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That Elusive Rural Support: Pakatan Needs to Think Long Term

Posted: 12 Aug 2011 04:47 AM PDT

Looking through the 2008 General Election results Pakatan Rakyat has to work extremely hard to secure those rural votes. PKR had made a few mistakes in both Sabah and Sarawak. Among the first was the appointment of Azmin Ali (a non-Sabahan) as Sabah PKR chief. Although Azmin quit in 2009, the damage was pretty much done looking at the 2008 election results.

by Al Jafree Md Yusop, Malaysian Digest

Famous American columnist Franklin Pierce Adams once said, "Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody". It is widely agreed that Pakatan Rakyat won big in the last General Election because the people were angry at Barisan Nasional (maybe they still are). But it is also a fact that Pakatan won mostly the urban seats like Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Knabalu.

The only thing is that most of the constituencies in the rural areas and there's where support for BN are the strongest. It seems that the hatred for the ruling party exist mostly in the urban areas with the exception of Kota Bharu of course. PAS Deputy president, Mohamad Sabu in an interview with Free Malaysia Today said, "We have to work hard on dismantling Umno's hold on the rural folk and Felda. Because they have access to the mainstream media, they promote Umno's ideology. Umno will lose the urban seats, but rural seats… we need to find a way to break through to them. Umno creates a perception that they are the guardians of Malay rights. And it's very hard to change this because we have no access to people in rural areas."

Looking through the 2008 General Election results Pakatan Rakyat has to work extremely hard to secure those rural votes. PKR had made a few mistakes in both Sabah and Sarawak. Among the first was the appointment of Azmin Ali (a non-Sabahan) as Sabah PKR chief. Although Azmin quit in 2009, the damage was pretty much done looking at the 2008 election results. If that wasn't bad enough, Anwar's PKR then blew it again in Sarawak during the state election when the party locked horns with local party SNAP over the allocation of seats between the two parties.

Actually, have money played an important role in any election. Most voters believe that it is within their rights to be given money by election candidates. The main problem is a lot of people in this country also believe that they can get rich very quick. The opportunity is huge. Working hard to earn a decent living is a thing of the past. It's the constant conflict between quality and quantity and the sad part is when the latter wins. This is reflected in our choice and voting patterns in every election. It's not long term planning but more like solving the immediate problems without considering its long term effects.

It has always been about how much money we are getting now rather than what will the state of our country economy be in the next 10 to 20 years. We are still importing around 60 percent of our food supplies, considering that the BN government has been ruling the country for 54 years, it is not something we should be proud of. It is to me more about making the people see the obvious apart from uncovering sensational secrets. Many of our politicians are living in extremely expensive mansions, an impossible feat considering their actual incomes are much less than the cost of those mansions. (A good example would be former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Khir Toyo). I once saw an MP wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus Perpetual Calendar watch which cost hundreds of thousands of ringgit. It's the obvious things that we need to see and think about.

A good example would be Belgium. As a result from countless unsuccessful negotiations among the fragmented political parties, the country has been without a government for a year now since their election last year in June. As a matter of fact, Belgium's leaders are not even close to coming to an agreement on a new coalition. Yet everything is running well in Belgium which reflects on the country's strong and independent administration system. The most interesting fact with the multiethnic societies in the country (6.5 million Dutch speakers in the north and the 4.5 million French speakers in the south) is their national motto "Strength Through Unity", a lesson that the propagators of the '1Malaysia' policy can learn from.

Malaysia is many, many miles from reaching that state but it is something that our politicians can learn from. Instead of working out a strategy to solve the immediate problems, it's about time we bust our brains to work towards long term planning. We cannot suffer the same fate as the people in Greece, Spain and (eventually) Ireland. The most important thing is to educate the people both in urban and rural areas to see things that could benefit them in long term.

Barisan Nasional got their chance for more than half a century and they blew it. Let's hope Pakatan Rakyat will not follow their examples. In the meantime, the rural voters must be made to understand that it will not be about who they are angry at but who they really want to represent and lead them for the next political term.

