Have we voted in the right people?

When political leaders do not have the welfare of the nation and all its people at heart, they do not give much in-depth study and proper planning before agreeing to anything.Operating on political expediency, politicians agreed to sign away the future of the people they are to represent.

First it was the use of the words 'Bumiputra' and 'non-Bumiputra' agreed to by the Chinese and Indian politicians. Those two words are the most divisive works in the Malaysian vocabulary. They divide the citizens into two distinct groups of people, making one more privileged than the other, and even to the extent where politicians from a certain party comprising of just Bumiputras claim that they were the masters of the other citizens. In such a political climate, certain opportunists grabbed the chance to to be the more rightful citizens of the country and according to their logic are more entitled to the wealth and land of the country. How we can ever unravel such a tangle of disunity is truly beyond me. For once a people is divided thus, the one in the better position would be reluctant to let go of such an advantage.


And today, there is this Chinese political party which showed its immaturity, unsteady on its feet, unable to stand firm on its fight for the rights of the minority. Again, for the sake of political expediency, the political leader of the party had to back down on what was said and claimed that it was just voicing the problems of a Christian non-government organisation when asking for an early settlement of the 'Allah' issue. In the first place, if the political leader was not in agreement or does not support what had been brought up, he should not have voiced it. When a political leader voices it, then it must be because he is in agreement with it. So if he were to say otherwise we wonder who this political leader represent? How can politicians be respected if they have no conviction on what they say or do and instead of putting forward the message because he is in agreement with it, he claimed he was just voicing the thoughts of a non-government organisation. And what is wrong with bringing up the wishes of the people even though the same wishes have been voiced by an opposition? Are politicians supposed to go against a proposition even if it is for the good of the citizens and the country merely because it is brought up by an opposition? Did we not vote a politician so that he could stand up for us and our country's interest? Would he be willing to represent us and fight for our rights? What is the use of politicians who dare not stand or fight for our rights? We might as well return to the wild of the jungle where we need to fend for ourselves.

Ah, but then perhaps we are the ones who are in the wrong. Remember, we are the ones who put them there to represent us. To choose someone who dare not represent us, that was silly of us. So it is inevitable that we should ask ourselves some questions and answer them truthfully. Why did we vote for such politicians? Was it because we were of the same race? How stupid that is. By now we ought to have realised, politicians use the race issue to make use of us, to get our votes. Or was it because he comes from the same party we joined? Would you support the party if it plays us out and sells out our future? A friend? Can he still be considered one when he turns his back on you? Was it because he shook your hands during the election campaign? Come on! He shakes every Tom, Dick and Harry's hand, even that of his enemy just to secure a vote. Or was it a fifty ringgit note he slipped into our palms? Oh, my God, to sell ourselves at only fifty ringgit?
It is time we think carefully before we vote for anyone. Is the person going to bring up our grievances when we most need him to? Can he perform? Will he do it even if he has to put his political life in jeopardy? If he is such a person, vote for him regardless of the party he comes from.

However, there are times when we do not know a person well enough to give an answer to the above questions. Then, what do we do? Are we going to throw away that vote? What a waste! Of course, we must exercise our right to vote. We ought to consider what alternatives we have in deciding the future of our country.
For the last fifty or more years we have only one party, the Barisan National, ruling Malaysia. Are you satisfied with it? Do you think there has been too much corruption? Is the present government good enough for the future development of this country? Have they been listening to the grouses of the people? Do you think it has been a fair government, fair to every citizen? Is it clean and transparent in all its dealings? Should we give the opposition party a chance? Do we want a two-party system whereby the citizens, after some time when the opposition has gained sufficient governing experience, would be able to turn to another party should the ruling government become too arrogant or corrupted? For me, a two party system is really good as it has been proven again and again that a party which has ruled too long becomes too confident and becomes too corrupted as a result. However, if ever one party becomes too arrogant or corrupted, we can always give a chance to the other party. After all, both parties at present comprise of all races and no race ought to be neglected. Therefore it is good for all citizens and the country to have a two-party system.
It is time people make the right intelligent choices in elections, choosing the correct candidates, voting for them so that they can think deeply and plan carefully for the growth of the country. Our country especially ought to be way ahead of most in our Asian region as we have most of our wealth from so many natural resources and no natural disasters to take away such wealth. Yet, a number of not so rich countries are progressing so much faster than us, a few moving ahead even ( An excellent example is Singapore with only its industries and man-power as its resources for wealth.) while some so poor countries are gradually catching up. Why? Is it because of the politicians that we have voted in? To improve the future of our country, it is time to think and do the right thing.