Last night I was sitting on the couch reading a book, and I had the TV turn on to provide some background noise. The news was about the Ijok by-election (again) and suddenly a thought hit me like a lightning. Yes, it is about the Ijok, something I wrote here, or the most recent Machap by-election.
In regardless of who came out as the winner of these by-elections, the real winners are the people of Ijok (or Machap, on the most recent by-election). So I sat down, and started to write a thank-you letter.
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for participating in this by-election. Without you, the opposition party, participated in this by-election, our town will not get the development projects and progress bought on by the government. Without your participation, the government will not promise a speedy construction work start “within 2 weeks” and those contractors not doing a good job will be sacked.
Yes, we haven’t seen any real construction being done to our town for more than 50 years, so this is definitely a fresh start. No matter who will win this by-election, the real winner is the people of this town.
By far and large, our town is mostly forgotten by civilization and 99% of the Malaysia population do not know the name of our town. I don’t even remember seeing the the name of our town in the Malaysia map. So with this by-election, we get publicity so huge that it was out of this world. Now, almost every newspaper articles, the broadcast TV news, and blogs (including online news site) are mentioning Ijok (or Machap) almost everyday. So thank you very much.
Now the business is very good in our town. The people, including supporters, politicians, reporters and curious people are flooding our town like a wild thunderstorm, and they normally purchase a lot of food, water, and other daily essentials. The report has shown that local business has surged 1,208% compare to normal days, even during Chinese New Year, Hari Raya or Deepavali.
Without your participation, our town will not get the news coverage more frequent than Paris Hilton, and we will not get the announcement of those mega projects. Without your participation, our local business will continue to struggle, and the parking lots will not be filled to the maximum (even the shoulders of our roads have to accommodate the incoming traffic!). Without your participation, the people will just have to accept a walk-in victory and we will not see our names in the news, the mega projects and the potential job opportunities around. So again, please accept our most sincere heart felt thank you from the people of the town.
Furthermore, we would like to express our condolences to the now-deceased Wakil Raykat’s family members. The passing of the Wakil Rakyat is a big loss to all of us, and we feel extremely sad for his passing. He was a well loved people’s people. But we would also like to express our gratitude because without all this, a by-election will not happen and our town will not receive such mega projects and development.
Again, thank you for your participation.
Yours Faithfully,
The People
Update: 23/04/2007 - 5:46pm
NOTE: In no way that I am representing the people of Ijok or Machap. This thank-you letter is as fiction-ness as Star Wars or Paris Hilton. There’s no absolute right or wrong, and the power to see things as it is is in your hand. So you should decide what is right or wrong.
Update: 23/04/2007 - 6:29pm
The Start reported that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that Fighting corruption a national mission. Isn’t that a bit of an irony? I mean, our DPM was quoted saying that the people of the country is asking for more transparency, but lately we all don’t see lots of transparency. Hell, there’s not even much information revealed.
Bila ada satu kematian, buat masa ini hanya kematian secara mengejut, maka ada satu piliharanraya, dikuti dengan lempahan segala kemewahan kepada rakyat di kawasan pilihanraya kecil. Setiap pembangunan secara tergesa-gesa memang menguntugkan rakyat di kawasan pilihanraya kecil, tapi di kawasan-kawasan lain rakyat hanya berputih mata, atau terpaksa menunggu seperti buah yang tak jatuh, kecuali ada satu lagi kematian.
Yusof, I tried to reply the comment in B.M. but I would make an ass out of myself, so pardon my reply in English.
I agreed with what you had said. Look at Ijok; a place not known to many, but because of this by-election (actually I am sick and tired of this “by-election” word because it appeared far too many times), got new lamp posts, newly paved roads, news mosques, schools, and suraus, and not to mentioned a lot of other new things, such as development. So it is sickening that we have to wait for a sudden death of a politician to get all those things, simply because they wanted to win the vote.
Why can’t the politicians put the development of the country for the benefits of the country, for the people that they serve, and for the overall development of the country? Why must they use it as a tool for election? Holding this kind of powerful tool in their hands, how could an opposition party win the voting ballot? It is unfair, and yet they keep proclaiming, “it is not money politics. Those developments had been in the pipeline for a long time.” Yeah right.