It is time to consider the fact that we have no credible party either in government or the opposition.
From the Barisan Nasional (BN) side, we have a problem when a government minister like Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said insists that there is a concern for Malays to afford homes in Malaysia, and does so by merely pointing out that the states of Penang and Selangor have unaffordable housing in a written answer in Parliament.
Wasn’t it the Khazanah Research Institute – a government linked company’s research institute, no less – which highlighted in 2010 that home ownership was at 72.5%, urban ownership at 69.1% and in Kuala Lumpur a mere 53.5%.
Besides, didn’t the Khazanah Research Institute also point out that while property in Penang was "severely unaffordable" with a median multiple of 5.2 times, it was worse in Kuala Lumpur at 5.4 times?
It’s bad when the person making comments is a minister who does not even read research reports but even worse because such an answer seems to not even have input from the minister for housing and urban wellbeing. Is he still busy tweeting?
Furthermore, the reason behind continued poverty among the Malays is due to their profession, which ironically is subsidised and managed by government linked companies and their cronies.
If the minister cares to read about it, she can find the facts in the Salaries and Wages Report 2014, in the bar graph detailing the median incomes by professions, in which farmers, fishermen and forestry continually record the lowest wages among Malaysians.
As such, the minister is being far too political for her own good.
On the Barisan Nasional side, we have nutcases who don’t bother reading research reports and insist on spewing without knowledge.
Meanwhile, on the Pakatan Harapan side, we have the same nutcases as well, but with an addition of schizophrenic decision-making in the form of the legendary Cerberus – a literal dog with three heads. And then we have Pakatan-plus-PAS in Selangor simply because dumping them would allow a chance of a coup in Selangor favouring BN.
And this is seen clearly when they talk about policy.
Let’s take, for example, education. What is the stance on education of Maths and Science being in English among DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara?
From what I understand since 2011, PKR is against Maths and Science in English because apparently they had “parents, teachers and intellectuals” speaking out against it. Or so Nik Nazmi says in a Keadilan Daily article.
What does DAP think?
Well, while Tony Pua believes it should have been made optional, their latest Malay conquest Aziz Bari believes teaching Science and Maths in English is downright unconstitutional.
Still think the government is the only guilty party for the “scissor” salads? Think again.
At the state levels, the Penang state leadership believes PKR is siding with the BN simply because there was a need to voice out disagreement against more land reclamation projects damaging the environment even if it was “less than when Barisan Nasional was in power”. In fact, one DAP state assemblyman actually voted for the BN motion in the state assembly because he believed it was a bad idea for the environment.
Similarly in Selangor, there is an issue with housing but there is an even greater issue in still having PAS in government. But then again, PKR seems to be more focused on their own issues – with the whole “Kiram-gate” photo scandal – and becoming government auditors rather than proposing solutions.
And this is what I have against the opposition; how glib they are. Every time we ask for solutions, see how many of them reply with “let us get to Putrajaya first, then we fix it”.
What this means is that we have to suffer another five years while they jeer the government for failing instead of both sides working together for a permanent solution simply out of spite.
And so, Malaysians are stuck with politicians who don’t read and spew simply for politics and politicians willing to let you suffer simply because they didn’t get to Putrajaya.
We can argue over what should be implemented for the greater good and that is it. Is English important and should it be used for Science and Mathematics is a no-brainer.
Similarly, housing is expensive everywhere, not just Selangor and Penang. Land reclamation? Bad idea, regardless of how many acres BN did before you. Donations? Illegal by law!
Both sides need to take their ego and politics out of the equation when it comes to issues affecting the majority of Malaysians now. Too many lives are at stake and not just your party members and your voters, but the entire country.
And honestly, if neither side can actually offer viable solutions, then perhaps we should just ask the Socialists to take over. – December 8, 2015.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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