RM 100 per signature?

There are rumor in town that certain activists are giving our cold cash of RM 100 to each applicant who joins a certain political party as instructed by them. The news was that the persons behind are actually some corporate figures who are trying to buy some "political insurance" in the wake of the political uncertainty in the country. I was not a bit surprise by the rumor as this is the norm rather than the exception in Malaysia. Many corporate figures are involved in politicking so as to protect their own interests as in a less than democratic society of ours, politics and business go hand in hand together. Many would say that is Asia, just look at Taiwan, the ex-president Chen is now in the lock up as the prosecutors dig out more evidents of corrupt practises, mis-appropriation of public funds and out-right abuses by Chen's families and cronies.

Certain leaders use the tactic of using the number game when they apply to join a new political party to show how much support and influence they have and how many followers they have.They came with a motive, a political motive that was not to serve but to lobby for a certain position or promises that are self-serving. They would deliver speeches, some less than compassionate, to the "recruited" members and the press, of course. Some well known politicians would be invited to grace the occasion and the highlight would of course be the handling over of the appication forms in the tens of thousand. In actual fact, these "recruited" members are paid to sign on the dotted line and were invited to dinner with pocket money to spend of course.

Looking at the UMNO assemblies in the run off to their general assembly in march 2009, the meetings are marred by physical violence's,money politics backstabbing and what not. The problem is Umno being the backbone of the Barisan Nasional, the ruling coalition in Malaysia since the birth of Malaysia, the party's position is key to the government's position. Whoever elected as the President of Umno is automatically the PM of the country and the second man is also the deputy PM and so on. Thus, the jostling for position is not only normal, it is the survival game for many politicians and their cronies.

So coming back to the RM 100 per signature, how many are not willing to sign in exchange for the cold cash? They are playing along the political line just like the politicians and their cronies are, the only difference may be it is a token amount compared with the big guys in the big party. But in the end, everyone is content that they get what they want (or do they) and who cares what happen tomorrow, maybe and just maybe, there is another show that the poor guys would be invited to the dinner with some pocket money to spare, actually the more the merrier!

Happy dinner and happy "recruitment"!