WINNING THE GENERAL ELECTION

I have been receiving calls, SMS and emails over the last few days from persons I know and from some others whom I do not know, seeking to find out whether I still ‘exit’ or otherwise. Actually, my long silence was because I have been out travelling south to visit friends that I had missed since leaving the military service. It has now been almost 13 years since I discarded my uniform, and I suddenly felt a dying urge to meet up with those that had served me; particularly those who were with me early in my military career. It sure gave me great pleasure and satisfaction to meet them once again in their period of retirement and what is most satisfying is to know that most of their children have families of their own and are leading a successful life.

I have wanted to write during my travels but at the age of 68 this November, I realize how exerting my body gets after having been on the road for an entire day.

I am now back to what I was, and the first thing I did was to try and capture all that was available in the new media. I wasn’t surprise to read that the PKR has thrown its biggest threat and challenge ever i.e. that they will take to the streets and force the government out if fraud is still prevalent in the upcoming general election. They also warned that any move to restrict the party of a peaceful gathering (to protest against an election fraud) will be met with street demonstrations that would be on a much larger scale than Bersih 2.0. They accused the Peaceful Assembly Bill tabled in Parliament recently as a move to thwart and deny any form of gathering and protest.

This is indeed a scary proposition, and if Bersih 2.0 could gather more than 50 thousand protestors, I think the next Bersih gathering (if ever it is to be organized) could easily marshal a much larger crowd. I am not saying this out of jest for there is already a brewing dissatisfaction and hatred against the government, particularly from among the younger generation for what they believe is the utter incompetence of the government to rein on the many issues inflicting society and the mismanagement of the country’s wealth. They see the recent government spending mirrors that of compulsive spender that treats the nation’s wealth as its very own Auto Teller Machine.

I say this without any inhibition, and what comes to mind is the poor handling by the government over the National Feedlot Center fiasco that puts the government at its worse in the eyes of civil society. They say that the NFC fiasco is outright abuse and thievery by those in power and the government’s inaction to support the Auditor General’s report has brought only shame to the nation. Sadly, ministers and politicians that had come out in support of the NFC are shameless idiots that clearly do not understand the difference between what is righteous and what is wrong, and the anger that they had caused from among civil society by supporting something that is so obviously wrong. I was told recently that the level of corruption and graft from among government officials (our sacred civil service) has reached a level that is beyond redemption and this is quite obvious when you see some shamelessly living beyond their means. Otherwise, how could there be so much of financial abuses and mismanagement as reflected in the Auditor General’s report? And why have the government; its ministers and some politicians in particular acted adversely against the Auditor General’s report is mind boggling. Are they saying that the Auditor General had lied, aimed at discrediting the government? Sure, the NFC fiasco has impacted upon the BN government’s image and popularity, and what is worse; I think the BN government has lost several thousand votes because of its poor handling of the NFC.

As I was writing this article, I received an SMS telling me that parents are not too pleased to see BN politicians (some Ketua Bahagian or Ketua Cawangan) handing out the RM100 cash awards to students at some schools recently. They questioned whether the cash award is from the government i.e. tax payers money, or is it from party fund. If it is from tax payer’s money, then politicians have no reason to be handing the cash award. It should be the teachers themselves or some education department officials (not politicians) that should be handing the cash award. It is public knowledge that the money is not from the BN party and rightfully, BN politicians should be out of this. But why has the Education Department allowed BN politicians to become Santa Claus, knowing that Christmas is still 3 weeks away? Or were there instructions from the Education Department itself to please the political masters?

I think this cash award to students by the government has gone a bit too far. I would agree if the cash award is given to students of rural schools like those in the estates and in the interior of Sabah, Sarawak and some in the peninsular. But extending it to students of private schools and to some well funded and premier schools, I think is stretching charity too far. I would have thought the money could be better used to upgrade schools that are in dire need of repairs; mainly rural schools.

With the GE nearing, there is already the excitement in the BN and the PR to go on an early campaign drive. While the BN has the mainstream media (MSM) to act as their ‘propaganda machine’, the PR has started their ground campaign into some of BN’s stronghold, example the state of Johor and FELDA schemes. I think the BN should no longer be over reliant on the MSM to lead their campaigning, as most urban viewers/readers of the MSM has little to believe in the MSM. Rather, the new media has now taken the lead in reporting and there is no denying that the new media will be the people’s focus in the days and weeks leading to the upcoming GE. I now believe that who so ever wins the new media campaign, wins the GE.

CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION

THE STORY OF THE TWO ID’S

It was reported in an opposition news media that some serving members of the Armed Forces has two identity cards (ID) i.e. first is the service issued ID, and the other the NRD issued ID. The news also reported that this is a deliberate ploy by the government in an attempt to allow holders of such ID’s to vote twice during the election in a bid to favor the government’s chances of winning the up-coming GE.

I am not quite sure whether to believe or not to believe the news report. But I can say for certain that in my 34 years of military service, I have not heard nor seen any soldier or officer that has in their possession two IDs. I remembered that upon being enlisted into the service, our civilian ID has to be surrendered, and little do I know where the ID is being kept. Upon retirement, I was told to report to the NRD to have a new civilian ID processed and issued. The old civilian ID was never returned to me and the only thing I know of my old ID is the ID number which is recorded in the new ID.

I do not know if the process of surrendering one’s civilian ID upon the enlistment of officers and soldiers has now changed. I believe the process is the same, unless there is a deliberate attempt by someone to use the surrendered ID for a ‘specific purpose’ without the knowledge of the owner of the ID. But to allow the civilian ID to be retained by the owner to be used specifically for voting purposes sound absurd and nonsensical.

I have known officers and soldiers personal character and habits. They being so close to one another will share and speak quite freely of any ‘secrets’ that one harbors. Even their love affairs are not kept a secret, but to be shared and joked about. I still hold lots of secret on some of my fellow officers, especially their times as a young officer and gallivanting days. We do continue to share some of those ‘old stories’ when we meet, only to realized how wonderful the days were when we were young officers. I also believe the same goes for the soldiers. Officers and soldiers being what they are do not keep secrets among friends, and should they be in possession of two IDs as reported, many would have known about it.

If at all the report of the two ID’s is true, I dare challenge the originator of the report to reveal their source. Otherwise, I would just say that the report is fictitious, and is nothing but a big lie.

CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION