You think Umno/BN will forgive us for March 8?
Malaysiakini.com
Apr 18, 2008
Viji Rajasundram

I refer to the Malaysiakini report PM unveils judicial reforms but no apology.

As we read the news these past few days, one thing seems to be surfacing – that the BN seems to be in a mood to do some good stuff.

But is it sincere ? On one hand we get announcements that past judges who had been wronged are going to receive payments to ‘mend their pain’, and judicial reform will begin as soon as possible. Corruption will be checked immediately, judicial reform will begin soon, the police complaints commission will be implemented soon etc, etc.

Haven’t we heard all this before (except for the payment to the judges, of course)? Hasn’t this been the story since 2004? ‘We are going to clean it up.’ ‘We are trying to clean up.’ ‘Be patient.’ ‘We are doing our best.’

While we are lulled into a sense of security that things are picking up, are they really ? Has anything really been done or acted upon? While there is talk about righting the wrongs of before – has anything been done?

Has BN chosen to release any information about all the obvious improprieties? Or has there been chest-thumping about we never shredded any documents even though there seem to be no trace of any documents in the state secretariat buildings. Has any attempt been made to answer this?

While the stated aim is ‘we will correct the wrongs’, what is actually happening is that constituents who went the ‘wrong’ way are being penalised quietly. Funding is being stopped to states. But the overtures remain the same – ‘we are listening and we will correct what we did wrong’. But what is really happening is different.

From newspapers which have had their publishing licenses terminated to dinners/gatherings being stopped in the usual heavy-handed manner – with little or no explanations - to threats of revoking funding to selected constituencies. And the good old boy ‘Corruption’ goes unabated. The indelible ink saga is quietly forgotten and VK Lingam is probably posing for photos is some other exotic location.

And just to stir things up, in the usual BN way, pawns are used to bring up the race card again. Are they listening ? It was not race on March 8. It was the corruption and arrogance of the BN elite – that they could do nothing wrong and the rakyat will just take it. He keeps saying he is listening. I am sure he is just plain deaf.

But maybe stupid he is not. While he hands out the easy goodies – behind him appears the mechanism to consolidate and ensure that when it is time to punish – everything will be in place. The majority would have been pacified into thinking that we should give them another chance. After all, he has promised to do it, and he has paid the judges, right? He must be okay. Well, dream on!

Be wary of the Smoke and Mirrors. They are very adept at using them.

In closing – just another thought – did anyone notice that the bus company which had an accident record of one death per month this past year was given only a one-month suspension? But the newspaper that reported it got closed down permanently. Justice the BN way prevails.

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