Win to serve or serve to win?
J. D. Lovrenciear,Semenyih
The Honorable Prime Minster has just made a statement to the effect that his political party must work hard towards winning in the up-coming by-elections in order to serve the rakyat better.
It would have been more virtuous to have maintained that one must serve first in order to winthe rakyat over.
It now appears very evident that we have retrogressed to a low point where the political party and political interests are far more superior than the rakyat's hopes and dreams.
We have hit an all time low by sacrificing the ideals of democracy for the sole survival of party politics that are uncessantly shrouded in protecting the personal interests of a few rather than the larger interests of the citizenry.
Let us be mindful of the age old wisdom that when you serve the man in the street with honor and integrity, you do not need to work hard to win the hearts of the voter. The voter will instead work harder to give you your winning seat or your crowning glory.
But we have drifted at high speed in the contrary. Today, the Perak fiasco has unearthed the risky and slippery road of more problems — that which no rakyat wants to see or be a part of.
We are fortunate that Malaysians are not violent by nature. We are fortunate that Malaysians are more for persuasive passive resistance than destructive, underground tactics.
But as we witness even through the milder main stream media of the way the rakyat are being handled by the authorities, we begin to see the hands of darkness at work at every juncture. Can we continue to afford this?
Hence the PM must quickly realize that his win-to-serve agenda is very far off from his clarion call of work with me, not work for me.
If BN wants to lead the nation with a convincing margin, then its elected and appointed leaders must first serve in order to win. That translates to:
- Wipe out corruption.
- Stop the psy-war games.
- Come clean.
- Come straight.
- Upold the Constitution.
- Do not smear the good office of our Rulers.
Peace loving Malaysians will do the rest to help you throw out the rotten apples.
But while you may be tempted to not want to subscribe to public opinion lest you be accused in the likes of the proverbial 'father, son and donkey' fable, the essence of success is you ability to respond in a timely manner to public opinion. And that is do not attempt to win to serve, but serve in order you will ultimately rise as the winner.
Ends
