SEPTEMBER 9 — “I miss our last government,” I told a colleague. “At most, I’d be making fun of Lim Guan Eng’s Grim Reaper impression each time he gave a press conference.”
Last week I took a few days off but now I feel like I need a lot more, what with the antics of our politicians escalating to the point I’m getting migraines.
We have one deputy minister throwing his colleague under a bus, and then said colleague making a rather shameful Facebook post vilifying a young girl for having the audacity to try and take her online tests despite poor internet.
Then we have another minister who decided he needs an official escort to go cycling, all while many people in Selangor were queuing for water and being able to bathe.
It hasn’t been a year and I am so tired of our politicians. Really, Malaysian media should be sending politicians claims for all the extra health expenses of putting up with their nonsense.
I have a drawer stocked with paracetamol and ibuprofen that I readied before the MCO started but at this rate, I will need to go to the pharmacy for a refill.
As stuffy as Japanese politics is, at the very least their politicians and public officials know the value of two things: humility and a good apology.
We really need to do something about the attitude politicians take to their constituents in this country; being elected is not akin to being a lord and possessing a fiefdom.
The deputy minister’s not-so-apologetic apology sounded more like “I’m sorry my information seemed to be inaccurate but it’s not my fault so-and-so gave me bad information that I couldn’t be bothered to vet first.”
If this is what we can expect from the information ministry we might as well rechristen it the disinformation ministry for accuracy’s sake.
What mystifies me is why, of all times, an MP from Sabah wants to antagonise possible voters when the state election is in a couple of weeks’ time?
This arrogance and egotism are, unfortunately, common characteristics among many of our politicians above a certain age.
It is not a sign of weakness to admit fault and apologise; instead, it should be regarded as a measure of good character.
Will there ever be a day when good character wins out in Malaysian politics? I like to think it’s still a possibility even if it means we will need to wait for the current batch to retire (please).
If all else fails I suppose we’ll just have to organise a mass rally where we play Chicago’s Hard to Say I’m Sorry outside Parliament until someone gets a clue or we successfully annoy everyone inside.
The latter outcome is absolutely justifiable considering how annoying our politics and politicians have been since Langkah Sheraton.
In the meantime, I will just start looking for a boombox.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
