DECEMBER 19 — I wish our politicans wouldn't approach their jobs as though politics was a family business. Might I suggest just opening a chain of sundry shops instead? Then no one will make a fuss about your ill-disguised attempts at passing down power to your descendants.
Malaysians need a better education I feel as so many of us act as though we aren't a constitutional monarchy. We go through elections; we do not pass down government or political posts via blood ties.
One of the reasons it took so long to unseat our previous prime minister was the sentimental approach many had about who his father was.
Leadership skills and political acumen are not passed down through genes. Just because your parent was a statesman, it doesn't mean you would make a good one.
The hue and cry over Nurul Izzah Anwar's resigning her official posts was severely overblown when she was just doing what a sane person would do, when considering such things as simple ethics.
Nepotism is an evil that Malaysians gloss over; we just haven't gotten over our feudal hangover. Ascribing too much power to blood ties, treating political posts as though they were inheritances.
Did no one consider that dubbing Izzah Pakatan's “princess” was demeaning? As though she was part of some dynasty whose destiny was to rule.
It is high time that regulations exist at all levels to prevent nepotism from flourishing. We must accept that it is not good enough to accept a leader's word when they claim that a decision favouring a relative is not nepotism.
As Caesar's wife had to be above suspicion, the same level of scrutiny and standards of conduct must be applied to our leadership.
We still have politicians dragging their feet about declaring their assets. We still have many of them refusing to divest business interests, refusing to disclose their involvement in companies who would benefit from government largesse.
What Izzah is doing shouldn't be considered unnatural; it should be par for the course. How can she ever be taken seriously as a politician when she will just be seen as taking advantage of the fact that PKR is “mummy and daddy's party.”
The focus here shouldn't be on her ― but of the questionable state of our politics, where even party elections are mired in accusations of tampering.
I look forward to the day when Malaysians will start judging leaders by their policies, and not by their parentage.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
