[1015] Of where’s Prime Minister Waldo?

Despite all the bad decisions Bush had made, at least during the aftermath of Katrina, when New Orleans fell into anarchy, he as the President of the United States committed himself to the rescue effort mobilized throughout the affected areas. While Johor and several other states are suffering major flooding, one has to wonder, where’s our Prime Minister?

He’s not in Malaysia but instead, he’s still on holiday, vacationing, somewhere abroad. When I read a blogger expressing his disgust of that fact, I share the blogger’s sentiment. Moreover, with people, real Malaysians, are cut off from power, clean water and food as long as four days, the Prime Minister is more interested in defending himself against an allegation that he purchased a MYR 30 million yatch.

As far as the flood is concerned, I honestly believe that our Prime Minister has failed us, Malaysians. In absence of the top executive person in the country, the Deputy Prime Minister taken over the job of sorting this out. The Johor Chief Minister seems to be active in the rescue effort too. Kudos to them but the jury is out there. They will have to excel if both of them prefer history to be kind to them.

I’m so glad that a state-wide emergency has been declared:

Malaysia had declared a state of emergency yesterday and civil defense personnel, volunteers, and members of the armed forces took part in evacuation and rescue operations.

I can’t find any local media reporting an the declaration of the emergency. I’m not sure whether that’s due to my ignorance, the fact that the media has yet to report it or the foreign source is wrong. Assuming good faith, nevertheless, if this is an emergency as I understand it, the emergency allows state and federal machineries to direct full energy into the ongoing rescue effort. The declaration of emergency however makes the Prime Minister looks even worse — Prime Minister is nowhere in sight amid state-sanctioned emergency!

Today, the Prime Minister expresses sadness over the disaster:

Najib said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi expressed his sadness over the flood situation and asked the Federal and state agencies to help the people. Abdullah had conveyed the message to Najib over the phone.

Mr. Prime Minister, merely expressing sadness is not enough. You must act on it. Come back home and supervise the rescue effort in Johor and other states. According to a news report, residents in the affected areas have been without food and water as many as four days. How long since you last had your dinner, Mr. Prime Minister?