COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
March 29, 2014
It must be said, time and again, that there is a difference between government and country. A huge difference. And asking people to unite for the country is absolutely different from asking people to unite
for the government.
More so in the days and weeks after flight MH370 and the 239 people on board vanished without a trace. Many have asked to pray for the passengers and the plane, to unite for the flight and for the country.
That doesn’t mean that criticising the incompetence of the Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi or the inaccurate presumption of the Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri is unpatriotic.
They are the politicians elected to parliament and appointed to public office as ministers and deputy ministers by the ruling government. They are not the country. All of us are the country.
They represent us in parliament and those who hold executive posts have to run the ministries and provide oversight to the civil service that makes sure the country is run well.
And if it isn’t run well, action must be taken to get it back on track.
So, it is interesting to see that the mainstream media is going gaga about how flight MH370 incident has united the country.
Why should they be surprised? All Malaysians love their country. Period. What more during a time of national tragedy and sadness.
It is this love of country that persuaded a large number of Malaysians to vote last May 5. It is this same patriotism that has made Malaysians battle corruption, cronyism, racism and chauvinism.
It is this love that keeps us Malaysians working to improve the country in spite of politicians who seek to divide us for their own interests.
Just like criticism against the Barisan Nasional government’s handling of MH370 should not be viewed as criticism against Malaysia, uniting behind the country at a time of sadness should not be construed as a thumbs up for Najib and his friends.
We are Malaysians and we only have one country to call home. But we have a choice of which government we want to run our country for us. – March 29, 2014.