Malaysia is a land full of surprises, with a tendency towards ludicrousness. On the one hand, after some incidents of surprise, it can be predictable. Yet, just as when we let our guards down, something which we thought would never happen, happened.
Just imagine the importance of the recent GE13. The whole nation looked forward to the elections, some hoped for the status quo while others hoped for change. Because of the distrust of the EC, people were on the lookout for possible frauds and irregularities. One would have thought that anyone sensible would think twice or refrain from doing anything which might get him or her caught under the glare of watchful eyes.
In GE12, the much awaited indelible ink which was bought at a cost of Rm4 million, literally went down the drain, when it was announced just before elections that it would not be used.
This time, in GE13, to placate the calls for election reforms, the use of indelible ink was announced amid doubts as usual, without anything in particular.
Soon after the start of elections, there were complaints that the ink was actually delible! More and more complaints seem to suggest that an inferior product had been used instead. A lame excuse was offered that it was to comply with halal standard, if not, because the chemical used was considered poisonous. Slowly but surely, we are getting nearer to the truth. As it turned out, the new minister, Shahidan, announced that it was actually a food dye!
What was supposed to be indelible turned out to be delible, and besides, what was to be inedible turned out to be edible! So indelible and inedible became delible and edible. Confused? Maybe to majority of students who are poor in English, but looking at the bright side, this could be a lesson on the words 'delible and edible'. One means 'can be removed' as in ink for eg., and the other means 'can be eaten' as in not poisonous or harmful to your gut. A headline went further to describe it as 'finger-licking good' like KFC!
If not for the seriousness of the matter and its impact and implication on the GE, it would have been a big joke on a national scale.
Just imagine: we had been had when we thought that the ink was indelible, which main purpose was to prevent anyone from voting twice. This time round, it costed over Rm7 million and it failed to give us any reassurance at all! Just like the first Rm4 million, it was not only wasted, but incurred extra costs (because of its use) in having voters to use detergent to wash it off. There might have been instances of spoilt votes as a result of some smudged ballot papers too.
Now, another corruption scandal seems likely with the pressure on EC to reveal the suppliers of the misrepresented ink. Again, the secrecy and reluctance to reveal the identity could only point towards guilt of one kind or another.
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Just imagine the importance of the recent GE13. The whole nation looked forward to the elections, some hoped for the status quo while others hoped for change. Because of the distrust of the EC, people were on the lookout for possible frauds and irregularities. One would have thought that anyone sensible would think twice or refrain from doing anything which might get him or her caught under the glare of watchful eyes.
In GE12, the much awaited indelible ink which was bought at a cost of Rm4 million, literally went down the drain, when it was announced just before elections that it would not be used.
This time, in GE13, to placate the calls for election reforms, the use of indelible ink was announced amid doubts as usual, without anything in particular.
Soon after the start of elections, there were complaints that the ink was actually delible! More and more complaints seem to suggest that an inferior product had been used instead. A lame excuse was offered that it was to comply with halal standard, if not, because the chemical used was considered poisonous. Slowly but surely, we are getting nearer to the truth. As it turned out, the new minister, Shahidan, announced that it was actually a food dye!
What was supposed to be indelible turned out to be delible, and besides, what was to be inedible turned out to be edible! So indelible and inedible became delible and edible. Confused? Maybe to majority of students who are poor in English, but looking at the bright side, this could be a lesson on the words 'delible and edible'. One means 'can be removed' as in ink for eg., and the other means 'can be eaten' as in not poisonous or harmful to your gut. A headline went further to describe it as 'finger-licking good' like KFC!
If not for the seriousness of the matter and its impact and implication on the GE, it would have been a big joke on a national scale.
Just imagine: we had been had when we thought that the ink was indelible, which main purpose was to prevent anyone from voting twice. This time round, it costed over Rm7 million and it failed to give us any reassurance at all! Just like the first Rm4 million, it was not only wasted, but incurred extra costs (because of its use) in having voters to use detergent to wash it off. There might have been instances of spoilt votes as a result of some smudged ballot papers too.
Now, another corruption scandal seems likely with the pressure on EC to reveal the suppliers of the misrepresented ink. Again, the secrecy and reluctance to reveal the identity could only point towards guilt of one kind or another.
This is "ink-credible". Inedible and indelible becomes edible and delible. One wonders why no check was done before purchase. They could have send it to the Chemistry Department to test. I hope they have not paid or if they have done so, to get a full refund. It is taxpayers money after all.
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