Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Making your wish to come true


Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard,
To fetch her poor dog a bone.
But when she got there,
The cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.

WHAT’s as empty as Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard but is full of promises nonetheless? It’s the parliamentary seat left vacant sometime last week.

For politicians and their supporters from both side of the fence, the imminent Permatang Pauh by-election will be some sort of a battle-royale. Pilihanraya Kecil it may be but by no means is it going to be a small affair.

Dubbed as the ‘ultimate’ tussle judging by the political landscaping, digging and dirt that has been flying around since March’s General Election, Permatang Pauh will once again turn into a boxing ring, hosting two coalition representatives slugging it out at each other for that one glorious moment and a season’s pass to the Parliament.

For the folks residing in and around the vicinity however, it’s a windfall. The next time you see a rainbow, my bet is that the trail ends in Permatang Pauh.

Whether apartisan or otherwise, nothing beats in taking this rare opportunity to seek aid, and one can bet his life savings that the request will most definitely be fulfilled.

This is not to advocate the power of suggestion that residents request for a Benz or something ridiculous of that sort; it is but a mere reminder for them to exercise their rights as citizens.
Woes not seriously looked into such as the lack of basic necessities and infrastructure as well as promises made in March but not kept, should be brought to the fore.

From the disabled person’s point of view, this is a bonanza the community must not let slip away. It is a known fact that free fundamental material assistance from the welfare department is hard to come by. With ministers and other political bigwigs almost certain to make their appearances on the streets or even at the front door, they are a ‘captive audience’ to speed up on your impending request.

It is not an every day thing that one gets to be in such a position. A situation where one can directly channel his grouses to those who possess the power of making decisions and changes by a simple order to his or her staff.

It may not be easy to fish for votes but leaders of certain communities are duty bound to assist in the welfare of those in need, whether in their own backyards or otherwise. Taking congnisance of delivering the goods may well do the trick in winning over the voters’ hearts. Ultimately, they might enjoy the catch of the day.

Anything, and I mean anything at all, especially for the benefit of the needy.
By-elections are not easy to come by. In most cases, it happens when an incumbent dies. And odds are we may never see anyone doing a 'Wan Azizah' again.

My point is, carpe diem. Seize this moment of opportunity. Make the best of this rare occasion. If your rightful needs have been neglected, oh, go ahead and milk it; push your luck and your agenda. Whatever.

What matters most it that your due rights are recognised and are taken care of while the political carnival is in town. You might even hit the jackpot.

Every dog has its day, the saying goes, so hopefully someone will stock good old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard this time.

Unbound

21 comments:

Unknown said...

Aiya Kerpov, u expect Malaysian government to show concern for her "disabled" citizens ah? Look countries in Europe .. the healthcare and "disabled"-friendly infrastructures, etc. I wish our governing body could/would open their eyes and act for the good of ALL the citizens. No harm wishing ... Anyway, glad you're up and running. Don't overdo it tho .. motherly advice .. hehe

anfield devotee said...

Better yet, you should ask people with similar grouses/needs to form groups & associations.

Better chance of getting the politician's attention if yer part of a big gang.

ps: (off topic) wifey & meself started watching highly-rated crime drama The Wire on DVD. Me highly recommends you check it out.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

Aunty Iris,

The situation has certainly improved here in selangor. Having said that, there are simply plenty still needs to be looked into. The disability act for instance, while its formally enforced, the gomen has yet to do anything about it.


Bala,

No la, this is just my MM piece, hoping to get my message across to the voters/residents there to exercise their rights. It should be easier, esp the attention will be solely focused there in PP.

* wiki-ed it up. Apparently the show only lasted 5 seasons. But I’ll have a preview of it first via youtube to see if its dig-able. Thanks bro.

cakapaje said...

Salam kerpie,

Every dog has its day eh? Well, I'd rather be an ordinary man than a flea bitten dog who sits begging, waiting for its master - the Sarkas - to throw bits to the ground or say 'fetch!' ;)

Life's Like That said...

U know wat wld be an interesting scenario? Imagine DSAI actually losing Permatang Pauh! Now that wld really turn our political scene upside down!

Unknown said...

Glad that your post suggests that you are getting better.
Yeah promises, promises, promises and a declaration of jihad. I wonder how many declared jihad and what were they wearing when they declared Jihad? Hmm, maybe Gucci, Prada, Jimmy Choo, and for a little bit of Malaysian flavour Zhang Toi.

