Winning is only Glorious if you Play By The Rules

As I write this at 8.00am on Sunday 25 April 2010, polling has just begun and of course the outcome of the by-election in Hulu Selangor is not yet known. Nevertheless, what is already known is the way in which the campaign had been conducted.

By onGOHing

A doctored picture of the opposition candidate holding a liquor bottle to his lip had been a centre piece of the ruling party’s campaign. (While the candidate in question had admitted to his past practice, the doctored picture was calculated to show his current physical form and to give the impression that he was downing an entire bottle of hard liquor, etc.) Millions of ringgit of tax-payers money had been given/promised to prospective voters in the constuency. (The actual amounts had reportedly been in the region of at least RM51 million.) So much so that some quarters have described this particular election as a “buy-election”. Even more grievous (flagrant, outrageous, atrocious) was the fact that a large block of voters in the constituency had had their polling stations relocated without being informed (until this matter was publicly revealed by the PR elections team). The large police presence in Hulu Sengor had been another factor that must be examined to see if the actions of police personnel had been fair to both sides of the contest.

Much more can be said about what went on in the Hulu Selangor by-election campaigns. I leave people much more knowledgeable and informed than I am to reveal the full story. It is important that they do so to prevent abuse in future elections.

My purpose in writing this post is to say loud and clear that winning is only glorious if you play by the rules. An Olympic medal has no value whatsoever if it was won by dubious and crooked means. It would be what we say is a hollow victory.

Read more at: http://ongohing.wordpress.com