KUCHING, Dec 15: Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) Sarawak chapter is calling on voters to not trade their votes for facilities and amenities they are entitled to.
Its secretary general Andrew Lo in a press statement today said votes should be given to those who can bring about a prosperous Sarawak and not those who serve only a few.
“Our votes must go to those who fight for a prosperous Sarawak for everyone, not just a selected few. Policies must be implemented to ensure local workers get decent wages, instead of enabling companies to continue to employ hundreds of thousands of foreign workers.
“Our votes are too important to be traded for a tar-sealed road here or a generator set there. Our votes cannot go to drain cleaners, road resurfacers – we pay 1.4 million civil servants to do all these.
“Our votes cannot go to those who condone bribery and corruption because by extension they are saying they live by different rules and not subject to prosecution. We talk about getting rid of corruption, but are we not corrupt as well if we vote for this candidate or party because we get more hand-outs or more contracts.
“Our votes cannot go to those who have no integrity and frogs who stood on a party’s ticket but jump when it suits them.
“Our votes cannot go to those pretending to champion ‘Sarawak for Sarawakians’ which is just a ruse to hide their own failings,” said Lo.
He said after almost 60 years, Sarawkians expect better and deserve better and we owe it to our children by not allowing ourselves to be hood winked time and time again by politicians.
To Lo, it was sad that most Sarawakian political parties are still race-based and voters are easily hoodwinked by narratives like “who will be the greater champion of their rights”.
“We must move away from this. We are all Malaysians and the government of the day is responsible for all Malaysians, regardless of race and who they voted for,” he said.
He also expressed disappointment that the measure of a winnable candidate is how he or she will be able to ensure that drains will be cleaned, how much will be the yearly handouts, whether there will be free electricity, will the road leading to an individual’s house be resurfaced or the derelict bridge will be repaired.
“Development and basic amenities and infrastructure are the right of every citizen – it cannot be used to bargain our political choice,” said Lo. — DayakDaily