Azer Mantessa said...

hi

found you thru anfield devotee. i must say u have an interesting writing here - superb english unlike mine :-)

besides writing nonsense stuffs, i too into music and making fool outta myself singing.

check out my youtube on madeleine and nurin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFdKdZiZlzU

nice prose there. reminds me of pink floyd...

"when i'm a good dog, they sumtimes throw me a bone in" :-)

cheers

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

Shah,

Yea but this is a totally different kind of dog all together. This is about urging to get their rights looked into. Them ministers sure to fish for some votes so no better time than now to push one’s luck. as I said, they might even hit the jackpot.


Gavin,

Dude, that’s unthinkable. I can imagine them amno flers to gloat for the longest of time to come.


Cikgu,

Hehehe…yea but its quite a nice feeling to see a politician fulfilled his promised made during the campaign. TS Khalid is one fine example here in selangor. The disabled community have finally got our say on stuff…kinda cool.

*no la boss, still not fully recovered. This entry was actually friday’s write-up that I did for the Malay Mail. You can actually differentiate between my normal writing and newspaper writing. When there’s money involved, I’ll sure to write well…muahahaha…


azer,

hey there. Welcome, brother.

Yea I checked the video out and nice song really. But still it saddens me for obvious reason.

*as I mentioned to another commenter above, this was my piece for last week’s Malay Mail. I can write well when I’m paid…hahaha…but seriously, you can differentiate between this entry and my previous ones…

thanks for dropping over, azer.

ZABS said...

Salam Kerp,
Itulah masalahnya dalam negara kita ini. Sejah dulu keperihatinan kebanyakan pemimpin ini hanya sekadar untuk meraih undi sahaja. Selepas itu kau punya pasallah.
Sepatutnya kabajikan rakyat perlu di titikberatkan sentiasa. Tidak sepatutnya ada had ada hari, masa dan ketika sahaja ke?.
Apa mereka ingat kita perlukan semua keperluan hidup tu 4/5 tahun sekali ke?
Saya pernah membaca tulisan SS Mufti NegerioPerlis yang menyatakan bahawa ‘Khalifah Umar bin al-Khattab berdoa agar Allah mengambil nyawanya sebelum dia mencuaikan tugasannya. Wallahua'lam.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

pak zab,

tepat sekali. itulah maksud saya. tp time pilihanraya kecil, lebih lagi peluang utk dpt apa yg diperlukan sbb kawasan kecil jadi tumpuan ramai. kalo rakyat frust sngt, boleh sampai doakan adanya pilihanraya ditempat mereka. nak tunggu GE lambat..

ZazaHardy said...

aidan and i sing that song (along with others) whenever we're in the car!! but he likes (and can sing!) burung kakak tua the best! (which his mama's very proud of!)

Zaza

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

zazaa!

hey there.

so that means me can be Aidan's friend! i wanna be seen with someone as cool as cute little Aidan too! hehe...hey how about the alphabet song, the one where it goes something like 'ants on the apple, a,a,a' thing? apparently its the in-thing in nurseries nowadays.

oh, Aidan's grandparents still around?

wanshana said...

A fine piece of writing, Kerp :)

I guess the PP people don't have to say their "Pretty pleases..." and flutter their eyes to ask for anything under the sun this time around, huh?

They'll probably get whatever it is that they want without even asking, no?

Get well soon, Kerp.

moztheMUSS said...

chief,

as i was reading through this article; halfway i stopped. a creepy deja vu feeling swelled into a hunchback over me; weirdy, almost twilight zone like *cue zone them music*

weird, i could have sworn i read these lines before..don't tell me yu were readin' to me in my dreams mate? erk. hang on, what the hell would yu be doin in my dreams??? the REM would have skyrocketed to say the least...mwahhahahahhaha

good piece chief. and yes, it is a very fair and valid point that rights ought to be demanded. such is the nature of our politicians cum...er..cum..cumm..hehehehhehe

what irks me to this day is this mon - i think both the LGL/FFS magnates; and the respective denizens frequenting both places have incessantly seeked to establish i.e.:-

how dumb do they really think we are?
candybuying; satefanning and perverted fatherly / sugardaddy smiles - are we intent on buying this package.

in retrospect, yu know what dude there is somewhat a silver lining of sorts to recompensate and appease the burgeoning frustration of daily life in malaysia.

the good part is us folks are gettin better at cuttin the deal short i guess.

yu give, i take.
give some more, i take summore.
baiwan friwan.

what for must vote yu?
i vote, yu die.

appreciatively,
moz.

p.s. dude, today kapla a bit kering, thus the lack of any sorta valuable insights from me. (er..yah la yah la..i heard thatttt ok..mwhahahha)

blackpurple @ jowopinter said...

