EDITORIAL : THE DAILY TRIBUNE, THE PHILIPPINES

 

 

In his dreams — perhaps

EDITORIAL

07/02/2011
His greatest achievement, said Noynoy in his first anniversary report, is the way he has effected a change in the attitude of the Filipinos. Where before, people were apathetic, today, they are caring, a spiel which brought many to wonder from which planet Noynoy comes. But this is probably what he gets from listening only to Cabinet men who give him the fabricated “good news,” apart from the fact that Noynoy and his boys really have no solid achievement to speak of, which is why they resorted to something intangible and worse, unreal.
Filipinos are today more caring? More caring of what? Their government under their non-performing president? More caring about the simple things, such as following traffic rules? No longer having to bribe cops or Customs people because people are still with the same old attitude, and suffering even more under the Noynoy government.
That he had nothing to show for the full year he has been in office could easily be gleaned from the continued bashing of his predecessor, and the many problems she has left for him to resolve, which line is really wearing very thin. Yet he has to do so because Gloria and her administration are what Noynoy uses to excuse his failure, his utter lack of leadership and poor governance.
He still speaks of his straight path, which has already gone crooked for sometime and recycles some more his Kayo ang Boss Ko spiel, which has lost a lot of credibility, as he does not listen to what the people, his claimed boss, say, which can explain his steadily plunging approval ratings.
If the people really believed that Noynoy was an achiever and had done a lot in his first year, as well as having his boss “feel” the benefits of the claimed reforms and change he claims to have brought about, why then are his ratings plunging while those of his Vice President, Jojo Binay, have been holding steady?
Binay is seen as an achiever, while Noynoy is not, being seen as a lazy, know-nothing, do-nothing president.
But Noynoy appears to think that he can still sway the Filipino people into supporting him blindly, as he continues to live in his campaign mode, making big promises which he can’t deliver.
He said the country will no longer be importing rice by 2013, claiming that by then, the Philippines will be self-sufficient in rice, bragging that the next budget will have a big allocation for irrigation and needed infrastructure for farmers, noting that already, 240,000 farmers are now making use of 2,000 kilometers of farm to market roads and all constructed in only a year.
One wonders how he could have done all this, considering the fact that there was no allocation for this in the 2011 budget. Is this yet another case of credit-grabbing for something which was already completed by previous administrations, especially as Noynoy and his administration underspent the budget up to some P55 billion up till May this year?
He said he will be allocating a big budget for rice farmers’ infrastructure and irrigation, but he has already announced too that it will be departments like Dinky Soliman’s that will be given a hefty increse of 56 percent, which would give her over P53 billion, from P34.3 billion, that would be more than the agriculture budget that already has in its component, the usual rice importation factor.
Noynoy said he never had any ambitions to become the president of the country but said in so many words that it was the people who wanted him to be their president. That’s an exaggeration. There were more Filipino voters who chose other presidential bets, when the number of their votes are combined.
Still and all, if he really believes people wanted him to be president even if he did not want to be one, he agreed to be one with his eyes opened.
Now that he is president, he should then be acting like one, and working out the problems of the nation instead of whining about the problems left to him by the previous administration, and use these as an excuse for his utter failure as a leader.

EDITORIAL : THE CHINA DAILY, CHINA

 

 

Meet challenges bravely

There was no lack of words of praise in Communist Party of China (CPC) General Secretary Hu Jintao's speech commemorating the Party's 90th birthday.
The CPC does have plenty to be proud on such an occasion, especially for what Hu described as "having done three big things" achieving national independence and founding the People's Republic, establishing the socialist system, and masterminding reform and opening up.
Things have become so much better particularly over the past more than three decades that few would argue against Hu's conclusion that "socialism with Chinese characteristics" is a fundamental achievement the Party and the people should cherish, sustain and develop. Nor would people feel otherwise when Hu said it rests ultimately on the CPC to manage things well in China.
Not just because the old horse knows the way. The CPC's readiness and aspiration to learn, in addition to Hu's renewed commitment to the course of reform and opening-up, transmits a consoling message to all who are concerned about the Party's and country's next steps.
Yet what truly distinguished Hu's speech rests somewhere else the sense of urgency for refining governance was rare, if not unprecedented.
Enumerating the challenges, or tests, facing the CPC, Hu identified "the danger of slacking off spiritually, the danger of becoming incompetent, the danger of breaking away from the masses, the danger of getting dispirited and corrupt", admonishing that the task of self-regulation is more strenuous for the Party than ever.
The emphasis on relations with the masses was heavy. "Keeping close ties with the masses is our party's biggest political advantage," said Hu. "Breaking away from the masses is the biggest danger to our party." "Only when we put the masses in our mind, will the masses put us in their mind," he warned his comrades. "Only when we take the masses as our dear ones will the masses take us as their dear ones."
His emphasis on fighting corruption was equally strong: "If corruption cannot be punished and addressed efficiently, the Party will lose people's trust and support."
Hu and the CPC's other top leaders have appealed for self-discipline inside the party on numerous previous occasions. But never before has there been such a comprehensive review of the threats to the CPC's governing status, at least not in public and in such high profile. That such challenges were discussed in such candidness bodes well for the CPC and the country and its people. To get rid of the problems and obstacles which Hu put as "inescapable and cannot be skirted around", there is no choice but to face them squarely.
Such adherence to deeper reform might prove to be the best insurance against committing major new blunders. And that defines the nation's journey ahead.

