And they are Off!

I am amused at the interest (me included!) we are giving to the possibility and probability of the general election being called in the first, second, third or fourth quarter of 2011. Ajis told me that his besan in Pekan, who is the twice removed cousin to Najib’s has informed him that his wedding cannot be in the first quarter or 2011 if he wants Najib to be the guest of honor at he Kenduri! Lim our favorite Karoke buddy has been told by DAP Party Headquarters that all leave should be left undisturbed until May 2011 because it will be needed then for all party stalwarts to come in to do their duty for Party and country during the general elections. Danny has been asked to start working on the Indian community around his Kampong Kassipilay in preparation of a do or die campaign for Barisan Nasional survival. There you have it – all confirmation that the 13^th General Election will be in the first, second, third or fourth quarter of 2011!  

The UMNO Ketua Cawangan and Ketua Bahagians are already counting their chicken before they are hatched. For the Ketua Cawangans all his ahli jawatankuasa have already put in the budget required to achieved their goal of attaining all the Malay votes within their kawasan. Sewa bus, kenduri expenses, duit rokok…all are included, nothing excluded. Those at Bahagian level have already got their peruntukan ready for distribution down the line as and when needed. At State levels fortunes are made by the “berani mati” first liners who will “serbu” the opposition camps with all manner of “weapons” at their disposal. Kill or be kill.

Above ground zero those in KL and safely bunkered down in their offices at PWTC plots their own path to fame and fortune. If I were a fly on the wall in any of these offices would not my ears run hot and bothered on the goings on within the walls of PWTC!

But these are what Politicians are born to do. They live their life for these moments ad this is the big one – the 13^th General Election. All roads in Malaysia will lead towards PWTC if these UMNO politicians are to be believed. Every single project to be given, every single contract and tender to be awarded, every negotiated tender, every business opportunity to be got from the government must now, somehow, be discussed within the walls of this PWTC – the higher the value, the higher the level within PWTC that it has to reach for a decision to be made. You can feel the buzz and the excitement of people milling around these corridors of power. Greed, avarice and power permeates the whole building. Welcome to UMNO incorporated and what it symbolizes – decadence, deceit and the use of high public office for high financial gain.

So how goes Pakatyan Rakyat? Will it go where UMNO is now? There are already rumblings in Selangor. Will this be the last election for Khalid? Will he continue to allow himself to be belittled by his own PKR comrades? He already has DSAI as his Economic Advisor and it seems that Khalid himself requested that Azmin Ali take over from him as the head of PKR Selangor. At times  stranger tales are told within PR then in UMNO ………..sometimes. What other humilation will he endure just to remain as Menteri Besar? Is it worth it Tan Sri?     

Penang is business as usual. The Chinese are good at that – business as usual no matter what. Nobody can say that Guan Eng is against the Malays – the Malay contractors are getting the bulk of the contracts. There is transparency there in everything that the State Government does…steady as she goes.

So my friends let us settle down for the deluge that is to come. For some election time is durian runtuh time. For some the deluge will wash away their dreams and hopes of clean and fair elections as once again money politics rear its ugly head over willing takers. We will all be affected by this election–good or bad is a matter of where you stand. When it is all over for most of us, we can only wished that hindsight have been with us then and not now because with hindsight we could have save ourselves all the pain and heartaches of backing politicians who are not victorious and political parties that are. Either way we the Rakyat will lose as things meander again back to normalcy once the 13^th general election hype is over. Nothing changes.