Politicians who refuse to digest the truth that their bona fide political masters are the rakyat have no business calling themselves as 'wakil rakyat'.
COMMENT
Veteran politician Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz has gone on record to say that he is a very important person and is very influential, proving to the rakyat that his self-conceit has blinded him to the very essence of serving the rakyat.
This “interesting” remark came about after Nazri told FMT last Friday that he had no hand in the outcome of the criminal investigation involving his son Mohamed Nedim.
On March 20, Mohamed Nedim made news for the wrong reason when he allegedly assaulted a security supervisor at a luxury condominium.
It, however, did not take long for the incident to die a natural death when the Home Ministry on Oct 17 declared Mohamed Nazri’s son innocent, shifting the blame on Mohamed Nedim’s former bodyguard instead.
The Brickfields district police chief Wan Abdul Bari was then quoted as saying: “This is a minor case. We have already completed investigation. I do not know why and how another person (Mohamad Nedim) was dragged into this. It is a clear-cut case involving a bodyguard and a security guard.”
Mohamed Nedim was also cleared of any wrongdoing that led to the murder of one Darren Kang at the Uncle Don restaurant in Sri Hartamas in 2004.
In Malaysia’s “Bolehland”, such verdicts no longer shock the rakyat. What, however, gets their goat is when politicians like Nazri no longer show any interest in looking after the people’s welfare.
Instead, Nazri’s pompous claim that “I am very important person and am very influential” is a slap in the face of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s “people first” propaganda.
No politician, no matter his years of experience in politics, should have the audacity to brag of being important and influential, for doing so only reflects his insincerity in serving the rakyat.
It appears that Nazri, the de facto law minister, is either ungrateful or has forgotten who his real “masters” are, that is, the people of this nation; a shame that 40 over long years in politics failed to humble him.
Politicians are servants of the rakyat
Had Nazri, the Padang Rengas MP, not received the rakyat’s trust, would he and his family be leading the life of the rich and famous, with his son Mohamed Nedim painting the town red in his luxurious Porsche and armed with his father’s business cards?
Did the rakyat choose Nazri as their representative so that he could one day boast of his so-called eminence and power?
If Nazri is one of the many politicians whose arrogance supersedes the original agenda of working for the people, it is time the rakyat rejected the likes of him.
It is amazing how politicians of this country waste no time upon joining politics in amassing a fortune. With mansions for home and a fleet of luxury cars to boot, these politicians get busy “working” for themselves and not the rakyat.
Prior to this, it was Mohamed Salleh Ismail, chairman of National Feedlot Corporation and husband of former women, family and community development minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who allegedly misused the RM250 million government loan meant for cattle breeding to purchase upscale condominiums in the affluent Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, and in Singapore besides buying a posh Mercedes Benz and two plots of land in Putrajaya.
Shahrizat then defended herself from allegations of being an “accomplice” by virtue of her being a minister by saying that she and her family led independent lives, each having no idea what the other person was up to.
Did the rakyat buy Shahrizat’s feckless retort? Far from it as the public furore that ensued resulted in Shahrizat’s senatorship not being renewed, forcing her on April 8 to vacant her minister’s seat and trying hard to remain politically relevant as Wanita Umno chief.
The bitter truth is that politicians like Nazri and Shahrizat very conveniently dismissed the fact that they are nothing more than servants of the rakyat; all because a red carpet is rolled out each time they attend an event does not make them important, in the true sense of the word.
On the contrary, the red carpet and VIP treatment is simply a gesture of respect from the humble rakyat which the politicians have sadly taken for granted.
No politician is ‘important’ and ‘influential’
It will do the country’s politicians good to guard their tongue each time they develop the itch to turn phony, their modesty long gone down the drain.
To the rakyat, it is their right to treat their politicians as servants of the people, looking after their interest and not vice-versa.
There is no need for the rakyat to pander to the whims of politicians, be they ministers, members of parliament or state assembly representatives.
No politician, for any reason whatsoever, should gloat over the appreciation shown by the very people they are meant to serve.
For this reason, too, superlatives like “important” and “influential” have no place in the dictionary of politicians, whatever their political status.
That said, politicians who refuse to digest the truth that their bona fide political masters are the rakyat have no business calling themselves “wakil rakyat” or the people’s representatives.
Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.
COMMENT
Veteran politician Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz has gone on record to say that he is a very important person and is very influential, proving to the rakyat that his self-conceit has blinded him to the very essence of serving the rakyat.This “interesting” remark came about after Nazri told FMT last Friday that he had no hand in the outcome of the criminal investigation involving his son Mohamed Nedim.
On March 20, Mohamed Nedim made news for the wrong reason when he allegedly assaulted a security supervisor at a luxury condominium.
It, however, did not take long for the incident to die a natural death when the Home Ministry on Oct 17 declared Mohamed Nazri’s son innocent, shifting the blame on Mohamed Nedim’s former bodyguard instead.
The Brickfields district police chief Wan Abdul Bari was then quoted as saying: “This is a minor case. We have already completed investigation. I do not know why and how another person (Mohamad Nedim) was dragged into this. It is a clear-cut case involving a bodyguard and a security guard.”
Mohamed Nedim was also cleared of any wrongdoing that led to the murder of one Darren Kang at the Uncle Don restaurant in Sri Hartamas in 2004.
In Malaysia’s “Bolehland”, such verdicts no longer shock the rakyat. What, however, gets their goat is when politicians like Nazri no longer show any interest in looking after the people’s welfare.
Instead, Nazri’s pompous claim that “I am very important person and am very influential” is a slap in the face of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s “people first” propaganda.
No politician, no matter his years of experience in politics, should have the audacity to brag of being important and influential, for doing so only reflects his insincerity in serving the rakyat.
It appears that Nazri, the de facto law minister, is either ungrateful or has forgotten who his real “masters” are, that is, the people of this nation; a shame that 40 over long years in politics failed to humble him.
Politicians are servants of the rakyat
Had Nazri, the Padang Rengas MP, not received the rakyat’s trust, would he and his family be leading the life of the rich and famous, with his son Mohamed Nedim painting the town red in his luxurious Porsche and armed with his father’s business cards?
Did the rakyat choose Nazri as their representative so that he could one day boast of his so-called eminence and power?
If Nazri is one of the many politicians whose arrogance supersedes the original agenda of working for the people, it is time the rakyat rejected the likes of him.
It is amazing how politicians of this country waste no time upon joining politics in amassing a fortune. With mansions for home and a fleet of luxury cars to boot, these politicians get busy “working” for themselves and not the rakyat.
Prior to this, it was Mohamed Salleh Ismail, chairman of National Feedlot Corporation and husband of former women, family and community development minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who allegedly misused the RM250 million government loan meant for cattle breeding to purchase upscale condominiums in the affluent Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, and in Singapore besides buying a posh Mercedes Benz and two plots of land in Putrajaya.
Shahrizat then defended herself from allegations of being an “accomplice” by virtue of her being a minister by saying that she and her family led independent lives, each having no idea what the other person was up to.
Did the rakyat buy Shahrizat’s feckless retort? Far from it as the public furore that ensued resulted in Shahrizat’s senatorship not being renewed, forcing her on April 8 to vacant her minister’s seat and trying hard to remain politically relevant as Wanita Umno chief.
The bitter truth is that politicians like Nazri and Shahrizat very conveniently dismissed the fact that they are nothing more than servants of the rakyat; all because a red carpet is rolled out each time they attend an event does not make them important, in the true sense of the word.
On the contrary, the red carpet and VIP treatment is simply a gesture of respect from the humble rakyat which the politicians have sadly taken for granted.
No politician is ‘important’ and ‘influential’
It will do the country’s politicians good to guard their tongue each time they develop the itch to turn phony, their modesty long gone down the drain.
To the rakyat, it is their right to treat their politicians as servants of the people, looking after their interest and not vice-versa.
There is no need for the rakyat to pander to the whims of politicians, be they ministers, members of parliament or state assembly representatives.
No politician, for any reason whatsoever, should gloat over the appreciation shown by the very people they are meant to serve.
For this reason, too, superlatives like “important” and “influential” have no place in the dictionary of politicians, whatever their political status.
That said, politicians who refuse to digest the truth that their bona fide political masters are the rakyat have no business calling themselves “wakil rakyat” or the people’s representatives.
Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.
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