308...First Anniversary

And no, I am not talking about that French car.

Well, it has been 365 days since that special day. The day when I was totally surprise by the outcome of the 12th general election of Malaysia. The day when a new hopes are born, the day when I hope that the corrupt and selfish politicians would learn their lessons. I really hoped that that special day would bring on a new beginning to the end for politicians (specifically speaking UMNO and Barisan Nasional) who thrive on corruptions and only care about enriching themselves

365 days later, (well technically speaking, it should be 366 days later), do I see and change in how the country is run, how those corrupt and selfish peoples are brought down, one by one, how transparency and meritocracy prevails to move Malaysia forward?

Sadly, I am really really disappointed.

Those in power before 8 March 2008 are still there. The recent and ongoing Perak political fiasco still confirms that everything is still under the control of the Federal Government. They can still command the police, the government servant and most pathetically, the judiciary at their whims. Maybe even the royalties. The re-brand Anti Corruption Agency (now with a longer name) is still more interested in Cows and Cars and still headed by the same guy. The Election Commission is still perceived as pro-BN. The 2 Bukit and 1 Batang by-elections are to be held on the same day, when the Federal oppositions cry out foul.

I am astounded that UMNO sees that with Najib in as their new chief later this month, everything would be okay. They are still that arrogant. They kept on harping about their party will be weaken by money politics, but no actions are taken. Race and religious are still being use as their trump card. The Malays special rights (whatever that are) are still being paraded around like some magic word. UMNO nowadays even have the balls to say they are the defender of the Kings. Parliament is still a joke. The name calling and hecklings are still part and parcel of each sitting. Lame and biased laws are still being pushed and rushed through, without much opposition.

In Penang, do I see anything different? Our Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, brings in the Competency, Accountability and Transparency (CAT) tagline. Ya, I agree that maybe the local UMNO warlords are no longer able to enrich themselves further. But to the layman like me, I don’t really see much different. The positive, streets are now much cleaner. We can see MPPP workers (bless them) working very hard to clean up after every event. And that might be just about it.

The negatives, crimes are now definitely more rampant. Snatch thieves are now more common than seeing our elected YBs. The Penang government is still harping on Federal funds to run the country. Come on la, this is Penang, maybe the most developed and independent of all the Malaysian states. Super expensive housing developments are still going on, even on hill slopes. Chief Minister Lim, frankly speaking, I don’t see much different yet. Except maybe the satisfaction that BN had their asses kicked last round.

By the way, I am still waiting for YB Rayers and YB Danny Law to fulfill their election pledge to abolish the Penang Bridge toll.

For the federal oppositions, this might be your last chance to prove that you can effect change. I strongly believe, the Malays, will regret being so heavy handed last GE. They just wanted to teach UMNO a lesson, never to bring in so many oppositions into the Parliament. They will never repeat this again. And 3rd March will never happen again.