by Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 08, 2012
JUNE 8 — Question: when do we know that a government policy or decision is dumb and ill-conceived?
When Muhyiddin Yassin and Noh Omar are in agreement that the decision is brilliant!
I am of course referring to the decision by the Higher Education Ministry to freeze PTPTN scholarships to Unisel students. The Umno government thinks that this move will turn students against Pakatan Rakyat and lay bare the opposition’s plan to scrap the PTPTN scheme if it wrests control of Parliament.
The thinking (if you can call it that) is that the students and their desperate parents will be so upset that they will turn out in droves to vote against Khalid Ibrahim’s government.
The freeze is wrong on so many levels that it ultimately tells us that Umno is desperate, bankrupt of ideas, deeply vindictive and morally wanting. More shockingly, it shows us that this government will go to extreme lengths to cling to power, even stir up violence should poll results not go its way.
Khaled Nordin, Muhyiddin and Noh refuse to accept certain facts: they serve the rakyat; that when the opposition put up alternative suggestions, they must counter these ideas through persuasion and that government funds belong to the rakyat.
Pakatan says that if it comes to power, it will abolish the PTPTN scheme, BN says it cannot be done. So go out there and convince Malaysians why Pakatan’s scheme is not doable.
Instead they decide to punish the students. What a morally deficient bunch of ministers we have! So are we to expect that various communities will be punished if they don’t support Umno in the polls?
Will Chinese areas be neglected? Will the Indians be marginalised?
More importantly, will Malaysians continue to suck up all the punishments and morally-suspect decisions by a government which has lost its ability to discern between right and wrong.
Umno has turned itself into a joke – good only for a laugh.
Lets face the fact what this was really about. Its about Anwar being able to pull another rabbit out of the hat – a risky and reckless one at that BUT what really angers the UMNO leaders like Muhiyiddin and Noh, hardly mental giants, is that he seemingly is able to get away with it.
By all accounts student loans are a good idea – the problem is the loans are used for crappy education that UMNO/BN provide. Like a bad mortgages in the US that banks recklessly sold and now are asked to take a hit and bailout by the govt, Anwar proposition is not without merit – they got a bad education led by the nose of UMNO/BN – why should they pay for the mistakes that started with UMNO/BN?
But instead of understanding the origin of the problem and how the sleight of hand of Anwar is able, their answer was to get mad and vengeful – which resulted in even worst for them..
That they are now eating crow comes to no surprise to people who honestly have to build something real, hard and accountable for it, UMNO/BN leaders has no clue how their entitlement is the root of the problem and how Anwar, which they clearly don’t understand but think they do, can get away with upstaging them each and every time..