LETTER | Don’t keep doing the same dumb thing

LETTER | Today we read another proposal led by Nazir Abdul Razak to set up another “council” to address the ills inflicting this country. I wonder what difference this would make.

In this country, everyone is blaming someone or something else other than himself or herself. 

We forget that every adult in this country is a voter and we get to decide who shall helm the government and the major institutions.

So why do we keep voting for the same party or people who have been short-changing us for decades?

Short of being labelled arrogant and insensitive, I think Malaysians, in general, are smug, ignorant and even downright dumb. We can’t see things for ourselves. 

We are easily hoodwinked and indoctrinated by treacherous politicians selling us snake oil.

We can’t see things for ourselves. We can’t separate the wheat from the chaff. We can’t grasp the fundamentals. 

We can’t see fighting against the incumbents and people entrenched with power are always more difficult.

To me, it is a strange phenomenon indeed. The whole world can see the pervasive corruption now inundating the country and its devastating impact on the people. But to most citizens, either we can’t see it or are not bothered by it. 

Otherwise, how do we explain that corrupted people continue enjoying patronage and support by the people? How does this come about?

Is blatant dishonesty acceptable?

Then we have politicians who are known for their betrayal and treachery. They switch allegiance, party and principle like changing underwear. 

But the irony is they have remained popular and acceptable. Are the people saying blatant dishonesty is acceptable now? 

I think the people have taken themselves too lightly. That is why politicians have no qualms throwing rough shots at us.

We also have politicians who have been in power for decades but without doing anything significant for the people. 

Years in and years out they just play with religious or racial cards and voila everything is fine. 

So are the people more chauvinistic and bigoted than the politicians? I would think so.

I don’t know, at some point, I think the people must be able to see all this. If we can’t see corrupted politicians, if we can’t see their betrayal and treachery, and if we can’t see their ineffectiveness, who shall we blame really?

If we are not going to blame ourselves then we must learn to accept that we are deeply indoctrinated, ignorant, or dumb. 

It is simple, we can’t keep saying we understand the problems and know what we want but keep doing the dumb thing over and over again.   

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.