Taking it one step at a time
KEDAH
When Kedah state fell to the opposition 12 months ago, voters felt they had ushered in a bright new world. A year on, however, the euphoria has given way to disappointment and dashed hopes.
The Straits Times
Like many others, civil servant Manit See Nam, 39, has seen little change and few obvious improvements in the sleepy state, which accounts for more than half of Malaysia's rice production. Opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat had swept 22 of the 36 state seats last March.
“It has been the same. There is no difference,” he said. “I don't feel any benefits or any changes.”
But like some voters, he does not blame the new state government. “I know that it is difficult for the government because it doesn't have enough money,” he explained.
Indeed, many of the one million or so Kedah residents blame the Barisan Nasional federal government which, they say, is choking off funds to the state.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak, from Pas, admitted that his government faces financial constraints, but promises to boost the economy. His main plan is to focus on agriculture and leverage on the state's prime position as a plantation and rice-growing region.
“This will be our ongoing project. But we also have other plans such as promoting tourism, because we want to look for new income resources,” he said. Azizan's administration, however, is up against hardcore BN supporters.
“The previous state government was caring towards the people,” charged retired businessman Othman Ariffin, 68. “But now, the villagers hardly get to see their elected representatives. It was very common to see parliamentarians visiting villagers before March 8 but not any more.”
The state government, he added, has been slow to address the looming economic downturn and there are no allocations for village developments such as building mosques.
But there are others who want Pas to take it one step at a time and are willing to give it a chance. One year, said housewife Rena Tan, 48, is too soon to make changes like building infrastructure and creating more business opportunities.
“People were fed up with corruption,” she said. “We just wanted change, we did not want to see Umno as the big bully any more.”
She is also grateful that some things have remained status quo — like religious freedom and tolerance. Like many Chinese, she had feared that the conservative Pas would turn Kedah into an Islamic state, but such concerns have proved groundless. “Everyone thought that Kedah would become an Islamic state after the elections but surprisingly, our government has not done anything extreme,” she said.
