This is addressed to all the fence sitters and those who say that
they might still support the BN, not because they love the BN or trust
the BN, but simply because they don’t trust Anwar or PAS. Why choose the
BN even though they don’t trust the BN? Their usual reply is, “Better
the devil you know than the devil you don’t”.
Another thing many seem to be saying is, “We fear the disunity and
chaos that will result if Pakatan takes over.” Unfortunately PKR, DAP
and PAS do not seem to be addressing these fears directly.
In my opinion, what perhaps Pakatan component parties may not be able
to talk about openly is this: Most who harbour the first fear do not
realise that DAP will not be to Pakatan what MCA and MIC have been to BN
all these past 50 years. We can be very sure that DAP (big enough to be
a formidable force, but not big enough to rule Pakatan), isn’t going to
allow Anwar and PAS to do anything and everything they want, anytime
they want.
As for the second fear – those who say that if Pakatan takes over as
government, we can be sure there will be lots of issues between the
component parties, they are absolutely right. I am not sure why they say
there will be chaos though, and what kind of chaos they are talking
about. None are able to give me a reasoned reply. Sounds like purely
irrational fear. Yes, we have no doubt there will be lots of debate and
problems among them. But isn’t that what a healthy government should
practice – allowing both internal audit as well as external audit?
Sometimes too much is said and we lose the big picture in the midst
of all the convolutions and confusion of issues. Let’s look at the big
picture. And let’s keep it simple. What will happen if we do not give
Pakatan a chance?
Then we can be quite sure what Idris Jala has predicted will happen –
Malaysia is going to be bankrupt by 2019. What are you going to do
then? Is there anything to stop that from happening if we continue to
allow Umno warlords to control BN?
I personally would prefer if we had a third option – if perhaps
someone like Zaid Ibrahim could be the next PM. But that, for now,
appears unlikely. It might become a possibility though, sometime in the
future, if Pakatan comes into government! You never know what can happen
if we give Pakatan a chance. Not so, if BN retains power. Stop for a
moment and think about that, all you fence sitters and those who might
still be leaning in favour of voting the BN simply because you don’t
trust Anwar or PAS.
So the simple question we must ask ourselves is this: Do we want to
die slowly or shall we take a “risk” that in voting in Pakatan we might
still be able to save Malaysia? Look at how well Penang and Selangor
have done financially the last five years. Almost phenomenal. If we were
to allow the BN to retain power, since we are going to die anyway, why
not take the “risk” now of giving Pakatan a chance that might save us
instead of a sure slow death at the end?
This reminds me of a story of a man who was lost in the desert. Just
as he was about to die from dehydration, he noticed a shed in the
distance – the first sign of life after three days of wandering around
without water. He struggled to the shed. Under the shade of the shed, he
found to his delight a beaker of water standing next to a dry water
pump, the kind which you have to manually pump it to get water from the
ground.
Just as he was about to drink down all of the water in the beaker, he
noticed a note left there by someone who had obviously been there
before him. The note said, “If you drink all the water in the beaker,
you will live a little longer, maybe an extra day. But you will die
anyway, either tomorrow or the next day. But if you pour all the water
into the pump to prime the pump, and try pumping it, that should be just
enough to get it to work and you can get all the water you need to get
you out of this desert.”
If you were that man in the desert, which would you choose?
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