IT is time we reminded our politicians, from assemblymen and MPs to ministers and even the Prime Minister, what their roles actually mean, because when you strip away all the political talk, party fights and power struggles, the simple answer is that they are there to serve the people.
People vote for their representatives because they believe these individuals can make things better, whether it is by creating jobs, improving the economy, dealing with the cost of living, improving education and healthcare, building better infrastructure or simply making sure the government does what it is supposed to do.
But somewhere along the way, politics seems to have become more about politicians themselves, with too much attention given to who is supporting whom, who is leaving a party, who is joining another party, who has the numbers and who can form or bring down a government.
Political disagreements are normal, and an opposition is supposed to challenge the government, but when political survival becomes more important than solving the problems faced by ordinary Malaysians, we have to ask whether politicians have forgotten why they were elected in the first place.
I still remember the 2018 General Election, when Barisan Nasional lost federal power for the first time and Pakatan Harapan formed the government, but 22 months later, the government collapsed following the political crisis surrounding the Sheraton Move, leading to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin becoming the eighth Prime Minister, before he eventually resigned and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob became the ninth Prime Minister.
I am not bringing this up to argue about who was right or wrong, because Malaysians have heard enough about that already, but while politicians were fighting over political numbers and alliances, ordinary Malaysians were still going to work, paying bills, raising children and trying to survive.
The average Malaysian is not waking up every morning wondering which MP has enough numbers to form a government; they are wondering whether their salary is enough to cover groceries, whether they can afford a house, whether their children can find jobs and whether life will become easier.
Then every five years, when elections come around, suddenly the people become the most important thing again.
Manifestos are launched, promises are made and politicians tell voters that student loans will be abolished, petrol prices will come down, the cost of living will improve and many other problems will be solved.
Some promises are fulfilled, some are partly fulfilled and some never happen, and while I understand that governing a country is not easy and circumstances can change, politicians should be more honest from the beginning instead of promising the sun and the moon just to win votes.
If something cannot be done immediately, tell us why; if it will take five years, tell us; if it will cost billions, explain where the money will come from, because Malaysians can handle the truth.
This is even more important now because Gen Z voters are growing into a bigger part of the electorate, and they have the ability to check what politicians said years ago, compare it with what they actually delivered and question them about it.
So stop giving people a manifesto filled with promises that look good on paper but may be difficult to deliver, and instead give voters a realistic plan with clear targets, timelines and an honest explanation of what can and cannot be done.
The same goes for the opposition, because being in opposition should not simply mean saying no to everything the government does; if something is good, acknowledge it, if something is wrong, challenge it, and if you want to form the next government, tell Malaysians what you will actually do differently.
At the end of the day, politicians need to remember that power does not belong to them; it belongs to the people who voted for them, and that power is given to them so they can serve, not so they can spend five years figuring out how to stay in power.
Malaysia does not need politicians who promise everything. We need politicians who tell us the truth, do what they promise and remember who they are actually working for — the people. – September 25, 2026
T. Vignesh is the Executive Editor of Scoop.my