DECEMBER 29 — It’s quite funny that from the beginning of the year till somewhere towards the end of the year, there is this sense of ‘government versus opposition’ sentiment being flared by certain parties for whatever reason.

It is only when a natural disaster or a catastrophe takes place, we see the humanity element in all of us.

It is disheartening to know that it takes something of that magnitude to enable us to put aside our differences and put the common good of the people as priority.

The question that arises is this: why can’t this humanity element be present throughout and the common good of the people be made a priority consistently?

One would like to think that during times of natural disasters, all political partisans would be put aside when it comes to aid of the unfortunate, but sadly even that has become an issue. Does it matter which political party gives aid to the unfortunate? Of course not.

The one thing that shouldn’t be happening during times of crisis is political parties taking advantage of the situation and ‘posing’ for publicity. Leaders ‘turun padang’, as they say, for one purpose, and one purpose only, that is to give assurance and confidence that efforts are being taken to look into the people’s needs. It is not for leaders to come on television and say that their holiday has been cut short.

As we know, the monsoon will come and go, the rain will come and go, the floods will come and go, and eventually it will be back to the daily routine.

It is at those routine times we can then see the ‘disappearance’ of that human element due to political differences. For some strange reason, the elusive ‘racial and religious tension’, that some leaders insist is present, makes the headlines. The mainstream media’s journalism principles, just like the rain, dwindle away and flow into the river with the mud.

As a schoolboy, I always watched on television the flooding situation in the east coast and for some strange reason, till today, I still see the same news. I stand to be corrected, but unless the geographical aspect of the east coast states are such that floods are inevitable, why is there no solution to this? And in recent years, the flooding has expanded to other states.

It is one thing to say that the global weather system has gone haywire, but that does not mean that a solution to the floods is not imminent and should not be top priority.

From this, one thing is clear. The government of the day seems to be finding solutions to problems as and when they appear. There is no visionary concept on the part of the government, apart from simply stating that Wawasan 2020 will take place no matter what. You have some states that are inaccessible by road at certain times of the year, and we are supposed to be a developed nation in less than six years?

I sincerely hope that the government of the day does not have the notion that because they are giving aid for the flooding situation that people are going to forget the other issues like corruption and incompetency that have plagued this nation for many years.

I think Malaysians in general tend to step up when it matters most as it is their nature to do so. Unfortunately, however, certain parties like to take advantage of that trait. While we are thankful that authorities and related agencies come to the rescue in times of need, one leader’s presence does not make any physical impact, it is his vision and preparations for any disaster that do, and that is what matters most.

I think in the past year, we have seen certain quarters gloating about their acts of incitement and division, and getting away with it, funnily enough.

This so-called ‘government versus opposition’ sentiment must stop for the benefit of the people. Yes, political ideologies may vary, but the welfare of the citizens should be a constant.

Come the new year, will we see any difference in the way the government implements its policies so that the human element is present? We can hope.

Happy New Year!

*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.