Why is it that you and your clique are being subject to such withering criticism across all ethnic and socio-economic divides, wonders JD Lovernciear.
The clock is ticking loud and fast. With less than 36 hours before millions of Malaysians throng polling centres nationwide, many voters may be grappling with several crucial and unanswered questions.
Whether we will be welcoming you as our next prime minister or whether you will throw in the towel will be known by the end of 9 May.
But what most bothers us is why people not saying anything nice about you or even your supportive spouse. Get into a Grab car, and the drivers – total strangers, mind you – openly complain or even condemn you. Go to the wet market and just complain to the fishmonger, “Wah, banyak mahallah ikan sekarang,” and be prepared for a barrage of blame to beg heaped on you. Some even do not even hesitate to drag your spouse into the exchanges.
Mind you, Malaysians never in the past dabbled in politics or talked about politicians openly like how they do today. Why? Is it because your opponents are so crafty that across the socio-economic and ethic divide, people have become culpable of blindly peddling fake news?
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Even when one visits the nation’s administrative capital, Putrajaya, civil servants taking a break in the cafeterias do not shy away from expressing concern and disapproval over you. This was never the case in past decades. Politics was avoided at all costs, try as much as one may to listen for some whispers.
Malays, Chinese, Indians and even friends in Sabah and Sarawak do not have anything favourable to share these days. Just scan the online comments and social media! Social media is choked with all kinds of jokes at your expense. Your spouse, who has sacrificed the best part of her life standing by you while relentlessly engaging in the development of Permata, is a favourite subject of allegations and ridicule as well. Why?
Ten or 15 years ago, people refrained from commenting on our political leaders, especially the prime minister and even his spouse in public. Even families did not openly share reservations at home. And if they did, arguments for and against would rain for hours. We deemed politics and political inclinations as strictly personal, private and even a taboo subject.
But why is it that today you and your spouse are attacked or talked about unceremoniously across all ethnic and socio-economic divides?
If any individual was to drop yellow balloons at a rally, it would be understood as an act by the anti-Najib camp. If some cartoonist was to draw caricatures that appear to ridicule, it would be deemed as slanderous perhaps. When even foreign nationals working here do not hesitate to say something negative about your leadership, the question ‘why?’ grows larger.
You have proclaimed the many development milestones for the country. But why are these not much talked about or praised in casual conversations?
Indeed, there is much soul-searching needed by you, your spouse and all your lieutenants just as it is needed by us ordinary Malaysians, who wield no power nor money compared unlike the considerable resources you have available through your office.
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
