In 1887, Lord Acton said : “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.“ Why am I bringing it up? Simple. The Malaysian Insider reported HERE that our PM had obtained the backing of the Umno Supreme Council for the government’s decision to relocate the Tanjong Pagar railway station in Singapore. The report said:
I thought, like many others, that we have a democratic government which is elected by the people. Now, it looks like power is in the hands not of BN as a whole including all its component parties but in the UMNO Supreme Council.
The prime minister also said more meetings with Singapore would be required to solve other contentious bilateral issues.
“My explanation was accepted by the supreme council and they are of the view that the solution is a win-win for both Malaysia and Singapore,” said Najib (picture) after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting here.
On former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s suggestions to solve other bilateral issues, Najib said those matters would be addressed in stages.
“We look at these in stages. One meeting cannot solve everything,” he said.
“I believe with trust, a lot of issues can be addressed,” said Najib. Click HERE for more.
I thought, like many others, that we have a democratic government which is elected by the people. Now, it looks like power is in the hands not of BN as a whole including all its component parties but in the UMNO Supreme Council.
- Shouldn't the Cabinet be consulted on such a serious matter?
- Why did the PM only consult the UMNO Supreme Council? What is the rationale behind the move?
- Why are the BN component parties and Opposition silent on this? There should be many queries wrt this move.
- How are decisions made? How are decisions SUPPOSED to be made? Who ultimately decides on How decisions are made?
Until and unless true democracy exists, our nation is likely to face such scenarios and are we happy with this? What are we going to do about this? Who owns political power in our nation?
Wikipedia states that political power is a type of power held by a group in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth. There are many ways to obtain possession of such power. At the nation-state level, political legitimacy for political power is held by the representatives of national sovereignty. Political scientists have frequently defined power as "the ability to influence the behaviour of others" with or without resistance.
Personally, this situation shows that there is too much power in the hands of too few! Power is an insidious force that should never be taken for granted. When one has too much power, one can be so beguiled or seduced to the extent of losing a logical sense of perspective or even to compromise one's value system/moral standards until power slowly corrupts and destroys us - like what Lord Acton implied in his famous quotation.
As citizens, we have to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages posed by the centralization and concentration of power. With this development, the time has come for civil society and every one to be vigilant about the forces of power at work in this nation. We have to understand how power is acquired, exercised and retained by those who walk the corridors of power. Gone are the days when we could trust so openly. Instead of conforming, we have to exercise our critical thinking skills and constantly question the motives and actions of those in power because obviously, there are those who inclined to further their own ambitions by exploiting their access to power.
When megalomaniacs exist, trouble is bound to abound! Some can spur us to improve ourselves but it is common knowledge that some have led us into economic problems as can be seen by Datuk Seri Idris Jala's recent announcement that our nation may be bankrupt in nine years' time. Let us NOT forget that billions of $ have been squandered on many items and via leakages because of selfish political ambition and greed. All that money that went up is smoke could have been used responsibly to improve the lives of the rakyat instead of ...
Whatever the case, there should not exist a concentration of power that threatens the existence of democracy in our country. No individual in our society should use political power to their personal advantage feeding on their sources of power and letting the rakyat suffer in the darkness of ignorance, higher prices and what have you...
As citizens in such a scenario, we cannot afford to sit back but to put in time and effort to stay informed and take an interest in the issues of the day. Otherwise, we would then be transformed into easy prey for their greed, avarice and lust for unlimited power and we MUST NEVER let that happen!
We have to morph into a powerful civil society and a healthy democracy in order to take an active part in the affairs of our nation instead of just sitting there, being an armchair critic and 'swallowing' what we are told via MSN.
I am sure many of us have had enough of imperious hypocrites who breed corruption and indifference to the needs of the rakyat - the very ones who elected them and those whom they are morally and politically meant to serve! No more double talk. Tell it like it is at the right platform to the right people to make the right decisions.
Let's do something positive to effect change in this country and to ensure that the RIGHT candidates are voted into the office. We cannot afford to be complacent anymore and to see greedy ones sap $ from our nation whilst the rakyat suffer rising costs of living. Let us be intellectually curious, informed and involved that this nation will not go backward but forward!
Anonymous It boils down to BAD and INCOMPETENT planning.....besides, UNMO never tell the whole truth and lack credibility cum integrity.The present leaders have wiped off from their vocabulary words like shame, honesty and humility. Jala is right but soon his mouth will be shut or filtered. The day TDM became PM, UMNO reigns supreme. I personally blame the MCA, Gerakan and MIC for being so insipid. While bloggers like you are doing a good job delivering 'alternative education', the rural folks and the older generations are less secured and tend to be over accomodating [even rationalising that crumbs are better than none]. Maybe sincere praying to our preferred faith will help. Meanwhile, there is no harm in trying to rouse the crowd to do the right thing! regards. bengaun