Thesun 2009-04-23 Page13 Can We Skip By-elections

theSun

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| THURSDAY APRIL 23 2009

INTERVIEWS VIEWS

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letter IT WAS a usual busy Monday in KL city. I had foreign friends in town and decided that we’d LRT into KL and taxi around the tourist spots for the day, saving on parking and experiencing true Malaysia without the traffic jams. After approaching 10 taxi drivers and walking up and down busy Bukit Bintang street trying to get a metered taxi, I lost my cool. I argued with a tout for wanting to charge us RM20 to drive from Pavilion to KLCC – a walk-able distance. Yes, we had to take a cab because we had luggage and it was raining. So there I was – on one hand trying to show my friends beautiful Malaysia but instead all my efforts were ruined when I argued with the 11th taxi driver. We got so fed up, that we walked some more and gave in. It was infuriating. Obviously, we didn’t have a choice and they knew it. We would finally cave. Three minutes and ten ringgit poorer, we reached our destination – the pride of our nation – the Twin Towers where the movie Entrapment was filmed. I definitely felt entrapped … What a rip-off, I kept thinking. I felt violated and this was not the first time which made it even worse. Then I thought, should I not have argued with the tout and taken down his cab number? I knew the only reason I did argue was because there were four of us and one big guy. So I was “safe” but transport-less and potentially stranded ... unless I gave in but I just didn’t want to – without a fight. I’d have kept quiet and paid him had I been alone. I thought to myself why is this the situation? Why do they have to resort to such behaviour? The reality is that these taxi drivers themselves need more than what they earn to survive. And perhaps they aren’t getting paid enough to provide for themselves and their families. Yes, some seem to want to make a quick buck and see it as their right to cheat but in general, the system in place is not working. Surely this

The argumentative Malaysian is a problem that can be resolved if it was important enough to those who had the power to do something and were forced to depend on public transport daily. I guess the only reason I feel affected is because I decided not to drive into town one day but if I never did, I wouldn’t know the plight of those who do it everyday. Human nature is that we care for what is ours. It takes effort to see beyond ourselves and to listen to another’s views. I find it hard even to do that in my daily life, what more our public figures when everything seems magnified.

Extending an olive branch doesn’t make us weak, or nullify our arguments. It means that you’re strong enough to want to work things through.” Sometimes we argue, fight, defend and try to protect our rights and get nowhere except being exhausted. So maybe what we need is to stop arguing and start communicating. It’s definitely not easy but it is possible. It’s important to know when to argue and when to let go. Though, when in a position of influence it is important to dialogue instead of debate unless it’s during an election. Civilised discourse needs to

be the first response and not the last option. While we need to cultivate an appetite for peace instead OnPointe of conflict, we must remember by Natalie Shobana Ambrose that peace does not mean pushing someone into a corner but it means acceptance and finding common ground. Every soldier who fires a round needs time to reload. I understand why sometimes leaders stay quiet when their followers want a response. It is because we have to choose our battles if not we too will perish RaisWhine: fighting in the battles we pick. We need to God, help strike a balance. So instead of following me with Newton’s law of motion, and reacting to everything, we need to stop reacting and the small start listening and start talking. print Extending an olive branch doesn’t pg 15 make us weak, or nullify our arguments. It means that you’re strong enough to want to work things through. I ended up laughing with that taxi driver about being Malaysian and the need to argue. Perhaps, if I were a taxi driver, I would have charged far more if my office were the roads of Kuala Lumpur. Natalie would not make a good tour guide and wonders if anything will change the next time she’s in need of a taxi in KL. Comment: [email protected]

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Can we skip by-elections? WE HAVE just gone through three by-elections recently and another one is likely in Penanti, Penang, soon. In retrospect, I wonder if byelections are necessary. This is especially so when considerable time, effort and money are deployed for these by elections. These resources, I feel, could be put to better use for the good of the nation. It would make sense for the party which held that seat last to replace the person who has vacated the post with another from the same party. Fast, clean and cheap. No hassles and unnecessary politicking. No messy posters, bunting and banners nor opportunities for money politics. No need to print extra large ballot papers to accommodate a dozen candidates. I feel that the process is still democratic as the constituents will still be governed by the party of their choice. With more by-elections to come as state assemblymen are today resigning for the flimsiest reasons, we can expect more wastage of precious time and resources in future by-elections. During these turbulent times, wouldn’t it be more prudent to focus our collective energy on steering our country through these troubled waters? We cannot afford to be side-tracked. We cannot afford the distractions. We cannot afford to waste time on by-elections. Angeline Lesslar Subang Jaya