Rotten Leadership In Malaysia

The present ruling BN government is a perfect example of how rotten leadership in Malaysia is weighing heavily and badly on the people in the country. Good high quality politicians within the BN are systematically sidelined or get thrown out of the administration. Those who are able to remain within the BN are people who could neither care much about democratic principles or the common good. Moderate politicians who prefer to avoid raising racially-based slogans or campaigns are shoved to the side or ejected and those who like to champion narrow issues are given the limelight. Clearly, the BN government practises selective persecution. Yet, the BN seemed totally constipated, when the past-expiry-date Dr Mahathir, the father of corruption, continually intervened in the policy-making duties of the government. The situation clearly exposed the glaring lack of moral courage and political will in the entire current BN leadership, especially within UMNO. Another glaring shortcoming of the present BN leadership is the almost uncontrollable desire to constantly play to the people's emotions. Street gatherings by pro-government groups are coyly given the green light to go ahead while street gatherings organised by others are denounced and threatened with on-the-spot arrests. Tough uncompromising speeches and statements made by supremacist politicians are regularly given prominence by the mass media. Meanwhile some of the BN leaders are busily trying to hoodwink the common people by constantly hinting or announcing "price cuts or price reductions" on this and that. In reality, constant price cuts or reductions are a total farce, and the politicians know it but prefer to remain coyly ignorant. The sharp rise in the price of fresh chillies is a case in point. Items like everyday necessities or produce do not fall out of the sky or magically appear by the roadside every morning, unless it is a dead person's body, at least in this country, Malaysia. The call to boycott that the government your-pie-in-the-sky would fall for such support or sympathy

traders who did not reduce prices is a sign knows that constant price reductions are like falsehoods and only really ignorant fools blatantly shallow efforts to win public after doing badly at the ballot box.

Traders have to turn in at least a small profit each day, taking into account that rentals are always going up and never going down. They cannot conduct charity on behalf of the government. But why the deafening silence when it comes to public transport ? Public transport kingpins in Malaysia want constant and regular price INCREASES, not price reductions. And apparently, they have the sympathy of the government. Surely, even the average man in the street knows that people who

use public transport are people who belong to the lower-income bracket, thus, these people are clearly being left at the mercy of those who run a business monopoly and business empires even. Also, BN politicians like to emphasise with glee the fact that "other" areas or countries are presently in a mess, with suicide attacks and demonstrations and other forms of mayhem taking place while their citizens are totally helpless. The government should instead be thankful that the people here are generally of a rather sedentary nature in spite of the longstanding discrimination and injustice. Minorities here have generally gotten used to the many unfair barriers, outright threats and various forms of political blackmail available here. Thus, if there is a lack of such mayhem in Malaysia, the BN government must not take false pride or credit for it. The BN leadership is truly rotten and only come March next year will we be able to catch a glimmer of hope for change. In the meantime we will have to bear with it.