~ From The Star
From New Straits Times
This morning I got irritated …. Bangsar now is flooded by banners and posters similar to the pictures above. Political party images are invading my senses until I’m annoyed. When will the time come when we get our “substance” on track? When will the time come when our “style” will also reflect our “substance” that’s genuinely for the good of the people? (We need to get our act together while keeping our “streets” clean and our minds “straight”)
well … before I turn from “analytical” mode to “cynical” mode, I need a dose of wisdom from Grace at Work. Soo Inn wrote it with Christians in mind I guess, but then being a Christian is really about being human isn’t it. So, I suppose all can benefit from his insights.
“… participation in the democratic process is part of God’s call for His people to be involved in the world.
What can we do?
* We can pray. We can pray that the forces of good will prevail. We pray with full assurance that God hears and answers even when we do not see visible results. We can pray for Christian candidates. Time and time again I have heard Christian politicians complain that their churches do not support their work in prayer. There would be many prayers raised on behalf of missionaries. But never for Christians in politics. This is wrong.
*We can participate in public forums on the issues of the day. We should be doing this all the time but values and issues usually receive more attention in times of general elections and presidential elections.
*We can vote. We should vote. Recently I have decided to choose my candidates using three basic criteria. 1. Creed — do I agree with the values of the party that a candidate represents? 2. Character — from what I know is this person a person of integrity? 3. Competence — does this person have the necessary skills and experience to do the job he or she is running for?
What happens if the three criteria clash? No easy answers. I’ll probably still work with the three criteria in the order in which they have been mentioned. If I were totally against the values and manifesto of a given political party, I would find it hard to vote for a candidate from that party. And character comes before competence because I would expect a person of integrity to acquire whatever competencies he or she needs to get the job done.”
One Response to Election Fever – Malaysian Style!