I Am Not Playing With You Anymore

When I was small, I played all sorts of games with friends or neighbours. As with all games, there were rules to follow. When someone broke the rules consistently, our retort would be "I am not playing with you anymore."

Today my son and daughter play together. When one of the them breaks the rule, the other would also say the same thing. "I am not playing with you anymore."

It seems the requirement for fair play in a game has never changed, and will never change. When rules are set up, players are expected to stick by them.

The rules in Malaysia are the same as the rules in many other countries. For a long time already, some players in Malaysia have not been following the rules. These cheaters insist that the game be played on, and those not on their side are still expected to stick by the same rules.

A case in point is the coroner's inquiry into the death of Teoh Beng Hock, a political aide of a senior state politician targeted by the infamous Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission over a measly $800 expenditure and who died mysteriously during questioning session by the Commission. Apparently the Attorney General's Office would have us believed that a suicide note was found two months after the death of the aide, and then another ten months later its authenticity is finally verified.

There are far too many cases of such flouting of the rules in the games the government are playing with its people. One rule for you, and one rule for me.

It would appear to me that, in the games with their government, citizens of Malaysia are getting perilously close to that time honoured call of "I am not playing with you anymore."