check and balance

So it's now the end of February. Those aspiring to be their respective wakil rakyat have just one more week to campaign in Malaysia. A lot of money has been spent by BN to ensure they regain their majority in parliament.

During the last election, they had a landslide victory. I guess people saw Pak Lah as this good and religious guy who would stamp out corruption in the government, especially after the Mahathir era. Look how that turned out.

I don't deny that BN has brought a lot of progress to the country. Hey, after decades in charge, they should have achieved that, or else they would be a very big failure.

What I'm concerned about is the amount of corruption and scandals that seems to be swept under the carpet. They seem to think that just because the majority voted for them in the elections, they can do whatever they want. Their arrogance let them pijak kepala those who are weak, those who cannot defend themselves. They close one eye to friends who are in wrong and people's complains just fall on deaf ears.

what we need is check and balance, not cheque and balance
(disclaimer: reference in this picture to any specific commercial product, process, service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise is/are purely coincidental)

So that's why I'm hoping that BN will be denied a two thirds majority. We need check and balance in the government. We are all human, so we make mistakes sometimes. Hence it's the duty of the other people in power to correct these mistakes. Since in Malaysia it is forbidden for members of BN to disagree with the party, the opposition should be acting as something like the conscience of the government.

In the UK, the official parliamentary opposition party have their own shadow cabinet. They have shadow ministers who provide counterpoints to the ministers of the government. It is their responsibility to pass criticism on the current government as well as offering alternative policies.

This is a great concept since the government will always ensure that they are doing the best thing for the country and the people, because if they don't, the opposition is there to correct and criticise them. By criticise, I don't mean the kind that usually happens in our parliament, where grown adults fight like small children who just lost their favourite toy. What I mean is respectable, positive criticism.

Now I don't think this could be applied in Malaysia. Not currently anyway, and maybe not for the next 10 years as well (or probably never if we can't change our close-minded and 'I'm right you're wrong' attitude) . This is mainly because the opposition isn't strong enough. It's true, they have finally decided not to contest in the same area, but they are still not as strong as BN. Nevertheless, they are getting stronger.

It pains me to have to watch all this from afar. I really would like to join in the 'action' in Malaysia. For those of you who think that my reason not to register/vote is unacceptable, I would not hold it against you. I just hope that you could respect my decision. Unfortunately, respect for people is very much lacking nowadays.

So people, if you ask me, I'll tell you to vote for anyone other than BN candidates. But then we don't know if the opposition is good enough or capable to run an effective government. It's a catch-22 situation. If they want to be elected, they need to show that they have experience and are very much capable, but to have experience, they must first be elected by the people.

So what should you, those who will be voting, do? Will you choose BN because you like what they've been doing so far (progress, economy, corruption)? Or will you choose another party, whose candidate you see as untried and untested? Well, that's up to you to decide.

Use the greatest gift Allah has given you (Allah means God for those of you who don't know, and I also don't mind non-muslims refering Allah as God). Or if you don't believe in God, then use the greatest asset that you have. No, not your heart. That just pumps blood you know. And it's not the hati either. It's your brain. Your very smart and intelligent brain. Use it. Wisely.

“Change we can believe in.”