Exclusive documentary: Operation Lalang & After

With a stroke of pen!

Credit: parkablogs.com

With the utterance of the long awaited sentence that the roaring spectators were waiting with bated breaths, he made it official. An ad hoc declaration of a public holiday was announced. He thought that the crowd loved him. This is one the reasons, despite all his daily wranglings with back-biters and double crossers, it all seems worthwhile. He thought he did a favour to the nation with his declaration. Little does he realise that he is actually doing a major disservice to the nation and many of its citizens in the country.

This 30-day month already has nine non-working days over the weekend and four preset national holidays. Hence, we are left with only seventeen working days; minus another day, there are sixteen. Working only almost half a month does not augur well for national productivity, especially in these trying times.

Imagine a patient waiting in much anticipation of his imminent scheduled surgery for his life threatening condition. All because of the unexpected holiday, his surgery had to be rescheduled, and his new prayer is to stay alive until the new date. His condition is not so 'life-threatening' to warrant emergency surgery. But by the time his condition turns grave (pardon the pun) to demand emergency intervention, it may prove too risky. What a catch 22 situation? As elective surgeries are only done on working days, cancellations create havoc to the list. Already patients are waiting for so long for treatment.

Then another scenario. Dates for court hearings are notoriously hard to come by. Even when the case gets court time, there would be thousands of reasons for a postponement. Due to this, disputes remain unresolved for a mighty long time. So, would the defendants pacify by telling themselves to wait a little bit longer? After all, they have waited so long.

Schools would have their examination schedules in disarray. The continuity of the complex timing to accommodate various students taking different tests would turn chaotic. Other quarters that would turn turbulent when they resume work are the banking sector and international trades.

Do the people in power bother, anyway? It is just populist sentiment and to keep the euphoria going until the next elections.