MCP MPs

come this August 31st, our nation will celebrate 48 years of freedom from our colonial masters. compare our country 48 years ago and now, we have definetly made great strides towards the promising future. however, events in the dewan rakyat last week showed that despite us having blessed with a vibrant and growing economy and with one of the tallest building in the world, the mentality of some of our elected representatives are only as high as the fungus stuck on their petaling street leather shoes.

making the headlines is BN representative from tangga batu, idris haron who claims that MAS air stewardess deserved whatever sexual harrasment they received from male passengers because of their uniforms that they wear. according to this 'fashion stylist' of ours, the current MAS uniform is to seductive because it is designed with a low cut on the top front and a high cut on the back. air stewardess, he said, with their make up, voice and way they dressed, will make male passengers uncomfortable during a long and boring flights. and to higlight his point he quoted, "When your house door is unlocked, do you blame the robbers for robbing you?" while his comments are definetly chauvinistic, as a male you cant but feel insulted as well. he made it look as though all guys out there are lower animals(well, some women might agree man are lower animals, but that is another debate) who would lose all self control just because the woman dresses sexily. i flew MAS a few times and i dont think there is anything sexy bout their uniform. hell, the uniform is designed based on the baju kabaya. is he trying to say that all woman who wears baju kebaya deserved to be raped?!! has his wife never put on a baju kebaya?? oh pardon me, maybe she/they is/are forced to wear the burqua. after being roundly booed and hammered by woman MPs from both sides, he tried defending himself by saying that he made the comment after researching in the internet. maybe he was looking up at some taliban or pas website. and shouldnt he be researching on other more important issues to debate at in the parliment.

another person making the news is Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai). during a debate on the increasing number of divorce spouses in the country, badruddin stated, “what type of man would last with someone like the MP from Batu Gajah”. the MP he was refering to was Fong Po Kuan(DAP-Batu Gajah). in 1999, she was the youngest ever elected representative. nicknamed "cili padi" she is well known for her blunt and direct comments which has unsettled the nerves of a number of male MPs. few years ago she was thrown out of the parliment and suspended for 6months without allowance when she refused to back down on a corruption issue. badruddin comments caused a real up roar. credit should be given to the female MPs from BN who put aside their political differences to show support and solidarity for their female counterpart in the opposition. after a day and half of senseless debate on the statement, badruddin finaly made an apology and retracted his comment.

damm, and to think that this ppl had the nerves to asked for a pay rise. whats the point if we achieve our dream of becoming a developed country by 2020 when the mentality of our leaders and rakyat are still stuck in the 15th century. for our nation to become a truly developed, democratic and progressive country, there is a need for a serious paradigm shift in the way we think and live. until then, we are just fungus on a leather shoe.