NOW IT IS YELLOW – NOW IT IS NOT

Now, DIGP Khalid Abu Bakar has declared that the wearing of the yellow shirt or anything yellow is alright as long as it does not have the Bersih word written on it. So, it is now the Bersih word that has become illegal and not the colour. And as I was writing this article, someone asked me, “what if I decide to wear a white shirt with the Bersih word embossed on it; will I be arrested for it?” Now I am getting a bit confused. Who actually decides what is right and what is wrong – the police or the Home Minister?

I think this whole issue of the yellow colour and the word Bersih has become so comical that I dread telling it to my foreign friends that has been following the Bersih episode.

Let me be honest to all and sundry that there are more serious domestic issues that need our leader’s attention. There is already a growing discontentment over the unstoppable rise in the prices of household consumable goods. The DPM was seen going on his rounds at some market areas and did he not ask the people whether they are satisfied with the prices? You know how much does a kilo of Ikan Kembung cost now? Back in the late 60’s early 70’s, people in the northern states consider that Ikan Kembung is cheap staff and so they hardly eat the fish. What about the greens? I thought that when the DPM was Agriculture Minister, he was trying to encourage vegetable farmers to grow more vegetables and to reduce dependency on Thailand imported vegetables. What has happened now, that he is no longer the Agriculture Minister?

The above is just one example of an issue that needs serious attention. I can list much more, but seriously having to list them all, what good will it be if our leaders continues to bark over the Bersih yellow shirt issue, as if that yellow shirt can feed a thousand hungry poor .And taking about the poor, do we not see that poverty is still rampant in modern Kuala Lumpur? Take a walk around the back lanes of Chow Kit Road, Pudu and some other areas and you will be surprised to see the amount of filth that lies clogged in monsoon drains, and the destitute living among makeshift cardboard homes (if I can call that a home); some even under bridges. We certainly have a serious social issue in urban KL and what have the minister in charge done about it?

The problem with some of our leaders and with all their ‘court jesters’ is that they (leaders) are not shown around enough. What is bad is kept out of view. The road along which the leader is to travel is being swept sparking clean. Clogged drains flushed out and dilapidated buildings are being spruced up to make it look prettier. On an occasion like this, the local authority workers are sure to be kept busy, when otherwise most will be taking shelter in some cool and shaded areas. I have experienced such happening when I was in PULADA, where we had to do a mandore’s job to chase after some lazy labourers.

So let’s stop harping over a stale issue like the yellow shirt and get down to brass tabs. Surely, the police have endless crime job to handle. Managing the Kuala Lumpur traffic chaos is enough to drain the energies off the policemen. So why bother whether it is yellow, black or green T shirts and the words inscribed on the shirt.

CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION