Friday, June 27, 2008

So He Said

Rakyat diminta tabah tangani krisis harga minyak, says Najib. I say, who are you to know how tough it is? Ministers and all these government officials, they have drivers and their fuel is paid for (using the taxpayers' money no less!) and they have allowance for almost every single damn thing. Do you know that they can claim for their donations as well? Yeah, most of them are not so philanthropic after all. But even if they have to pay for their own fuel, would it dent their coffers?

Some of these ministers, like Najib, have they really felt the pinch of the hoi polloi? He comes from a Malaysian political blue blood family, I'm sure he has lived a very sheltered life. Don't go around telling us to be strong, when I doubt you can handle it were you to be put in our shoes Mr. Deputy Prime Minister sir.

Use public transportation instead, they tell us. Why don't you, I say. Some people drive because they have to. Look at the state of our public transportation, the trains have a very limited reach and capacity (read Monorail, Putra), some are not even reliable (read Komuter). The buses, I can't comment since I only take the trains. How about people who live in Rawang and working in Damansara, which train can they take then?

Seriously, they should do something like 'Bulan Menteri Naik LRT', and we'll see how it goes. No, no special treatment - no beefy bodyguards pushing us poor commuters aside, no SB holding us back while Mr Minister boards the train and sits comfortably, preferably with no one else sitting in the next few seats in his radius (national security, the rakyat will understand). Let them sweat it like us, push and shove your way to a nook to stand quietly without having someone's elbow in your face. Or they can try the Komuter, sweating in the mornings while waiting for the train is not fun at all. Or get caught in the rain while waiting for it, that's not fun too.

Don't tell us to be strong in this situation, for you know nothing about how it is to be one of us. We are not in this together, no pretenses anymore please.

7 comments:

Missy eLLe said...

i second that. i'm appalled with the state of our lrts.

in my two years of commuting my train to work, i even learnt a technique or two in lining up just so i can get a seat. ;)

im sure others have their own tactics too. using BOs for extra space perhaps?

Missy eLLe said...

by* not my

Anonymous said...

Did u vote for these politicians to be in their places in the recent election?

Miss Aida said...

I'm all for that!

Not just ministers really, but anyone who decides to make sweeping statements, or generalizations about the state of things, be it in a company, or school, or nation, should be asked to go through it.

The whole concept of walking in someone else's shoes.

The Banker said...

distant observer: undi anda adalah rahsia, shhhhhhh

miss aida: ditto. certain bosses here tend to do that too, perhaps being away from the frontline for too long causes them to forget how hard it was being at the bottom of the food chain.

Anonymous said...

just as how everything has fallen perfectly in place for them ever since they hit it big, they expect us to fall perfectly in place for them to continue their comfort, even if at the expense of ours. So why should they mean anything they say. They're saying it to get what they want.

The Banker said...

liy: hear hear. things are turning into an international laughfest now with one scandal after the other. how can this be good for our economy?