The accountant and the steel magnolias
Are Rafizi, Maria and Cynthia on the same side?
Ishmael Lim, Free Malaysia Today
The universe is a savage and chaotic place. Any order in a given entity is transient and its component parts break up or become more disorderly with the passage of time. This means that it is natural for things to get crazy and chaotic if there is nothing or no one to impose order.
Isn’t it just natural for Maria Chin of Bersih to be interested in all things electoral? She is after all trying to promote fairer and freer elections, among other things. So too it must be expected of Cynthia Gabriel of the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) to prick up her ears on hearing that cash prizes are being offered in connection with a voter registration drive initiated by Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli. Pokémon soft toys or fast food vouchers are one thing, but money for voters does sound a bit dodgy.
Rafizi thinks it is alright to use cash incentives to induce eligible first timers to register as voters. If that sounds un-kosher, it’s probably because it is. Maria and Cynthia have said as much.
The word “pathetic” is heard. But Rafizi will have the ladies know that the cash comes from his own pocket and that the prizes are for slogan writing and not for registrations per se.
But merely clarifying the unclear seems inadequate for a slighted ego. The YB of Pandan walks through calculations an accountant would be proud of just to show how cost effective his scheme has been in increasing voter awareness at a bargain. The ends justify the means, right?
It is now common for activists and politicians to address the people they are really talking to through the media.
The media on its part ensures that the people get front row seats. We imagine that activists and politicians from neighbourly pea-pods should be talking to one another, but who bothers when it’s easier to kill two birds with a stone? Just let the media toss your messages.
