LETTER | Covid-19 has revealed only the rakyat can reset the nation

LETTER | The way Covid-19 is being managed, or mismanaged rather, in Malaysia reveals a harsher truth. The blatant truth is the only reason why our society, economy, and environment are bleeding can be found in the realm of politics - the main culprit.

The lack of political will, the abuses of power, the corrupt conduct of politicians, the obvious opulent lifestyles of most of our politicians, the business indulgences of politicians and their secret proxies, the unrelenting political war games - all of these and more, clearly are the reasons why citizens and migrant workers are suffering under the attack of a health pandemic.

A country cannot be governed, managed, and saved for as long as crooked politicians are our masters. Not only have we lost and continue to lose more lives but the countless white flags and unending queues seeking food rations daily speak volumes of a society left out in the cold while politicians and their families amass wealth.

Not only are citizens fighting for their lives in overcrowded hospitals and tents but the lack of medical support and buckling workforce registers how politicians have failed with their policies, empty promises, and deceitful agendas.

News about environmental plundering is clearly pointing in the direction of politicians who must be made accountable for not protecting the nation's gifts of nature against mercenary robbers.

Simple citizens are asking: Where did all the decades of oil money go? What happened to all the foreign investments made with the forced savings of the working class all these past decades? And how come all the tax money has vaporised in an instant?

The fact that people have to beg for daily food, dig out their retirement savings from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), be driven onto the streets after being unable to pay rent, desperately seek out low paying and demanding jobs like food delivery - all of these indicate that politicians have failed miserably in a country often described as "a land of milk and honey".

Where did all the wealth of this nation seen during past decades of good times go?

Hardly six months into a pandemic, citizens were already paralysed with economic and financial hardships. Whatever remedies politicians proudly dished out in the media do not seem to be working anymore.

Despite all these sufferings, not one of these politicians even bothered to decisively address the emotional and mental toll on citizens and migrant workers.

Instead, we read of news about plantations, farms, and forest reserves being raided with impunity even to the extent of disrespecting court rulings.

There is more to prove that politicians are the cause of our social, economic, and environmental agonies. Some flee the country to foreign lands for holidays, family matters, and what-have-you, right in the thick of a severe, widespread national crisis.

Some others brazenly break the very laws and standard operating procedures (SOPs) they demanded to be put in place. And when caught in social media, even have the gall to simply say "Maaf, ya" (Sorry, yeah) with a dismissal that they will pay the paltry fine.

Some even have the meanness to tease the suffering rakyat who are desperately attempting to cut corners to stay alive, by peddling pictures of themselves eating Maggi mee while wearing timepieces and jewels worth a fortune.

It is time to respond to the call of Covid-19 that has exposed without fear or favour the true culprit that has brought immense havoc on the social, economic, and environmental landscapes of this beloved nation and its people.

I propose that all non-governmental organisations (NGOs), professional bodies, religious congregations, and notable citizens irrespective of their agendas congregate and demand a political reset.

The role of law-keepers is to guarantee the safety and security of this congregation and not be henchmen of politicians who will not stop at anything to jeopardise the citizens' agenda to reset our nation.

It is not about us. It is about the children of Malaysia and the helpless families of millions of migrant workers.

We either do it now or continue lamenting every hour of every day on social media, only for our graves to be cursed on for failing our loved ones.