Bilalah agaknya di kampung kelahiran wak itu nak diadakan buy- election.....ops silap! by-election. Nak merasa juga jalan baru, balai raya baru, surau baru.

:)

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

Kak shana,

Nope, they might not even need to ask. Groups might just be there at their doorstep. Some groups in white top black pants while there are some I pink…hihi…

*the truth is, this was the piece I did for the Malay Mail last Friday…haha…akak sendiri boleh nampak beza between a ‘paid’ article and my usual style of writing.


Mozzzzzzzz,

Dude, this time around I was hoping you wouldn’t read this entry; solely for reason that you’ve read it last Friday!muahahaha…no la brother, actually its nice to hear what you have to say on my Unbound instead of the usual LGL.

At least now I know I have one reader as far as the east coast. I sure can count on you, cant I, o my north-london brother? Muahahahaaa…



Wak purp!

Aiseh sahabat, memang tepat sekali. Kenapa la saya tak terfikir tentang tu…time to buy votes…hehehe…

*mekasih singgah. Saya sendiri lama dah tak ke sana. Jowo nyong pon sampai dah karat ni ha…

moztheMUSS said...

tuan kerpienasri,

mwahhahahhaaaa..nice one. but dude, to count on me is a severe predicament of sorts. if yu must now, i'm very much reknowned for my lack of punctuality; scruffy hair (a mini-'fro to say the least) and a despicably uncanny ability to forget dates and events e.g. weddings (WTF right?), birthdays, the "todayishotpants" wearing days, coming to work on one of 'em midweek public holidays (forgetting its a public holiday) and yes even monthly pay the bills day. even sucessfully managed to garner the accolade of mr. "fong-fei-kay" 2001-2002 (published in the office bulletin) in a previous office place i used to prostitute myself at. dude, thats 2 years running. no mean feat i tell ya :)))

heck there was once, i even started reversing and driving off to work, erh..with my knapsack still on the bumbung, that is until my friendly 5-year old (at the time) shrieked her lungs off at me.

i guess, the only thing which i look forward to remembering (and doing) is a)WC-ing with fag in hand AND b)feeding time

so in short, caveat emptor. yes, yes, i'm tryin hard with a hard-on to prove me intellectual-self. which i know is failing horribly to work on you. you man of jurisprudence and the law you :))

having said that, on the other hand by some occult strike of lightning, ironically, i am (again, miraculously) able to meet arsesplitting deadlines and deliver. the call it the "by the hook or crook" method. most of the time i'm the crook. suffice to say, i still can't understand how this is friggin possible.

so yeah, caveat emptor. let the kerpov beware..mwahwhhahahhahaha.

but as a northLONDON BRO???*$&&@ ^$%^#&^#&@&@&*@.
mwahahhahHAHAHAH.
it has come to that time of the year again chief,
where we need to draw first blood again.. from the blood bank la dei...for - what else?
to withstand the ups and downs, and the many incumbent heartaches
that await. why so pessimistic moz?
see la what team i support :)))

THE LANE AWAITS - NLD 2008 . be there. konon-konon sound cool giler la tu kirenya..mwhahahah (emirates ape macam bro?)

fabregas - is frightening. *sigh*

have a good weekend ahead, keep on steamin. sorry again for the utter crap.

i'm getting meself hit with some much needed slabs of sabbath, loud and blaring in office. lantak la.:)

Pi Bani said...

Wei Kerpov,
You sendiri tak masuk bertanding ke? Boleh join all the political bigwigs (am now imagining you wearing that BIG WIG... :))

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

kak Pi!

hehehe...no lah, i will only run for the PM's post. setakat rebut 1 kerusi kosong kat parlimen and still being end up sitting on a wheelchadir buat pe? kihkihhh...

btw, wigs are no longer an in-thing. a certain politician, cikgu KTN's best friend, from sungai siput lost his seat during the march GE.

monsterball said...

Two heroes are now in the making.
Anwar...back to parliament in a few weeks time....and our National Anthen to be played for the first time in an Olympic Game...when Lee Chong Wei wins the badminton gold on Sunday.
Yes kerp...the future looks bright..as all the Permatang Pauh voters are also real heroes...representing all Malaysians......to give a clear message to UMNO.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

mr goh,

too bad chon wei fell on the last hurdle.