1 Year After 308 General Election/ 政治海啸一周年

We celebrated 1 year after 308 general election 2 days ago. However, there is still intense politicking and political temperature is unlikely to subside with 3 coming by-elections. There will be more politics and more political drama while we face the economic tsunami manufactured in the USA.

Post 308, ethnic relationship is under stress. Economic downturn will aggravate any social disorder, since we will be facing growing number of jobless people. The retrenchment rate will go up and social security will be a problem.

Against the backdrop, people will be definitely be sick of the politicians from both the political divide. Already we can sense people are getting frustrated and fed up with politicians.
It is obvious that political stability and the politic of development will not please the rakyat. The voters’ expectations are high.

Talk about past glory and achievement do not ring a bell among the younger generation. They want to see politicians to be able to deliver for the present and the future. They want hope, confidence and leadership at this crucial time, not political drama.

UMNO must compete for the Malay votes. UMNO cannot claim to be synonymous with the Malays. They have to compete against PAS and Keadilan.

The Non-Malay votes became crucial. BN component parties, besides UMNO have its internal problem and image problem. It is not going to be easy to shake off this image of playing second fiddle to big brother UMNO.

How to reach out to the non-Malay voters becomes more and more difficult as they become disenchanted to BN and UMNO. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

I must admit a lot of MCA leaders like to sing this old song of independence granting of citizen peace, stability and development since independence.

I am equally guilty of singing this old tune at time.

Najib will inherent a country full of political and economic challenges. He has the advantage of wealth of experience, energetic, intelligent, a good listener and a caring personality. But this is difficult and there is the need to be bold and pushy to implement a host of new initiaves to give hope to rakyat about BN. It is not going to be easy.

There is urgent need to improve the public delivery system. With the economic downturn, the cost of doing business become crucial and time delayed is additional cost. Suddenly the Selangor State Government becomes generous with the State civil servants by granting 90 days for maternity leave, plus public holidays and weekend and leave entitlement.

A public servant in Selangor may just work 150 out of 365 days. We need a superwoman to catch up with work productivity if she works only virtually on estimated days.

Cheaper cost of living is another issue the government needs to tackle. The electricity, water bills and tolls and fuel and essential basic needs should be maintained at its lowest possible cost.

With reduced incomes and raising inflation, a lot of family is finding hard to survive.
We hope to see a more interactive, a caring leadership under Najib. It should not be leaders know best. Rule by consensus, not by top down. Some BN leaders do have swollen head and behave like medieval rulers! With the attitude that I don’t have to tell the world my decision, how to be people’ friendly?

To be fair, Pak Lah gives a lot of room for social and political freedom. Freedom should be enjoyed with responsibility especially the print and electronic media.

There may be gutter politics, lets hope there is no gutter media.

Rakyat wants to see greater transparency and accountability and fairness in government policy, decision and its implementation system. With a very top down system, the public service and the politicians have t walk the extra mile to achieve this. There is a need to beef the government communication machinery. Just the radio, TV and press releases will not suffice.

Every Ministry should have a more concerted effort to talk to media more properly. Be more open and frank. If there is a mistake, just admit it. The rakyat appreciates honesty from the government.

I hope the PR government after 1 year should not be behaving like opposition in their own states. They should roll out more long term plans for their state economy and development. Blaming the previous administration is not governing. It will only kick start the blame game.

The economic crisis should be our focus. The health of the nation economy cannot be good.

Almost every sector is affected. We need politicians who can dialogue and treat.
BN government have led the nation through difficult economic times in 1985/86, 1997/1998 and now 2009, all “Bull yes” BN government have the experience to handle economic crisis. If BN handles this crisis well, then it will generate a lot of goodwill. It may also be the Archilles’ heel of the government, if not done well.

Najib will try to consolidate his power while Anwar will do all he can to topple him. Najib should not be distracted by his political enemy but be focused to discharge his responsibility.