When politicians plot, public gets shafted

Posted: 11 Aug 2011 03:32 PM PDT

Why is the MAS/AirAsia merger necessary? Was it to help MAS or AirAsia? No one really knows as this deal is shrouded in mystery.

With this latest defrauding of the public purse, how much of the taxpayers' money has gone unaccounted for? This government is neither transparent nor accountable. It does not adhere to its own catch-phrase, "People First, Performance Now". It doesn't even match up to its own Key Performance Indicators.

Mariam Mokhtar, Free Malaysia Today

The fly-by-night people in charge of MAS are no better than a posse of cowboys. Why do we continue to tolerate the wasteful antics of our politicians who indulge in a game of real-life Monopoly and who use taxpayers' money to bail out ailing companies?

In a perverse reversal of the saying "King Midas and his golden touch", it appears that whatever BN-Umno politicians "touch" will always turn to dust and ashes.

This deal that is struck with MAS and AirAsia is another smack in the face for the public. What sort of responsible government allows such a merger to take place? By agreeing to this merger, the government has neglected to address healthy competition which in essence should benefit the airline customers, companies and the Malaysian economy.

What about fair trading practices? Or conflict of interest? Or share prices? Maybe the Securities Commission should start probing both AirAsia and MAS about insider trading or any other irregularities. What about the jets each carrier uses, the agreements and maintenance contracts signed with Boeing and Airbus? Who honours what?

However, the most scandalous revelation is that all government-linked companies, have been instructed by Nazri Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister's department, to cease all civil suits against Tajuddin Ramli, the former chairman of MAS and settle out of court.

Yet again, Tajuddin has been let off scot-free and the public, denied justice. Any court revelations now would not look good for Barisan Nasional, especially as the general election draws near.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, working for MAS was both a privilege and carried great prestige. Today, there is a different portrait of the MAS employees. Many are unhappy and morale is at an all-time low. Disaffection with MAS is felt by cabin, flight and ground crews including engineering and maintenance staff.

Jala's forte

When Singapore Airlines (SIA) and MAS emerged from the ashes of the now-defunct Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA), SIA went from strength to strength while MAS was left in the doldrums.

When former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave his blessing to Tajuddin to be installed as the chairman of MAS, the airline started to go downhill. Tajuddin received the support and protection from his influential patron, the former finance minister, Daim Zainuddin, which spelt further doom for MAS.

In these days of rising fuel costs and tight profit margins, the airline industry is more competitive than ever. However, the Malaysian Cabinet denies putting government officials in charge of a global brand.

These officials are clueless about most things and have no experience of running an airline. The first thing to effect a turnaround should have been to disband the senior management, all of whom are mere government puppets.

If there was one brief moment of respite for MAS staff, it was when Idris Jala took over and was "praised" for turning the company around. But even simpletons realise that selling your best assets just to make the books look good, is not financial wizardry. Many in MAS are still angry with Jala.

Asset stripping was Jala's forte. He also engaged in cost-cutting by reducing many of the privileges enjoyed by the staff without addressing the problems created by Umnoputras and BN politicians who treated the airline like it was their own private transport.

Jala, having collected his performance bonus, then entered the government's bloated political élite club via the back door and became a senator and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department.

So if Jala has turned MAS around, why is the MAS-AirAsia merger necessary? Was it to help MAS or AirAsia? No one really knows as this deal is shrouded in mystery.

Mahathir remarked that the MAS-AirAsia merger was a "very good idea" as "AirAsia can learn about the experience of MAS and MAS can learn how to reduce costs as done by AirAsia".

How prophetic. Anyone with half a brain will know that MAS is run along government lines. "You do as we say" is the norm and the person who kowtows to the government will be rewarded with a title and other benefits. And if others want to haul you to the court for non-payment of debts, the government does a good service in whitewashing and "proving" your innocence.

READ MORE HERE

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Jumaat, 12 Ogos 2011

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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