"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" - Robert Kennedy

Every time Barisan Nasional spend a Ringgit, it costs a Ringgit. And if the Ringgit is borrowed it costs more than a Ringgit. It cannot get simpler then that. And that is why we are not amused when we hear about all the money being paid as commissions, all the corruptions, all the inflated costs of projects all the wastage and irresponsible spending of our money by the Barisan Nasional government without giving any tangible returns to the people and the country. 

Tunku, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein all had humility. Some will define humility as not believing that you are superior to others. And yet these three that I speak of, are leaders that we all hold in high regard and respect. Never boastful of what they do for the country….modest even to the extent of being self-effacing and they instilled in us values of hard work and the never say die attitude. If there is no fuel, Set Sail. If there is no Wind, Row.

What do sort of leaders do we have now? Najib’s idea of turun padang is a walk in Brickfields, Jalan Masjid India or China Town. None of the Ministers in his cabinet knows what the face of poverty looks like. Oh yes they do go on walkabouts into carefully synchronized and sanitized rural areas near elections time with promises to build drains and ‘gelanggang sepak takraw’ if they will vote UMNO.

Together, UMNO and Barisan Nasional have full control over any income generating resources of this country and all its economic activity. From control over rice to petrol. Water, Land, Gas, Electricity…even the hospitals that heals you – they exercise full control – directly or indirectly. The immense wealth generated by Petronas, its income and expenditure, is the privy of the Prime Minister alone! Why?

Why must these politicians, their circle of friends, their cronies, the business elites and the well connected control everything in Malaysia? They will decide which highways are to be constructed. What infrastructure the country needs. Which kampong, which town and which State shall receive funding for projects. Who will go to school, to college and to University? Who will get a job and when necessary (in their opinion) who should be sacked.

They decide who will stay in jail and who will be freed. And for those who are jailed they decide how long they will be jailed!

For those in business a large part of their success or failures is also in the hands of these politicians. If the business is lucrative enough you can be sure that they will have a share in that business – if not owned it outright. They decide who will get a contract and which contractor will be allowed to continue to prosper or to fail. Those who are the preferred contractors can do substandard work and still collect payments just as long as these politicians get their share. Highways, infrastructures and building that should have a life span of twenty to thirty years needs to be resurfaced, repaired or restructured within half their life expectancy period or less. And every resurfacing, any repairs or restructuring means more money for these contractors and more money for these politicians. It is a wonder why more motorists are not killed on the highways because the roads have not been surfaced properly. Why not many more people are killed when building collapsed. And why more people are not killed when infrastructures failed.

Every year despite billions spent on flood mitigations projects communities in the rural and urban area are flooded during the rainy seasons. The damage to their properties runs into millions. The great physical and emotional hardship of families with children is played out year after year after year.

And on top of these abuses projects costs and procurement contracts are inflated to astronomical amounts – amounts that the people must pay for! At the apex of this abuse can be seen the PKFZ scandals, massive abuse of defence spending and the billions frittered away in projects that do not benefit the people or the country except to line up the pockets of the Barisan Nasional politicians.

If charges indicating complicity in murder charges were not laid against a serving Prime Minister it would not take a rocket scientist to figure out what power and money can do in Malaysia. Conrad Black, Bernard Madoff and Mobutu would have many friends in government here.

The people have few rights. What right they have under the constitution can be taken away from them at will by the Barisan Government.

Through the power the have over their own people these politicians has become hideously rich. Amassed great fortunes at the expense of the people. And in order to remain in power and continue to amass more wealth they are not hesitant to perpetuate their rule over the people through any means at their disposal at the expense of their own people. Democracy no longer works. The opposition are harasses physically and mentally through PDRM and the judicial system relentlessly. All and any government institution are used to ensure that this harasement continues unabated.

The medias are controlled effectively through permits and through depriving them of access to airtime unlike the government-controlled medias who have Carte blanc access to what ever they require – time, money and facilities to sent their Barisan Nasional sanctioned news to the people.

Malaysia is in crisis because of the incompetence of its Barisan Nasional leaders. The Malays have been denied the opportunity to develop. The other races have been coerced to do as told by the Barisan Nasional government – for now.

What is left now for the people of Malaysia is the possibility, a very slim possibility that it might still be able to change the political leaders of their country through the democratic process at the next general elections. They might be able to do this because the present Barsian Nasional government thankfully lack the courage to take complete control of all things Malaysian. Not because they cannot do so because all that they need to seize control of the country is at their disposal – but because they lack the courage to do so. They still have the fear that if they try to seize power by any other way but the democratic process, the people will protest. And protest loudly and with vigour. So for now they tinker and manipulate whatever they can within the ‘democratic’ process as we know it to try and ensure a tainted electoral victory for them at the next general elections.

The only thing that stands between UMNO and their total domination over this country and its people is the people themselves! Only the people of this country can together stand up against Barisan Nasional and say “NO”.

Whether this will happen is still to be seen because the people of this country have never before move as one people. Never before have they wanted the same thing for themselves and for the country. And so whether we will all be together in resisting Barisan Nasional remains to be seen. Every thing points to the possibility of this happening because together they are tired of the abuses of the Barisan Nasional government. And so for now we wait and we dream..       

   'There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why. I dream 

   of things that never were, and ask why not?"

   Robert Kennedy