But the latest GE has been an eye-opener. There is still some hope that Malaysia will pull itself out of the funk that the BN government has instilled over the past 50+ years.
Then reality set in.
Penang looks like their trying to annex itself off from Malaysia.
Perak.. well history repeats itself. Remember how the Brits got Perak, because the royalty couldn't get along and started playing politics and then one of the ang mohs got assasinated? While the royalty now takes no sides, politics; and more dangerously, race and religious politics are being played to the detriment of the new hope in Malaysia.
Selangor, hopefully nothing untoward is happening, though RPK has said some back office jockeying is occuring.
Kedah, my home state looks quite peaceful and hopefully I will still be able to hold my wife's hand when I go home the next time.
Hold on guys, let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.
Let's take an objective view of the NEP: much the bane for the recent losses of the BN.
IT IS a good thing. But it's implementation with the BN government is very haughty with corruption. So there is nothing wrong with Guan Eng wanting to stamp out corruption, and put in place an open tender system that is transparent and all. But rather than stoke the fears of racial marginalization, perhaps he should have activated his pause button and leave it as that.
And rather than saying everything that comes from his brain, he, as CM of Penang, should put in a place a commission, of respected persons (much like the ASEAN one for the ASEAN charter) from all races to study and recommend how to bring Penang to the next level. This should include investments, education, poverty eradication etc etc, for all races. The end objective could be what Koh Tsu Koon had said before the election: To to catch up with Singapore in 10 years.
One just needs to drive from Perak or Kedah to Penang to see the vast difference in lifestyle of the people there. Penang is just not the island, but encompassing the rural areas as well.
Therefore, one should seek to eradicate poverty of all races, which is why BN lost it's absolute 2/3 majority. They were only seen as trying to eradicate poverty amongst the Malays, and leaving the Chinese and Indian to fend for itself.
The old saying of "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach the man how to fish, he eats for a lifetime" holds true.
I have said before, the key is supporting those in need of support to move them up the economic value add. For instance, the lone fisherman, or the rubber tapper, or the padi farmer, or the hawker, be it Ali, Ah Meng or Lingam. If they have kids, and the kids show promise, the kids should be given assistance to go all the way to University if possible.
Instead of serving a bond in their next career, get them to contribute 1 or 5% of their paycheck (for 10 years) to a foundation that provides education scholarship to the needy. This is paying it forward. They must never be lulled into thinking the scholarship is their entitlement or birth right, but a gift to do better and help their families out.
As for Perak, if indeed what RPK says is correct, then it is almost certain that when the next GE comes along, Perak will return to BN because it shows that the opposition is nothing but an opportunistic party brought together out of convenience (or desperation) to deny BN of the state.
For the PAS man to be MB, it doesn't matter, because he cannot single handedly run the state. He still needs the state legislative to approve the proposals and again, no man is an island.
So why hanker over one post, when there are more important things to do in the state.
The Great Wall of China wasn't built in a day, but it certainly doesn't help if people start arguing about where to place the bricks.
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