It's a jungle out there

That's what I'd describe politics in general.

In my previous post I spoke about being a supporter of the present government with reasons on why, and I stand by that declaration. Before you go 'How could you, they are all (insert expletives here) ', let me just mention that I am also a guy who don't believe in perfections, unless we're talking about God Himself.

I had my cousin whom is an avid supporter of the opposition party who'd like to compare what they are fighting for to the present managements (or mismanagements) of the government. He highlights why there must be change, that we need to fight for our rights, demand transparency in governance and neutral judiciaries.

Well, at least his referrals of URLs to the blogs of prominent political bloggers such as Raja Petra Kamaruddin and Jeff Ooi.

All good and sundry because I do agree with some of their views.

'Huh?' was one of the responses I get when, including a young friend of mine whom had just finished her examinations, also one who is full of ideals and enamoured by the fervour of the opposition, I told them that.

Yes, I do agree with the likes of Raja Petra and Jeff on some of their opinions.

One of the first reason to that statement is that the governance of the country is not dependent on who rules. Sounds fallacious? Not really. I'm just citing this on the grounds of the responsibilities of the Executive branch of the government - not the effectiveness of it. Who said anything about the report cards of the present government? If anything the people have the right to express their anger if all is not going well. After all it's the voters who got them into office in the first place.

'Transparent, fair and credible governance' - tell me something I don't already know.

The second reason is that all of them - be it ex-MBs, new MPs, this and that Minister, the Opposition etc - are all politicians.

I coined a sentence regarding the bickering between politicians that applies to both sides of the equation(don't know if it's original but Ive never read it anywhere else), "The election is fair and just if you win".

Politics is a game of power - to stay where you are, you will have to toe the party line, compromise to get what you need, appeal for support sometimes against your principles, accommodate ideas that you don't subscribe to and ultimately influence the people to vote for you.

To paraphrase an analogy I once read in the transcript to a popular political TV show The West Wing, nobody gets into politics wearing a white shirt and come out spotless. Fictional show I hear you say but there's a much truth in that statement than what the boisterous voices from the camp of 'Change' would like you to believe.

Anybody, the opposition and the present ruling party can tell me that they are this this and that - if making promises and repeating the same old phrases over and over can make you an MP, we'd all be representatives. Idealism is high and they're still on triumphant that a change is happening but things will come thumping back to Earth real soon.

The new CMs at Opposition-ruled states should stop talking about the transparency, fairness, equitable etc etc and start doing them - the campaigning is over, for chrissake. And the rest of the MPs in the Parliament should start behaving themselves in the august house and be more professional with their work as the people did not elect them there to engage in 'bodoh', 'kayu', 'bocor' and 'monyet' shout-fests.

I, for one, welcome the C-SPAN-like channel that is being mooted by Ministry of Information and the Parliament to let the people see for themselves the proceedings and make up their own minds on issues and let the MPs earn their salary. Saw a few of the sittings on terrestrial television in the past - I was (and still am) deeply embarrassed.

Try watching the US Congress in session or the British Parliament in session - if anything their questions and answers (however political) makes sense most of the time with supporting data and research to justify them. Rebuttals are themselves good and raises relevant questions.

In short, they know what they're talking about.

And that includes the opposition who claim themselves the champion of equal rights, credibility and fairness. There's a difference between promising things and doing them. For the moment I'd agree with a friend that they haven't had the chance to put the money where their mouth is since the Federal Government remained the same but five key States are now under Opposition rule. Start doing something and don't start talking about the Feds not allocating money - that's reserved for campaign runs.

It's only been more than a month since the previous General Elections that shook the foundations of the ruling coalition, so the dust had only begun to settle as the real politicking begins. With a slightly more balanced Parliament for this term, things are bound to be get more interesting ever since 1999 when the Reformasi movement were born.

As with the many of us outside of the corridor of power, we'll just sit back and watch with great interest.

And stop it with this Singapore comparison thingy. I have an acquaintance from the island republic who messaged me after following a little spat I have with a certain anti-government wind-up merchant on an Internet forum, saying that we're lucky to be able to actually oppose and speak up on our disagreements. Try that in Singapore and you'd be writing postcards from the lockup.

If anything, the true sign of political maturity is to be able to take both sides of the story and arrive at an informed decision of your own.

(In my case it might include "don't believe everything you hear in politics").

"Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time".
- Winston Churchill -

Probably my last post on politics before I get labeled a political blogger - I'll leave that to the professionals at Malaysia Today and their counterparts.