MALAYSIA is a peculiar land. Don't get us wrong. Malaysia is the envy of many nations.
God has blessed us with this and that, but the people who have been given the power to lead the nation have taken Malaysia to strange places: here, there and in between. Progress isn't in these places. These are spaces where some of our yesterdays are better than all our tomorrows.
Looking back isn't as good as looking ahead. Consider this. Where else in the world, except perhaps in America, can you find a convicted personality — of corruption of all things — decry the sale of a car tag at RM35 when the cost of making it is only RM1? Sure, the man has logic, but no credibility.
Absent credibility, leadership is a hollow emptiness signifying nothing. Be it a statement in defence of consumer rights or otherwise. Such personalities lead us nowhere. Nay, they mislead us.
But in this puzzling land we call Malaysia, very few are willing to stand up to him and the people of his ilk. And so he goes, post-conviction, on the keynote address circuit talking about how to make Malaysia a great nation again. Bizarre.
This isn't the only thing odd here. Anywhere else, Parliament and its appendages are considered august. And rightly so. After all, it is where laws get made. Not here. So it appears in one recent incident. You can be summoned yet decline. Bizarre again. The common man must be yearning for such privileges.
These will come his way if he turns politician and wins a seat in the government. Yes, privileges will still be there for him to enjoy even if he makes a mess of things. He can be the minister in charge of emergencies and make a disaster of it and yet he will get to keep his portfolio.
The nation can shout all it wants, even in unison, "resign, resign", but he will still get to keep his job. What's more, he even gets a retort opportunity: how is my resignation going to help solve the flood problem? Call it the privilege of the governor over the governed.
After all, we, the people, are only a force once every five years. Politicians know it. It is for this reason many didn't turn up to render help during the December floods. You can be sure, they will be there during the elections, knocking on doors they never knocked before. The message is clear. Your tick is more important than you.
Then there is the issue of illegal manpower agencies, mostly run by foreigners. (Are they here illegally, too?) Not five, 50 or 500, but 50,000 illegal agents. This is front-page material and Utusan Malaysia treated it as such yesterday.
What's worse, the illegal agencies rob Tom of his workers to sell Dick some. In that way, they get Tom and Dick to pay for the same worker twice. If Harry is in the market for a foreign worker, they will make him pay for him, too.
The velocity of circulation of a foreign worker in Malaysia is astounding. How did they go undetected this long? Anything is possible in bizarre land.
We have been saying "yes, we can" so long that now the illegal foreign agency owners have joined the chorus to sing: "Malaysia Boleh". Irony never found a better expression. Bizarre, yet again.
