Time to deliver on promises and pledges

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: The people must come first and be taken care of

POLITICS has taken centre stage in our lives for the past few months and the intensity reached its peak last Sunday.

The people have decided who would lead them. Naturally, some are unhappy, but that is the reality of any contest. You have winners and losers.

In my personal opinion, both sides -- Barisan Nasional and Pakatan -- are both winners and losers.

BN won the main race and was given another term by the rakyat to lead Malaysia to greater heights. But at the same time, it lost sizeable Chinese and urban votes to Pakatan, which also won more popular votes.

Both sides should count their blessings with what had been gained, and though understandably sad with what was lost, life has to go on. There are other important things than bruised egos.

It is getting old to be harping on the same issues day after day. The people must come first and be taken care of -- the common themes used by both BN and Pakatan in their campaigns. It is time to deliver what was promised and pledged.

In Putrajaya, the dust is still far from settling as the prime minister has yet to announce his cabinet line-up.

In the meantime, it could be suggested that these "captains" of various ministries in the epicentre of the nation's administration must have certain attributes.

They must be humble, know their portfolio inside out, be credible, diligent, far-sighted, insightful and able to work well with the media to ensure the people would be informed of what is being done.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in one of the gatherings with the civil servants two months ago, had raised a pertinent point -- the need to have the ability to communicate well. I could not agree more.

As journalists, we always welcome ministers who are able to answer our queries with facts and figures on the spot rather than take the easy way out by telling us: "I will look into the matter."

We also love to deal with ministers and leaders who could give strong quotes and are brave enough to make statements, instead of hiding in their offices and avoiding the press altogether.

I miss the old guards like Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and the late Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik, because they were bold enough to speak their mind to both locals and foreigners.

Sure, they were not perfect, but leaders such as them made me proud to be called a Malaysian.

The political and social landscape could see some shifting in the days to come following the results of the 13th General Election (GE13).

The Chinese party MCA has been denied many seats in the recent election and its leadership's decision not to take up any post in the cabinet due to its dismal performance is understandable, but unnecessary.

The cabinet still needs representatives from the Chinese community, especially in a multiracial and multicultural country such as ours.

Perhaps, the prime minister may consider getting Chinese representatives from non-governmental organisations or academicians who command high respect from the their communities, including the United Chinese School Committees Association (Dong Zong) to be part of his administration.

Malaysia is at a crossroads -- one path taking the country to a promising future or another towards an uncertain tomorrow plagued by uneasiness and paranoia.

As the Chinese proverb goes: "A wise man makes his own decision, an ignorant man follows the public opinion." Something for us to ponder.

Read more: Time to deliver on promises and pledges - Columnist - New Straits 


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