A sacrifice named Shahrizat

Prime Minister Najib Razak commended Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil for having made — eventually — the decision to quit the Cabinet. (She’s not quitting now, though, but at the end of her senatorship on April 8, 2012.)

He added that this was her ‘sacrifice’ for the sake of the government and Umno.

Sacrifice? Isn’t quitting the job was what was expected of Shahrizat by many Malaysians ever since the NFC controversy erupted? If anything, the taxpayers are the ones who had ‘sacrificed’ their RM250 million (in the form of government loan) that had gone to many things that were unrelated to cattle-farming!

Which is why concerned Malaysians still want to see those responsible in this scandal be made accountable, notwithstanding Shahrizat’s quitting.

Democracy for Dummies

(Photo credit: funstoo.blogspot.com)

The above statement, although brief in nature, should be instructive for people who are incapable of understanding democracy, especially in a social context where politics gets stained quite easily.

Sniff-sniff! “We know who back the ‘anti-government blogs'”

Selangor Perkasa chairman Abdullah Mansor reportedly claims that they somehow ‘sense’ who fund the ‘anti-government blogs’ — although they haven’t got an iota of evidence so far and are still unable to pinpoint which of the many blogs are culpable.

He said that these blogs “are funded by either the United States or other foreign powers”.

This must be a conspiracy theory (and conspiracy theorists to boot) at its dizzying height.

Besides, surely being critical of the government isn’t, and shouldn’t be, tantamount to being unpatriotic to the country.

But more seriously, this is a crude reflection of a dense mind effortlessly insulting the intelligence of many conscientious Malaysians.

You’re simply the best

Former minister Rafidah Aziz recently claimed that there was no need for thorough reforms with existing government policies simply because they were instituted by an administrative system that could be rated as among “the best in the world”.

But then the BN government is not faultless after all in terms of governance as Rafidah would like us to believe. Even her party president and prime minister Najib Razak did admit that there had been mistakes committed by the federal government in the past.

Come to think of it. You don’t need to be a prime minister to point out what problems the Malaysian society has been facing over the years. Ordinary members of the public would tell you that corruption, violation of human rights, abuse of power, political arrogance, thuggery and rising costs of living are some of the things that are bothering the rakyat and hurting the economy.

So it does look like reform and meaningful change are very much needed.