— Gomen Man The Malaysian Insider Mar 18, 2012
MARCH 18 — We should punish Umno/Barisan Nasional for their arrogance and must pay heed every time their politicians show their arrogance and let other Malaysians know about it.
And it is even more imperative that we act decisively when those who portray their arrogance and deign to lecture us are anything but role models. Just listen to Najib Razak and Muhyiddin Yassin.
Today, the PM says that his government’s reforms will fail if states under the Opposition are not back in the BN fold. What a sham.
Look, his so-called reforms are dead, and have been for some time. Fearful of losing his party warlords, there have not been any open tenders, or move to push Malaysia up the income level, or more transparency in government procurement.
And let us not talk about Pemandu and Idris Jala. This is the man who supposedly turned around Malaysia Airlines and look at where the carrier is now. Pemandu have come out with a wish list of projects and their estimates are so incredible that most senior civil servants roll their eyes whenever anyone mentions Pemandu.
Our national debt is more than 55 per cent of the GDP, the highest it has ever been. It would seem the crony capitalism of the Mahathir years is back.
But Najib still is in la la land and now says that his transformation programme will be in jeopardy if Selangor, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan do not return to BN control. We can tolerate grandstanding but we should not accept lies.
Selangor and Penang are more efficiently run and have undergone more significant transformation than any BN-run state, with better surpluses and stronger foreign investor interest. Kelantan is among the poorest states because the federal government has deprived the state of funds, including oil royalty.
If anything, it is the Opposition-run states which have shown an appetite for reform, whether through the Freedom of Information Act, etc.
But Najib is prepared to lie to former Malay civil servants and that is his prerogative. We don’t have to put up with these lies anymore.
Now let me discuss his deputy. The man dismisses the threat of Bersih 3.0 and says that demos don’t change anything. Serious? Why did his boss push through the lame duck Peaceful Assembly Act if not for pressure from Bersih 2.0? Why did Najib change the Internal Security Act if not for pressure from Bersih 2.0?
But we should not be surprised about Muhyiddin. The guy rarely talks sense. It is a wonder he is still a national leader given his legal troubles with a group of Singapore investors back in the days when he was the Johor MB. Just Google Stamford and Muhyiddin.
He was also the agriculture minister when Shahrizat Jalil’s family hit the jackpot aka the NFC project.