Who is irresponsible, sir? — Jaleel Hameed
MAY 29 — You have to respect Datuk Seri Najib Razak for saying it as it is. Today, the prime minister said Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) economic proposals are populist promises designed to win power.
I sure hope so, sir. Otherwise, why would they promise to do so? They have to win power to fulfil their promises, right sir? That’s a bit obvious, sir.
You are right, Mr Prime Minister, that proposals like abolishing the student loan scheme PTPTN costing RM45 billion and a RM4,000 minimum wage policy are not realistic at all. Not realistic for a country hoping to be a high-income nation that you promised. We shall just be grateful and settle for RM1,500 or less by the time 2020 comes around, right sir?
But I am sure, sir, Barisan Nasional (BN) doesn’t do what PR is doing. It doesn’t make promises to win or keep power. It does it out of the goodness of its heart and gratitude for being elected into government for every election since 1955 when it was called the Alliance.
No, of course not. BN is all about delivery.
It has delivered the poor among us RM500 each because after nearly 55 years of independence, some of us are still poor and can’t cope. To be exact, 5.3 million households by your government count, sir.
It has delivered sweetheart deals like the West Coast Highway and the KIDEX highway to cronies. That’s standing up for friends, sir. Perfectably understandable in anyone’s books.
Let’s not forget BN also has friends who help out the government by taking over ports, the failing national car project and other infrastructure projects like the MRT for the good of the people. Well, actually just one friend. But who is counting, sir?
BN also has PEMANDU, sir, your Performance Management and Delivery Unit, that has managed its performance and delivered its projections well. By 2020, all our dreams will come true and if they don’t, well, the world is to be blamed. We must have faith, sir, as Datuk Seri Idris Jala keeps telling us.
And of course sir, you are right. BN will never let the national debt go beyond 55 per cent of the GDP. Your government has reached the milestone all by itself, sir. So why go further, right?
When it comes to populist promises and irresponsibility, sir, you know it well. And we will listen to you, Mr Prime Minister. Thank you for shining the light, sir.
* Jaleel Hameed reads The Malaysian Insider.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
