A Year On More Tears Than Cheers

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MAY 9! A year after taking over Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan has nothing to celebrate. Perhaps Tun Dr Mahathir is the only one who can put up a broad smile for creating history as being prime minister for the second time in history.

The lowly-rated Cabinet can only look at diminishing ratings, a jumbled-up policies and some over-zealous plans which puzzled the rakyat, and the foreign partners.

Maybe the only positive result is in inching Malaysia a step up the ladder of world's corruption index, which made DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang fully satisfied, forgetting the fact that PH is full of lies and tricks in dodging the more-educated people.

And together with Dr M, Kit Siang has forgotten that PH too is a bad example of dynasty-building, cronyism and nepotism with the presence of 'father-and-son, hubby-wife-daughter and siblings' power, a political phenomenon too complex to comprehend in Malaysian context.

Who is actually in control, only God knows but I am of the opinion that the premier bears too much headaches for coming into PH as a minority party while DAP and PKR have a more stinging voice of the administrative composition.

Let's not argue over who and who controls the various ministries. They are new, that's what PM said. However, a new government in some countries took only a few months, sometimes two to three months to restructure the development program for their respective countries and people. Ours are different.

Still harping on the wrongdoings of the previous government, they are actually digging their own grave. The rakyat's high expectation for the votes that changed the government is fast fizzling out under the soaring heat of higher cost of living and scarce opportunity.

The 'yesman' tradition still thrive. No doubt that they have expertise in many disciplines, the bosses just won't listen. They have their own set of mind, others better shut up.

It's soothing, however, to note that the government has chosen to resume BN projects by making several adjustments. Good, BN laid it for the nation and the people. Maybe ECRL and HSR are not for the presence time but when Dr M built the futuristic LRT and KLIA during his tenure as the fourth PM, it was meant to defeat rising prices should such projects are implemented years from now.

A year on since May 9, 2018 and the economy is slowing down. Blame it on Donald Trump for the ringgit devaluation, the slow-pace stocks market and the soaring necessity items since SST replace GST last year. I dont know at whose advise that the tax regime must be changed when more than 160 countries in the world are implementing it.

The unfulfilled manifesto promises to do away with toll, PTPTN, 1 million jobs, RM1.50 ceiling price for petrol and others are already making the people blase. By-elections in Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Rantau proved it and the multiplying criticism on the internet indicates how the people is getting easily fed-up.

By continuously putting the blame on the previous government, they are also element of weakness in the central administration. Amid calls by buddies in PH itself to stop such an excuse and concentrate on managing the country on a right track, difference of opinion remain an obstacle.

Hey! Who promised a free English Premier League channel for us? We play by the balls, right?

Economically, we don't heed reports and recommendations by international ratings agencies like Moody's, Standard and Poor, Nikkei and even the IMF and World Bank. Fine, we have our own moulds, and that explains why the trust among foreign investors is dwindling, especially from foreign asset managers like Amundi.

It seems that each and every minister wants to produce a 'bang' to divert the peoples' attention. Black socks and black shoolshoes, palm oil drinking campaign, bamboo to replace rubber and palm oil plantations, no defense budget (Dewan Negara just approved a figure yesterday), Najib Razak, Zahid Hamidi, Azeez Rahim and other previous ministers in court, midnight toll and night working hour for civil servants.

They probably are Benny Hill of their own!

I don't mind the this and that investigation on several government-linked agencies like Tabung Haji, Felda and many more but I just cannot accept the fact that Permodalan Nasional Berhad was made RM6 billion loser in just 10 months. What is the mathematical calculation for their profit and loss, and even the formula in trimming down the cost of ECRL, HSR and many more?

With honeymoon and holidays over, its time to work. Don't be startled by the tagline 'kerajaan satu penggal' for it was the rakyat's labeling. The government is not always right and the opposition is not always wrong. This applies to almost all governments in the world.

But Dr M's Cabinet is still very much with their old style. Its difficult to get rid of that 'opposing' stigma as to when they were outside the government. Blaming game still goes on, lies and slanders remain as their strongest political bullets.

Some of former Cabinet members are good and trustworthiness. Their vast experience serves helping hands to the novices but they are sidelined because they are the Opposition MPs now. And for these MPs to work together with the government sees no space as PH prefers their own.

I do not wish to pen at length but I remember when our PM said "... even angels make mistake...". I want to believe in what an old saying goes: Leaders and lawyers are the first to go to hell!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

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