WHAT I WOULD HAVE TOLD THE POLITICIANS

THE PICTURE that you see above are two tree sparrows in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, twittering to each other on the roof of the car.

Last night on behalf of PETPOSITIVE, I attended a Chap Goh Mei celebration organised by the Government at the PJ Civic Centre.

The invitation to our Society came from Petaling Jaya Selatan Member of Parliament Dato' Donald Lim Siang Chai.

As it turned out, I was not able to meet the VIPs gathered at the function who included our Deputy Prime Minister, a string of other big-shots and of course, our good man Donald Lim himself.

It was a terrible disappointment as the place where the VIPs were gathered was not accessible by wheelchairs. At least from where I, and quite a few disabled guests were seated.

Had several of the top brass of the nation been accessible to me, here's what I would have said to them - or at least, have tried to broach among the 2000 or so people who streamed in and out in the two hours that I was at the function.

Dato' Sri, could you kindly convey to your Missus Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor as to how pleased I was regarding her comments some months ago urging businesses to consider giving special discounts to disabled shoppers as part of their "social responsibility".

I think such a move is still worthy of consideration when you realise how backward our disabled denizens still sadly are despite our noble efforts in having sent our first Malaysian into space recently.

And sir, the disabled community would very much appreciate it also if you could use your position in your high office to catapult our issues and concerns more in our society today.

A few positive words from you Dato' Sri, and mountains can certainly move away from our pathways!


Mr MB, though some of my friends don't share the same opinion as me, I still think it was you who wonderfully managed to break the camel's back in getting the Selayang Council to abandon their half-baked and outrageous "Dog-catching Competition" last year.

By doing so YAB, you have personally thwarted many possible incidents of dogs biting the public when people who have no experience at all stupidly attempt to catch stray dogs.

May I also thank you for condemning the exorbitant prize money that the MPS had put up to the so-called "winners" of the sinful contest.


Dear Mr Housing and Local Government Minister: When will it be possible for specially-trained assistance dogs to accompany their disabled partners everywhere?

If CD busting canines can, and so can police and rescue dogs, why not dogs that play a pivotal role in the lives of the disabled?

Relying on human beings to help us is fast becoming a privilege and luxury these days. Dogs, on the other hand, are not only more affordable and accessible but also love doing what they do for the handicapped.

I know because I have three service dogs.

Finally to PETPOSITIVE'S friend Dato' Donald Lim who helped us launch our Charity Dinner last July through the help of Dato' Wong Sai Hou.

If I had met you last night I would have told you that whoever tries to unseat you in the coming polls is certainly going to have to run for his or her money all the way.

I still have vivid memories of the night that I came to see you in your PJ office in order to get your support to be our event patron for our charity night.

It was late in the evening - almost midnight. You kindly decided to see me first as soon as you arrived.

I remember - this was when you realised that I was not able to get to your office which was upstairs.

So there we were. You with your immaculate suit, me with my notebook in a humble coffee shop that was already washing their floors and closing up.

I thought that the most I would only get is 5 minutes with you but you gave me nearly a quarter of an hour. And after that, you seem to have had several dozen other people to see.

Many of them appeared to belong to the poor income group and were really ordinary folk.

It was a splendid lesson of dedication in politics for me.

aNt
PET+BLOGSPOT

Correction: The DPM, I discovered today, did not turn up at the event.