There is one difference between politicians and the people – when politicians are in power, they have the tools of the government at their disposal.
By tools of government I mean the three branches – Executive, Judiciary and Legislature – and the enforcement agencies whether it is police, anti-corruption commission, immigration, customs and so forth.
Although the three branches of government should be independent of each other, in reality, it may not be so. Whether they are indeed separated depends on the relevant laws in place.
Let us forget about the Legislature and the Executive which are primarily made up of politicians.
There only 222 Members of Parliament. There are about 600 state assemblymen nationwide. So in total, there are only over 800 politicians in power compared to the total population of Malaysia of 30 million.
Even if we were to increase the number of politicians in power to 1,000, that accounts for only 0.0033 per cent of the population of Malaysia! This 0.0033 per cent of the population decides the fate 30 million people.
We, the 99.9967 per cent, are the ones who are really running the country in our various roles as police officers, military personnel, government servants, judges, those in the private sector, entrepreneurs, and so on.
We are the ones who toil and sweat to create income, employment, products and services. Lest we forget, we are the ones who pay the salary of the 0.0033 per cent of the so-called leaders through our taxes.
So, who really is the boss? Who is protecting and safeguarding the country?
When we elect politicians and pay their salaries, we expect them to serve us and the nation.
We should not tolerate them when they (ab)use power to oppress us or enrich themselves. We should not even allow them to hog the headlines in the media unless they have something useful to report to us.
They should be grateful to us that we trust them and not expect us to idolise them for doing their job.
Does our employee idolise us for doing what we are paid to do?
So, it is very important for the rakyat to fully understand and appreciate that politicians in power form a very insignificant number compared to our total population.
Furthermore, it is important for the rakyat to understand that we occupy the very institutions upon which the politicians depend on for their power.
Why do we still hear cases of abuse and oppression by politicians?
The answer is simple – we do not understand our power and more importantly, the rakyat is not united on important issues that affect our lives.
If we want to be the boss of our country and do what is collectively best for all of us, we, the rakyat, have to united.
We must look beyond ethnicity, religious beliefs, culture, and partisan and narrow selfish interests.
We must support each on matters that benefit the nation. Then, we the people, will have the power to decide the nation’s destiny, not the politicians in power.
