Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Debate

I switched on the TV when it was already into the second round.

And there he was, as eloquent as ever.

It has been 10 years since I last heard him speak, and he continues to be a mesmerising speaker. There's no denying Anwar's charisma. The way he confidently carried himself, sure but without a hint of arrogance. The sincerity dripping from his voice.

I have always had mixed feelings about Anwar. On one hand, I regard him as a very intelligent and rational person, tempered with compassion. On the other hand, I wonder if there is deviousness, greed and a gigantic ego lurking behind them.

But I suppose it is unfair for me to expect perfection from our leaders when none of us in this world is.

So, as I listened to him calmly and somewhat humbly express his well thought out views, my mind vaccilated between wishing this man is now our PM, and thinking how this guy might be one of the greatest actors in world.

So, I think the actual question on my mind is, is he for real, or is he just like Obama, a great orator but not much else?

Malaysia sure needs a courageous leader right now. Pak Lah is a good man, but all he has are mostly just good intentions. And you know what they say about good intentions.

Sigh. I don't know. I just have mixed feelings right now.

4 comments:

Ann 11:05 am  

Ya...I heard in on YouTube. Anwar is really very 'smooth' in his speech !! Sometimes TOO smooth for my liking.

Sometimes I wonder which is worse? A 'dumb' politician who is too 'dumb' to know how to hide their 'ignorance and dumbness' ....or Anwar!

mygreatbuds 11:29 pm  

I thought he would have said he will reduce the petrol to the same like before the increase but he didnt...is this also an acceptance that the price petrol needed to be increased.

In tendering exercise in business, when you know about the price of your competitor through back door, it is so easy by just adjusting a bit...50 cents is good enough.

On Anwar, he is always a good orator but as "real doer" he is about the same like our current PM but not near to our Tun.

Anonymous 6:12 am  

Nobody who condones discrimination can be trusted, Anwar, Pak Lah or Tunku!

Teck Yuk 8:59 am  

A good friend of mine emailed this to me; and i thought it would answer some of your uncertainties/doubts.

Gan | Jul 8, 08 4:03pm

Recently, I interviewed some fresh graduates applying for jobs with my
engineering company. I accepted two applicants on a starting salary of
RM1600. It struck me as odd that 15 years ago, I myself started work as a
fresh graduate engineer for the same pay.

Indeed, if you compare the salaries of graduates now and 15 or even 20 years
ago, you'll find little difference but that their purchasing power is vastly
different. It's the same story when you compare salaries of shop assistants,
office staff, factory workers and others.

To compound the effect of inflation, the ringgit has depreciated greatly
against all major currencies. The real income of most Malaysians has moved
backwards.

This is why many Malaysians suffer under the petrol hike. The root of the
problem is that our real incomes have shrunk in the face of inflation and
depreciated currency.. Malaysians have not been spoiled by subsidy but are
unable to move out of the time lock of stagnated and depreciated incomes.

If you compare the per capita incomes of Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and
South Korea, they are a few multiples of ours although at independence all
these countries were the on the same economic level as Malaysia.

What has gone wrong? We were the rising star of East Asia, a country rich in
natural resources with the most promising potential..

The reason is massive corruption, plundering of resources, wastage of funds
for huge non- economic projects, anti-public interest deals with
politically-linked companies and passing-of-the -buck to the man in the
street..

Four decades of NEP where education, economic and employment policies are
defined by race ensured that meritocracy took a back seat.

Our university standard has declined and the today best and brightest of our
youth emigrate to escape the racial inequility only to contribute to the
economies of foreign lands.

The reputation of our judiciary which was held in high esteem worldwide has
sunk so low that foreign investors now insist on arbitration in Singapore in
case of any dispute.

We also have a slew of oppressive laws such as the ISA, OSA, Uuca and PPPA
which stifle free speech and are designed to keep the ruling parties in
power.

We have become less attractive to foreign investors and now lag behind our
neighbours in Asean for foreign direct investment. Even some corporations
who have established themselves here are moving out.

All the economic and social malaise cannot help but affect the value of our
currency. The strength of a country's currency is after all, a reflection of
its fundamentals.

Furthermore, Bank Negara has a policy of weak ringgit to help exporters,
never mind the burden on the common folk. The government is pro-corporation,
not pro-rakyat.

While the poor and middle-class are squeezed, an elite group gets
breathtakingly rich. We have the distinction of having the worse income
disparity in Asean. A re-distribution of wealth is under way from the poor
and middle-class to a select group of politically-connected elite.

The end result of this re-distribution will be a small group of super-rich
while the majority are pushed into poverty and the middle-class shrinks.
This is what happens when the rich gets richer and the poor get poorer.

There is much that is wrong with Malaysia. The responsibility for pulling
the country backwards can be laid squarely at the door of the ruling regime.
It is BN's mis-governance, racial politics and culture of patronage which
has seen the country regress economically and socially.

We seem to be sliding down a slippery slope, further down with each passing
year of BN's rule. Another five years of BN rule and we'll be at Indonesia's
standard under Suharto. Another 10 years and we'll be touching the African
standard. What a way to greet 2020.

Is there any hope for Malaysia?

Faced with the reality that BN will never change, many Malaysians desperate
for change turn their lonely eyes to Anwar Ibrahim.

Pakatan Raykat has promised to treat all races fairly, to plug wastage,
fight corruption, reform the judiciary and make Malaysia more competitive.

But some have questioned whether we can trust Anwar and his loose coalition
of disparate parties..

The question is not whether we can trust Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat but
whether we can afford not to.

Can we afford another ten years of BN's misrule?

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

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