MP Fiasco *shakes head sadly*

I just realised.. I'll be eligible to vote next year. And tis a good thing I read the newspapers, because I would've otherwise blindly voted for the "stronger" party who I think is doing an okay job of keeping the country together.

However, I would like to know this: How do you vote for people who do not have a shred of decency and courtesy? (Mind, I'm not talking about the entire party, just a few public figures who are a disgrace not only to themselves and their parties, but Malaysians in general).

I would like to think that the MPs, the very people who form the laws that govern us, would behave in more civilised manner than 7-year-olds having a brawl in the school hall. However, this doesn't seem to be the case with some of them.

What am I talking about, you ask? (And this is just ONE case, mind.. there were similar ones before.)

Read this excerpt taken from the Star website:

"The furore started last week in the Dewan Rakyat when opposition MPs tried to raise a motion on the leaking ceiling near the media centre.

Bung Mokhtar and Mohd Said then said, “Mana bocor? Batu Gajah pun bocor setiap bulan.” (Where is the leak? Batu Gajah (MP Fong Po Kuan) also leaks every month.) "

Just because a statement is deemed true, does not give anyone the right to make it. Especially not when you're in the process of an official discussion. It was just plain rude, it's as simple as that. And what was the reaction of Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department?

“..To apologise to Fong is not on. I don’t agree.

“This is part of parliamentary debates. Both MPs uttered the words during the heat of their debate, and you cannot control people’s emotions.."
- Sharizat to meet with MPs (click on link for full story)

This is part of parliamentary debates? So that's how our MPs debate, is it? My god, for shame! And he can say that they should apologise to women in general, but not to the woman the statement was made to? Good golly gosh. How dumb does this man think the Malaysian public is, anyway, not to see the complete lack of logic in such a statement?

Oh I'm not so naive as to think that all the people we elect are decent human beings who know when they've said something wrong and apologize for it. But I would expect the party involved to take measures to make sure such people are properly chastised!

Hey, I know teenagers who debate in a much more decent manner than the above! It's possible to have an argument without resorting to degradation of any sort. But if we go on saying, "oh, you shouldn't take it seriously, it was just a joke" or "the media blew the whole thing completely out of proportion", then is this not condoning the situation? It is not just what was said that is the issue.. it is the entire principle of the matter!

Or has our government forgotten that one line in the Rukunegara, which they created to foster unity among people of different race, religion, creed, and heck, even gender, I might add?

"Kesopanan dan kesusilaan".

Tell me, please, did "kesopanan" come into the MPs statement at all? If it did not, they should apologize, not only to women in general, but to the one they said it to.. that's just common decency! Those who create the law should be the first ones to uphold it, and is not the Rukunegara one of the more important parts of our Constitution?

And tis not the first time such things are happening, if the reports are to be believed. So, by closing one eye (or both eyes and ears, as it seems in this case), the government has allowed such things to be so commonplace, that they try to justify with "This is part of parliamentary debates." It is truly a pathetic excuse.

If they want the support of us youngsters, "the future of the nation", as they like to call us, the government should step up and clean up their act before a whole lot of us are alienated. We're a generation who are more exposed to what's right and what's just plain wrong when it comes to the rights of human beings, and if they truly think they can get away with insulting our intelligence, well.. eventually they'll lose all those who actually CAN think for themselves, either to other parties, or worse, other countries.

As it is, I shall be thinking long and hard now about who I will vote for when the time comes. It's my country after all, and I do hate to see her shamed by a few people who show such a blatant disrespect for the people and the country that they claim to serve.