There are not Angels in Politics – Only the lesser of two Devils.

Yin Ee Kiong

Columnist Terence Fernandez of the Sun asked tongue in cheek if it were not better that we stick with the devil we know. He was of course referring to the BN government.

Yes, the PR parties (principally DAP) lied to us about bringing back local government elections.

Yes, they were two-faced about certain issues viz building on hill slopes – criticising the BN government for allowing it when in Opposition but in power they were prepared to play footsie with the developers – they apparently stopped when their dialogue with the developers was exposed.

Yes, the PR government was perceived to be arrogant (espy the DAP Ex-Cos). They mishandled their own members thus providing an opening to BN to grab power.

Yes, there’s this expose of the Alam Flora scandal where the PR government in Selangor has allegedly panned for bribes to fund their parties.

These are quite impressive ‘achievements’ in such a short time.

Yet these are nothing compared to BN’s record on graft, human rights abuse, gross inefficiency and negligence.

It has been estimated that BN has cost the country 100 billion ringgit through its inefficiencies or outright corruption.

1.Bank Bumiputra, Perwaja Steel, PKFZ comes easily to mind.

2.What about ‘scams’ like the ‘security seals’ – holograms which even France (the source of these stickers) do not use because they do not give the security required to outsmart counterfeiters. Things like that are just a means to make money for some cronies.

3. What about the uneven contract on the toll roads, how much longer have we to pay to fatten their cronies?

4. The gross mismanagement of the education loans fund where millions have been lost because borrowers would not repay their loans. It’s only lately that the government is trying to recover their money.

5. Operation Lalang – where opposition politicians and activists were jailed under the ISA.

6. Turning the country into a Semi-Police State – where peaceful protests are not allowed and where wearing black or holding candlelit vigils is an offence.

Yet the long arm of the law is not applied unbiasly – BN (espy UMNO) can get away with murder so to speak.

7. The AP Licence scandal where those with connections become instant billionaires on the basis of being given large numbers of APs – and not because of their business acumen.

8. The scandal of giving away RM400 million in commission to a crony for the purchase of submarines . Apparently the BN government sees no conflict of interest when a close confidante of the Minister of Defence was paid this commission.

9. The scandal of a BN Menteri Besar taking his family on a tour of the various theme parks (Disney Land etc) on taxpayers’ money.

10. The suspicion on the Prime Minister’s involvement in the murder of a Mongolian woman which won’t go away. Even as recent as his visit to China Najib was asked about it. Yet he has done little to clear himself. If he were a private individual then one can consider a private affair – however much suspicion there may be – but as the Prime Minister of our country he has a duty not to tarnish the reputation of the country by the suspicions that follow him around.

One can go on and on about the ‘sins’ of BN but the above examples should suffice.

Malaysians must realise that the one constant about most politicians is their dishonesty and hypocrisy. I say ‘most’ and not ‘all’ because we used to have good, honest politicians like Hussein Onn, Tun Dr Ismail and Dr Tan Chee Khoon. Alas it would seem that they are an extinct specie.

I cannot name one politician today that I would confidently buy a second hand car from.

We are told that in a less than ideal world, politics is nothing but the art of the possible (a favourite cliché of politicians). And in this arcane art of the possible one is not allowed to tell the unvarnished truth. By nature politics is uncongenial to the truth, they declare. Compromising moral principles is expected of the practitioners of this art. That is the only way to get elected or stay in power. And when elected they cannot keep their promises because the circumstances will not allow it. Such are the exigencies of political life that otherwise good men and women (in positions of power) cannot differentiate between truths and lies. It is their lack of moral fibre rather than the nature of politics that has made them dishonest people. There’s nothing dirty about politics – it’s dirty politicians who make it so.

Dr Mahathir himself has admitted to as much when he said in his blog that politicians do not always tell the truth.

“It’s all very well for you sitting in your armchair to criticise” they would protest, “but do you know the pressure I am under?”

If they have not spoken out against the corruption and human rights abuse, etc of their party it is because of the pressures of party loyalty and discipline. What about their loyalty to joe-public? Well joe-public only matters once in five years. What about their loyalty to the truth – to themselves?

What happened to good old fashion moral courage which keeps us from compromising our principles? Apparently politicians discard them the minute they get elected.

Naturally one should not expect any self-respecting politician to take all this lying down.

Don’t just criticise, join in they say. Get into politics. The implication is that if you are not prepared to get dirty don’t criticise. If you can’t do better; ‘shut up’.

Using the same argument, if you can’t cook you cannot comment on the food, or if you have not written a book you cannot be a book critic. This is the kind of argument one would expect from politicians – catchy but hollow.

Anyone who aspires to public office or who put his work into the public domain is open to criticism. Anyone who is paid by the taxpayers should expect criticisms by their paymasters.

When all else fails, politicians are fond of saying History will vindicate me. So we have to wait till history is written before we know if what is done has been for the better? In the meantime, we should not criticise them. Hitler, Pol Pot, Pinochet used the same script I bet. How many knaves and fools has history vindicated I wonder.

Ordinary people are tired of hearing half- truths and downright lies or else truths with a spin to it which makes it wobble so much it confuses.

We want relief from incessant obfuscations and prevarications.

Just tell us the truth and let us decide what is good for ourselves. (And oh yes that’s another thing, politicians always know what is best for us!).

Yet knowing all this, there are still people who either because of their naivety or because they are so angry with BN that they will unreservedly throw in their lot with PR. Some to the extent of giving a few hundred thousand dollars to the Opposition. Of course millions must have been given to BN over fifty one years in power.

There are no angels in politics – it’s a case of the lesser of two evils. At this point, BN is definitely the bigger devil.

Malaysians must learn to take care of themselves – never trusting one or the other party completely. The best insurance we can have is to support ngos which are non-party political. We have all to become ‘activists’ in our own way and within our capacity – to believe in the Power of One. Every individual can make a difference. We can protest against policies which do not benefit us, not just at the polls but in our daily dealings e.g. by writing to the press, speaking to our state assemblymen and MPs (they are paid by you and therefore are your employees in a manner of speaking). We must not allow them to tell us what is good for us – let us tell them what we want and what we think is good for us! And for those who have a lot of money to give to political parties – it is better if they give their money to ngos – at least you know what they stand for.