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Yoursay: Wee takes a page from BN playbook over ‘volunteers’
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YOURSAY | ‘If the money was given to anyone other than those helping out, then it is bribery.’

Wee raps Harapan for 'new meaning' to word 'volunteer'

SRMan: So with MCA president Wee Ka Siong expressing his amusement at the term ‘volunteer’ taking on a new meaning, is he implying that the Orang Asli volunteers for the Cameron Highlands by-election were bribed with just RM20 or so (as the photographs of the handout seem to indicate).

His comments could backfire as he seems to be suggesting that the paltry amount is enough to buy their votes.

The RM20 or so reimbursed was more like appreciation for their support, having ridden out on “roti canai” roads. The amount was probably just enough to cover their petrol and the wear and tear of their motorcycles.

Don’t look down on them, Wee, they are not that cheap.

Jag: The volunteers were wearing Cameron Highlands Pakatan Harapan T-shirts, and the money was a small amount – it seems to corroborate the claim that it was for petrol. Has BN never bought its campaign volunteers food or water?

It's one thing for Umno Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin to go on the offensive (because he is who he is), but Wee as the president of MCA should be held to a higher standard.

Snowcrash: Here’s how the British government – which has one of the most stringent anti-corruption requirements in the world – defines volunteering:

“You are not paid for your time as a volunteer, but you may get money to cover expenses. This is usually limited to food, drink, travel or any equipment you need to buy. You may need to pay tax on your driving expenses if you get back more than you spent.

“You might be classed as an employee or worker rather than a volunteer if you get any other payment, reward or benefit in kind. This includes any promise of a contract or paid work in the future.”

So well done, Wee. Your behaviour is out of the post-May 9 BN playbook: false equivalency, bad faith and moral bankruptcy.

Better work harder though, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak is still well ahead of you in all of those categories.

Quigonbond: Now here lies the true meaning of political bankruptcy. Let's say I'm a businessperson, and my income is seven digits annually. I participate in a political campaign and spend hours every day volunteering my time.

If Wee says payment means someone is no longer volunteering, is he saying I should be reimbursed for my time to the tune of tens, if not hundreds of thousands?

And going by Wee’s logic, does volunteering mean the political party I'm helping out should not even have the decency to give me food or water?

If there is no objection to giving food or water, then is it so far out or morally wrong to include things like petrol or even defraying some cost for lodging?

There are so many things MCA can talk about. They can say the Orang Asli candidate is the dawn of new moderation politics within BN.

They can say due to Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Bersatu's machinations, there won't be any strong opposition left to check on the government – so they especially need people like BN candidate Ramli Mohd Nor to create a strong opposition. They can harp on unfulfilled promises and stalled reforms.

Indeed, there are so many things for them to talk about – quite apart from whether they have the credibility to talk about those reforms, having failed to push for anything while in the federal government – that they really should not stoop so low.

Sorry to say, but if MCA members continue to support this kind of leadership, it can kiss goodbye to winning any seats for the foreseeable future.

TCM: Wee, when you need to pull out the dictionary to define 'volunteer' and argue on semantics, then any little shred of credibility you may have disappears altogether.

Look, if the money was given to anyone other than those helping out, then it is bribery. If the money is given to those helping out, it is not bribery.

These people most likely wanted to help Harapan anyway, so RM20 is not going to influence their voting pattern (unless they think RM20 is too low and they switch to the other party).

Demi Rakyat: Volunteers are given food and reimbursed for their transport all the time. What is not paid for is the work they do or the time they give up.

How come someone like Wee is having so much trouble understanding this?

RKR: Whether or not an election offence was committed here, Harapan should know better than to distribute whatever money in the open – even to volunteers – because BN is going to use everything to discredit them. BN doesn’t care about legitimacy.

Fairnsquare: This incident must be investigated and the those Harapan volunteers in the picture must identify themselves.

If bribing accusation is true, action must be taken, if not MCA and MIC should be sued for defamation by Harapan. This must be the way in New Malaysia.

Good Governance: Wee has a point, the Election Commission (EC) and police should investigate. But saying volunteers should not be reimbursed for petrol and meals are just plain dumb.

ABC123: Roar like a lion over RM20, silent like a mouse on RM2.6 billion.

Petrol money is corruption too, Najib reminds Harapan of court verdict

Wira: Najib, the Election Court judge in the petition for Cameron Highlands ruled that if you give money, in any form, to induce voters to cast their votes for a certain candidate, it's corruption.

However, that money is given to reimburse volunteers, and not as a direct inducement for them to vote Harapan. Do you even understand the difference between voter inducement and reimbursing charges for money spent in a campaign?

I don't expect you to. You didn't even know the difference between your money and the people's money.

YTMQ: Najib, there's a difference between giving RM25,000 to a tok batin (village chief) to be distributed – the purpose of which was unspecified at the time of disbursement – and an official campaigner on behalf of a candidate paying disbursements for petrol expenses incurred, which are being declared to the EC as part of permissible election expenditure.

When the judge made the remark about petrol money, she gave that as an example. It does not mean that petrol expenses could not be claimed at all as a matter of blanket rule.

KSD: The difference is simple. Harapan is going to report these expenses in their election report later.

The BN candidate in the 14th general election, C Sivarraajh, did not report those ‘expenses’ when he submitted his report. 

That's why one instance of petrol money can be bribery and one is not.


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