Parliament Stunts

I like to read TheStar when they report on the silliness of our parliamentarians on both sides of the divide. Recently, there was a minor stunt by our opposition MPs, who have decided to politicise my idea of cycling to work. According to the article:

Four Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) MPs – Tian Chua (Batu), Hee Loy Sian (PJ Selatan), N. Gobalakrishnan (Padang Serai) and Zulkifli Nordin (Kulim Bandar Baru) – cycled to Parliament Monday as a mark of protest against the recent fuel hike.

Tian Chua said move was also to “appeal to the Cabinet Ministers to understand the difficulty in using bicycles or public transport” in the country. “Changing of lifestyles is not as easy as what the Government claims,” he told reporters.

He said that he and the three others had taken about 20 minutes to cycle from Bank Negara to the Dewan Rakyat. “It’s a difficult task because the road transport system here is not designed for bicycle use and cyclists will face problems cruising around town,” he said.

The opposition MPs should not have called it a protest. As protests go, this is a very silly and gimmicky stunt. They used to do really good protests but this is certainly not one. They should have positively spun it as an act of support for the government’s call to ubah gaya hidup (change lifestyles). It can also be spun as being an environmentally friendly move on their part. But no, they had to spin it as a lame attempt at a protest against the price hike. Silly.

Then, we have another MP from the ruling coalition, who calls the stunt, a cheap gimmick that is suitable for kids. He could have come up with something better, and praise the opposition MPs for supporting the government’s position on fuel prices and changing their lifestyle. He could even say that the ruling coalition MPs would lead by example and cycle over short distances. But instead, he claims that he isn’t stupid and he isn’t going to cycle, which implies that only stupid people follow the government’s call of ubah gaya hidup.