MALAYSIANS are living in the 21st century but its political culture is very much ancient and feudalistic in nature.
An aghasted PKR deputy president Raifizi Ramli has outlined five political practices on his latest Facebook post that still exist among political parties and politicians in this country that need to be discarded:
ONE: Rider & escort
Only the prime minister (PM) and deputy prime minister (DPM) should have riders and escorts for security purposes. Don’t be bothered with other ministers. MPs and state assemblymen do not need an escort. Those who accompany the PM and DPM should diligently render their service to the rakyat, not ending up as bootlickers.
TWO: People carrying bags
Why can’t one carry his/her own bag? Is the bag too heavy to be carried by oneself? It’s not even as heavy as a schoolboy’s bag in the first place. No wonder people point their fingers at politicians for being lazy bones because they need to assign a special person to carry their bags.
THIRD: Culture of welcoming leaders
If there is a programme or event, ministries and agencies have to exhaust their budget to hold a ceremony. Following this, there are dozens of people to greet. Preparation takes weeks if not months. Interestingly, this has yet to take into account meetings to plan on welcoming the minister. Ministers should attend less meetings and work harder by thinking how best to solve the country’s numerous problems.
FOURTH: Kissing the hand
Please don’t kiss a politician’s hand. We all have many sins. Somehow the sin of the people is much lesser than that of a minister. We pay him to do work, not to be idolised as our God. He is not fulfilling his responsibilities for free. The act of kissing hands should be reserved for only our parents.
FIFTH: Use money of the rakyat to put their faces on a billboards
Please don’t spend the people’s money to put up a billboard with the minister’s face on it. This is, however, fine is he/she uses his/her own money. Rather than using the people’s money on the pretext of promoting the ministry’s efforts but instead put the minister’s face on it, it will be better to channel the money to help the people directly. The billboard maybe big, the minister is smiling but the problems remain unresolved.
“If you agree with this mission to eradicate such bodek (bootlicking) culture, do share with everyone. However, there must be many politicians out there who are irritated with me,” added the aspirant Pandan MP who will be engaged in a five-cornered fight during the 15th General Election (GE15) on Nov 19.
Rafizi who missed out defending the Pandan parliamentary seat during the previous national poll in 2018 because of a court case will face former MCA president Tan Sri Ong Tee Keat who will be contesting under the Warisan ticket.
Also contesting in Pandan in GE15 are Datuk Leong Kok Wee (Barisan Nasional/BN), Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) candidate Muhammad Farique Zubir Albakri, and Pejuang’s candidate Nadia Hanafiah. – Nov 10, 2022
Main pic credit: Malaysiakini
