The bid for Putrajaya has heated up. Political parties are starting to make promises, give sugar coated speeches and offer "goodies".
A party which was associated with democracy, reform and good governance has made some very superficial promises. It's party secretary general Lim Guan Eng has instructed his party leaders to explain the 3 promises.
First, he again committed an annual payment of RM1,000 to senior citizens, whom he defines as those aged 60 and above, as part of the government's annual welfare contribution.
He promised the abolishment of the saman ekor, a notorious form of traffic fines, and the practice of blacklisting vehicle owners from renewing their road tax should they fail to pay outstanding summonses.
Lastly, he promised to provide a free Wi-Fi service for the whole of Malaysia.
Most of us, observers and analysts, had expected something more 'solid' and long-term which include the changing our societal values, ethics, public institutions and democratic structure.
We expected the secretary general to speak about decentralisation of federal power, curbing corruption by enhancing the separation of power and check-and-balance mechanism, to arrest the decline of our education quality, to ban race & religious based political parties, to return full democratic rights to the people and to turn Malaysia into a knowledge hub.
If DAP can win federal power through these 3 promises, then I can safely say that we are truly desperate for change. With or without these promises, Malaysians have had enough of the current regime. It is again this strong push factor which will deliver DAP the government, not the 3 promises.
We should be careful of superficial promises. It is not that I do not enjoy free wifi but anything free does not have good maintenance and support service. I am willing to continue paying for a good wifi service BUT I would rather political parties focus on the collective betterment.
Like now, I am facing an agony of a failed modem and Telekom Malaysia's misplaced sense of customer service. TM service centres are only open from 8.30am to 4.30pm from mon to fri. How on earth can the company serve its customers better if it does not consider opening at least on Saturdays?
Is this a making of superficial Malaysian society?
Maybe we need a smarter Third Force. Haris Ibrahim, where are you?