"For those who have been following parliamentary debates, they must be wondering whether some of them are worthy of their seats in Parliament," wrote Hassan Talib. The regular contributor to The New Straits Times (NST) "LETTERS" column was commenting on the ruckus in the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) on Nov 14.
He said that they could be forgiven for thinking they (those who attended Parliament on that day) were at the fish market instead of the august house.
"It was a black day where our elected representatives raised their voices and going for each other's throats over the six-month suspension of Padang Serai MP N. Surendran. Similar ruckus occurred later in the evening over a separate motion by the opposition.
Whether one is from Kinabatangan, Ipoh Barat, Tanjong Karang, Segamat, Lenggong or Kota Melaka, the beauty about our parliamentarians, as stated by Hassan Talib, they "don't take personal by engaging in physical brawls" and I may add, not yet and hopefully will not do so. I am reminded of several quotations referring to politicians.
"We hang petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." (Aesop, Greek fable author)
"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber." (Plato, ancient Greek philosopher)
"Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river." (Nikita Khrushchev, former Soviet Union president)
And finally, the famous joke about politicians: "What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution. What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
It is nothing personal. They are just doing their jobs and commotion is just a day's work (for our Wakil Rakyat).
