Wednesday, January 14, 2009

By-election for Kuala Terengganu (2)

Heading into the second day of the campaign for the by-election in Kuala Terengganu, the heat has been turned on by both sides through the mammoth ceramahs. Character assassination has been used by the Barisan Nasional as their propaganda to gun down the opposition particularly the failure of the de factor leader of PKR cum MP for Permatang Pauh, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in fulfilling his promise in toppling the federal government on the 9th of September 2008. Many have been misled by the Barisan Nasional's allegations. To have a thorough 'sky change' on the 9th of September 2008 does not mean to topple the federal government immediately, but to engage on the process of creating a new dawn.

I was thinking the previous claims of several heavyweights from the Barisan Nasional - it would be immoral to get MPs from BN to cross over as it would have gone against the mandate given to the respective party in the general election. Since the 'sky change' did not take place as anticipated by many, why should the Barisan Nasional be using this topic to launch personal attacks on the opposition. I remember vividly that the outgoing Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi rejected the request from the opposition to convene an urgent parliament session after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was confident of showing him a list of the MPs that were going to defect him. Since the truth (whether 916 was supposed to occur last year) is not known by any of us including the ministers and MPs of the BN and Pakatan Rakyat, the topic on 916 is irrelevant to be used in this by-election.

"The allocations and assistance to Chinese schools and to beautify Chinese villages show that the BN government is fair to all races. We need a capable leader who can also work closely with MCA." The above statement made by Wanita MCA Chief, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun 'mesmerised' me when I first came across it. But after considering it further, it has become a laughing stock to utter the above statement in such an important period. The statement depicts the the BN government is practising half-past six attitude in progressing with the other part of the world. Allocations and assistance are only provided if there is a by-election - how can the state progress?

Since the start of the campaign, MCA Wanita has kicked off with the planned activities and programmes. I pose my question to MCA Wanita - why do you need to wait for a by-election to carry out all these activities? You all should have been doing this weekly! Moreover, I would like to convey an advice to Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun. In the last general election, you as the incumbent lost out the PJ Utara seat to YB Tony Pua though you took advantage of the bias government controlled mass media to 'explain' the so-called fair government policies. You should flashback and find out the reasons you lost to YB Tony Pua. From my point of view, people are no longer blinded by your words easily; likewise, the articles today in newspapers will not lend you a helping hand.

And more pertinently, this by-election does not merely decide the fate of the people in Kuala Terengganu, but the fate of all the Malaysians. Regardless of race, all Malaysians in Kuala Terengganu are prudent enough to jump out of the racial coconut shells and drop their ballot into the redefining box of a brand new Malaysia!

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