye and letting suspect people take over first and then letting new blood come in and change it later. If you believe in that, then I have a fabulous beach house in Zambia to sell you.
Let's not be naive in thinking that people who will happily bend ethics won't manipulate the environment to cling to power as long as they can. I mean gee, haven't we learnt anything at all? You know the thing about power right? Once you've tasted it, there's no going back. So, are we all prepared now for another 53 years of crap?
There's a reason why these things must be done right from step 1. Its not being idealistic. Its being pragmatic. Nothing's sadder than staring at your own home going up in flames knowing you coulda stopped that early spark when you had the chance.
What's that you say... when the new team is installed, there will be aggressive checks on abuse? Man I wish I share your enthusiasm but I'm sorry, I don't. I know the prevailing culture of the masses only too well, of our obsessive clannishness, of how we like to exempt ourselves from the rules when we have the upper hand, and how easily distracted we can be from things that really matter. Humans are humans, that part I never forget.
From the flurry of news, I'm sensing a familiar aloofness in the top echelons, a presumptive arrogance, factionalism, manipulativeness. Maybe it's all par for the course in politics but what dismays me most is how they seem to have failed the same transparency and governance standards they've been hawking, at least in my view. I mean seriously, what do you make of it when even their own members running for office have to issue press statements to ask very basic questions about competition rules in the middle of the competition? Can't manage a small kitchen, want to run a country?
I had high hopes. I admit, some good things have happened in Selangor but let me say it here - one swallow hardly makes a summer. With Khalid now in the ring, I don't know if those good things will be allowed to stay good, now that some might stand to benefit from shifting opinion. I'm sorry to say it but until the leaders on both sides demonstrate they actually care about something other than themselves, to stand up and give a clear explanation, point by painful point, about the things that are drawing public outrage, until I hear the sincerity in their voices, they have not earned my confidence and my vote in an open election. Sure, every party has its problems and open competition is the essence of democracy. I get it. No big deal. But what's big is how maturely you handle a domestic crisis and right now, in my eyes, you've proven to be an epic fail.
I stand by my belief that PKR members, as the ones who chose these people internally, get what they deserve. You had a golden chance to clean house and gain public trust after breaking some promises in GE12, to endear people to the dream and make a new dawn really happen. At the rate you're going, by the time this is over, you may have nothing left.
Addendum:
One thing I am curious about. Do you think its any business of the man in the street who's not a party member to be concerned about how a party that promises to bring change to the country conducts itself internally?
No comments:
Post a Comment