4/01/2008

Then so right, now so wrong

UMNO is starting to tear down the legacies of Mahathir. His rulings on how the number position in UMNO should or should not be contested, and the requirement of 30% division nomination before one can contest are now under attack. Some party stalwarts have openly said they disagreed then but kena bulldozed by Mahathir. They want the party President position to be open for everyone to contest. Got to tow the line, you know. Would such things happen to us? Would some of the policies that are so right today be so wrong tomorrow? The first one that came to my mind is the rulings for an elected President and the stringent conditions needed. The conditions have excluded many people from eligibility and the position is now restricted to a small elite group of people. What happens to equal opportunities and all men are equal in a democracy? Why are some more equal than others? What other policies will also fall in times to come and MPs or Ministers standing up to say 'I also disagree then but got no choice.'

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Would such things happen to us?

Of course not. They will say such things cannot work in unique Singapore, same as their other utterances about western democracy, press freedom and human rights.

Equal opportunities for all human beings? Some human beans will always be more equal than others because they make the rules to disqualify all others. And the compliant electorate makes sure that what happens in Malaysia will not happen here. That's the truth.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

> What happens to equal opportunities and all men are equal in a democracy? Why are some more equal than others? ,

Ah, that has been the myth of democracy used to "sell" democracy to a public essentially uneducated or under-educated in the political economy.

Democracy almost certainly guarantees INequality under the law - the "big majority group" tramples all over the rights of the small less power group via the political process.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

you need a strong leader to dismantle the myths that have been created out of vested interests.

only then can we progress and reach new heights. at the moment we have hit a plateau and not going anywhere but think that we are flying.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

> you need a strong leader to dismantle the myths that have been created out of vested interests. <

In that way, then the "vested interests" of the leader simply substitute the old values, and you are back to square one.

In the developed world, we live in an era of increasing individual empowerment, and thus the concept of "political leadership" is becoming less important as the idea of central government is becoming less and less relevant. (get rid of the state!).

In the under developed world however, "leaders" can and do still get away with murder (literally) and can even print as much money as they like - for e.g. Robert Mugabe of Rhodesia... oops I mean Zimbabwe. So in developing cuntries it still may be a great career decision to be a brutal tyrant... oops I mean political leader.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

i will love a strong leader like lee myung bak and let him imposed his selfish style of leader on everyone.