Enough with politics, can we get down to work?

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MAY 9 was the day the government changed in Malaysia.

Today, some 10 weeks later with a full Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government now on seat and in place, it’s time to get down to the real work of governing the nation.

We have had so many petty annoyances, disturbances, pot-shots, double talk, lies, and fabrications – everything including the kitchen sink being thrown by members of the past government, from the political entity that had lost after 61 years at the reins of power, the Barisan National (BN), to the newly-formed coalition – which has been elected to govern us for the next five years.

For every PH press conference called, for every new government directive issued, for every move made over the past 10 weeks, as sure as the sun will rise, within 24 hours, we have seen a response from some representative to the once mighty prime minister opposing or condemning that statement – purely for the sake of opposing it and saying something negative about it. It has become somewhat similar to that of a schoolyard scuffle between small boys fighting over marbles won or lost.

What we are seeing here right now is definitely not a scenario that is becoming of a mature democracy. Neither is it fair play between adults, who even if they are conducting an aggressive encounter would at least show some sense and logic, and be sporting enough to do this in an objective and constructive manner – after all it’s not about who’s going to inherit the spoils of war, but what must be the best solution for our nation.

But then again, the way that the newly-crowned opposition BN has been going about it, stinks to high heaven. It is as if they are actually fighting for the spoils of war. If recent revelations and discoveries made by the new Minister of Finance are anything to go by – indeed that may well be the truth of it all. They may have enjoyed unimagined illegal and ill-gotten wealth from their connections and government projects when they were in power. Right now they are still at a loss as to how they were overthrown and are conniving on all angles on how to grab all this back, by hook by crook, or by causing as much trouble as they possibly can for the new PH government.

Otherwise, why are we all not putting aside the petty quarrels of party politics and getting down to sorting out the huge mess that the nation is in right now? A mess that has been created over 61 years by a BN coalition party that seemed only to look after its own party members’ pockets and its cronies’ welfare.

To be fair, the new PH government has hit the ground running and has so far been able to put right or is about to make corrections to all the dubious and wrong acts committed by the previous administration under Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. It will not be easy nor can it be done within a specified period of time, like say 100 days as promised in their manifesto – after all it has taken BN over 61 years to create all the mess – and undoing it all will have to be done lawfully, legally, and within a reasonable period of time.

Both the new government as well as the now opposition BN should just get back to work – for the people, for the citizens, for the voters who had installed them where they are right now – to get all their newly-elected MPs straight to work, to seek solutions, to right past wrongs, to set new standards, to simply just start governing. Is it really that difficult?

The old administration during its period in control of the entire governing machinery in the nation created total havoc, and the toxic form of politicking was primarily just to attack the opposition then, and to protect their MO1. The nation’s interests were secondary. Proper governance was not a priority.

Unfortunately, as it is now, BN as the new opposition is continuing to behave in the same manner and has been using the same old tired but tried methodology – as we have been reading of late in the newspapers, listened to on the TV news, and watched on YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp – videos and audio of our newly-elected or re-elected BN politicians trading pot-shots, accusing, and rebutting, as one-upmanship becomes the order of the day.

When then do they all get the time to really sit down in their posh offices to go through and read their work papers, to attend meetings and briefings with their underlings, and to inspect works in progress or to initiate new projects? As opposition members now, they need to be the checks and balances of the PH government – so do a proper job!

Of course we also find the numerous exceptions in the 14th Parliamentary Session and we must take off our hats to the few ministers and MPs who have managed to get their acts together and are actually getting work done.

These are the rare politicians, the principled and hardworking people, who are far and few between the chaff and the hoi polloi, and whom we must hold in respect as true parliamentarians – the statesmen or women, the worker bees – they will always garner our full support and gratitude. We all know who they are.

Ladies and gentlemen of the 14th Session of the Malaysian Parliament – please get your act together quickly and for the sake of all the voters who put you there and from all of us who call Malaysia home; and for those yet to be born – our children and theirs, we plead with you to get down to work without further delay, to start governing the nation as entrusted to you by our votes, and to set us on the right and proper path once again to be a truly born again Malaysia.

That’s all we ask of you.

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