两天前我们庆祝308一周年纪念。然而，随着3场补选即将进行，强烈的政治氛围没有平息，甚至有愈发炽热的现象，更何况当下我们正面对爆发自美国的经济风暴。

308大选之后，种族关系陷入紧张压力。经济低迷加剧社会动荡，越来越多人面对失业的危机。如今裁员蔚然成风，也将引发社会安全问题。

在这样的情况下，在我们已经强烈感受到人民对从政者越加厌烦及失望。显然，政治的稳定和发展这调子，已经无法取悦人民，选民有更高的期望。

谈论过去的荣耀和成就无法引起年轻一代的共鸣，他们要由高瞻远瞩的从政者领导国家。在当下这关键时期，他们期许有公信及优质的领袖，而不是一场又一场的政治闹剧。

巫统一定要争取非马来选民支持。巫统不能再自称是代表马来人，他们必须要和回教党及人民公正党竞争。

非马来选民是一个关键。除巫统之外，国阵各成员党皆有各自有的内部及形象问题。而且，要摆脱位居巫统之下的形象并不容易。

如今，国阵要得到非马来人的民心已倍加困难，因为他们对国阵和巫统的希望已破灭，过去的政绩无法让非马来选民对未来的表现有信心。

我必须承认，自国家独立后，很多马华领袖喜欢高唱独立保障公民和平、稳定及发展的旧曲老调。我也同样犯上这个毛病。

不久后，纳吉将继承领导眼前这个充满政治和经济挑战的马来西亚。聪明、经验丰富、精力充沛、善于倾听及有爱心是他的优势。但是，面对艰巨的挑战，他需要大胆推行革兴措施，以挽回人民对国阵的信心和期望。当然，这并不容易。

目前，政府迫切需要改善公共传递系统。基于经济不景，营商成本是存活关键，时间上的延误必酿增额外开销。

前阵子，雪兰莪州政府宣布雪州公务员可享有90天产假，公共假期、周末及年假另计。这意味着，一名雪州公务员每年可能只需要工作150天，那届时我们可能需要一位女超人，才能依时有效的完成手头上所有工作。

低生活成本和开销是政府需要处理的另外一项问题。无论是电费、水费、大道收费、汽油及其他基本开销，都应该维持在最低收费。

基于收入减少及通货膨胀率上涨，很多家庭陷入困境。我们希望，纳吉领导的政府能更有互动及有爱心，凡事征询众议。一些国阵领袖态度嚣张，行事如独霸，试问如此恶劣态度的领袖如何对人民亲善？

公平而言，阿都拉确实给予结社及政治很大的自由。因此，所有人民，特别是印刷和电子媒体，应该以负责任的态度去享受这些自由。有些政治也许很低级，但我们不希望有低级的媒体。

人民要看到政府的政策、决定及执行机制更透明化、负责任及公平。目前主张从上而下机制的公共服务领域及从政者，需要加倍努力改变现有的运作模式。此外，政府有必要加强对外的沟通机制，只是通过电台、电视台及发表文告已不足以奏效。

每一个部门也需要协同和媒体沟通，并且要开诚布公。如果出错，应坦然承认。人民必将接受政府的诚实态度，也会感到高兴。

我希望，掌政已一年的民联州政府在自己的州内不要再表现像反对党般。他们应该拟定惠及州经济和发展的长期计划。讨伐前朝政府不是正确的治理方式，这只会引发不切实际的骂战。

我们的目标应该是处理经济危机。当下国家经济疲软，近乎每一个领域都受影响。我们需要可以对商及解决问题的政治领袖。

国阵政府曾经带领国家度过数次经济风暴，包括1985/86年、1997/1998年及目前的2009年，斗牛状态的国阵政府有应对经济风暴的经验。如果国阵这次做得好，它将博得很多掌声。反之，将成为国阵的致命伤。

安华正试图以任何方式推翻国阵，纳吉应尽量巩固本身的势力。他万不能被政敌扰乱之计而分心，相反的要倾全力履行本身的责任。