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DEMOCRACY
Rice issues
What ordinary people really want from their government
by Angeline Loh
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He does not boast of any great academic achievement other than having finished Form Five, but has seen his share of learning in life�s university where the rule is �do-it-yourself, swim or sink�. The losses and gains determine the philosophy of life one chooses to adopt. His opening words on the subject of current affairs in the country were �I can�t trust the government, the legal system or the police.� I would advise the reader, at this point, not to jump to conclusions, as you have not read the rest of story. You might be tempted to think, �Hasn�t he read the papers about the Commission of Inquiry on the Police being set up by the government� or doesn�t he think that the Court has finally been fair to Anwar Ibrahim �or doesn�t the change of leadership in the country make any difference to him?� As for me, I held my peace for the moment. A lack of trust He went on to relate why he felt that way. The education system he said did not instil any good values in the young nowadays. The young seem to be taught that monetary gain, status, image and a good time, are all that life is about. There was nothing to teach them compassion, honesty or even basic good manners. Parents had no time for children, as they had to make ends meet, both of them having to work. Children spend a lot of time in school, tuition, and I have to add, Internet cafes and game centres. There is no control, no guidance, nothing for these kids who are allowed to run wild. With dubious sources of funds, many of them spend hours at these places. Thus our education system fails. As for the courts, for many lay people, the perception is that getting a favourable judgment is like winning the lottery; it is like a gamble. They see no consistency in the administration of justice. So, any sort of legal action is a no-no. It�s not publicity they are afraid of but �throwing hard-earned money into a bottomless pit�. Very often they would rather suffer in silence than jeopardize themselves economically unless they are forced to resort to legal action. Take for instance, the long-standing but only recently realized problem of house buyers being left without houses after placing deposits with developers for houses never built. The law does nothing to prevent rogue developers and contractors from absconding with apparent impunity. The victimized purchasers are left to repay loans from which they gained nothing and instead lost everything. The disillusionment with apparent justice comes when they see the owners of these businesses who have been declared bankrupt whizzing around in their expensive Mercs or Alfa Romeos. For many ordinary people, the police are to be avoided instead of trusted. They are seen as lacking in efficiency unless there is some gain, not always material, to be had or as �fault-finders� who do so when they �feel� like carrying out their duty. When reporting an accident or crime, people are sometimes questioned in a way that makes them feel like criminals or a nuisance, although they are doing the legally right thing. The rich and the influential apparently �get away with it�. They seem more protected than the ordinary citizen. �Soft targets� like the poor, squatters or illegal immigrants seem to be given an inordinately hard time. Not that the police should not go for wrong-doers in these categories, but these poor people seem to be picked on because it is difficult for them to defend themselves as they don�t have any money to employ top-notch lawyers to defend themselves. Moreover, if we have �good laws�, they are very often not enforced. The police thus often fail us. Meeting the connection So doesn�t the fact that Anwar Ibrahim was released by the Federal Court mean anything to my friend? He replied in the negative. �This� he said, �is no concern of mine, whether he is in or out (of prison), the government will remain the same. It makes no difference.� So the politics is divorced from the reality. True, especially when you�re down there and find nothing has changed in your life. These are the �rice issues�, the staple on which common citizens live. The common people need to see actual concrete change in the existing system for their real benefit to believe that politics or human rights can benefit them. In an exclusive interview with an Opposition politician, Terence Fernandez reporting for theSun asked this question, ��Why aren�t bread and butter issues highlighted in the election manifesto?� and then he asked , � But will you continue harping on freedom and human rights?� Thank you, Terence, it made me realize that lay people often find no connection between what they perceive as human rights and those fundamental necessities of life. It is up to the people who do understand the connection to show that fundamental human rights do in fact include food, shelter, clothing, education, medical treatment, employment and all other tangibles besides the intangibles such as freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom from unjust persecution, torture and all kinds of discrimination. Now e-mail us and tell us what you think. Your comments might be published in the Letters section of our print magazine, Aliran Monthly. | |||||||||||||||
The common people need to see actual concrete change in the existing system for their real benefit to believe that politics or human rights can benefit them. 