EDITORIAL : THE GUARDIAN, ENGLAND

           

 

Dominique Strauss-Kahn: The human stain

It is important to note that the rush to judge the former IMF chief is now being accompanied by a similar one against the woman

The charge of sexual assault against Dominique Strauss-Kahn reads like something out of a novel by Philip Roth. And Friday's chapter was no exception. After it was reported that the case against him was close to collapse because major holes had opened up in the credibility of the chambermaid – the alleged victim of the assault and the chief prosecution witness – Mr Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest on his own recognisance, and had $6m in cash bail and bond returned. In six weeks, Mr Strauss-Kahn had gone from being the global economy's top bureaucrat, and hot favourite to become the next French president, to a humiliated criminal suspect picked out of the "perp walk", the parading of the accused, and back again to man in a sharp suit with a confident grin on his face, his wife at his side.

But this is not fiction, and the case continues with even greater intensity and publicity than it did before. It is important that the wild rush to judgment that originally tore this man's reputation to shreds, before a word of the evidence against him had been tested in court, is not now accompanied by a similar rush to judgment against the woman. It is possible, as her lawyer Kenneth Thompson continued to claim outside the courtroom yesterday, that she made false statements in her asylum application and was also the victim of a sexual assault in a hotel room, of which he proceeded to give graphic details. The system of criminal justice in America, which allows lawyers to speak freely outside the courtroom about the evidence before it is presented in court, does little to staunch the trial by media to which the case has been subjected on both sides of the Atlantic.

This is now set to get more public as the woman will soon waive her right to anonymity and speak about what she claimed happened to her. Her defence maintains that the only lies she told which directly concern the case are changes to her account about where she fled after the incident took place. However, if – as widely reported – she had a telephone conversation with a man charged with drug possession in which she discussed the possible benefits of pursuing charges, that alone could establish reasonable doubt about her story, as it could be proved that she had a financial motive for pursuing them.

The resulting case is, as an official said, a mess. It is one which besmirches everyone connected with it. The woman could potentially be charged with lying to a grand jury as well as suffering what she claims happened in the room. The accused, however the case unfolds, has lost his job, his reputation and, in the immediate term at least, a political future.
 

Politics: Scotland's mixed messages

Mr Salmond's elegantly concealed nationalist pitches reach out to the independents while massaging the moderates

Opening the newly elected Scottish parliament in Edinburgh yesterday, the Queen began by observing that Scottish politics will never be for "the meek, the passive or the faint-hearted". She then, with rather conspicuous meekness herself, delivered a speech which avoided any reference to the United Kingdom, to the union of England and Scotland or to the likelihood that this Scottish parliament will vote to set in motion the possible constitutional separation of Scotland from the British state. Given the conventions which surround her position, the Queen's avoidance of controversy was very proper. Yet it was political shadow-boxing in the Edinburgh sunshine. Given that the Scottish National party now commands a majority in the Holyrood parliament, it was bizarre that independence was the issue that dared not speak its name there yesterday.

Unsurprisingly, rather fewer scruples applied to the speech which the SNP first minister Alex Salmond made in reply. No one would ever accuse Mr Salmond of being meek, passive or faint-hearted. Yet he was far too canny and polite to speak the I-word in the royal presence yesterday. In other respects, though, Mr Salmond's message was hard to miss. He delivered a stylish speech studded with nationalist implications: that the Queen's recent visit to Ireland as a "firm friend and equal partner" also had resonance for Scotland's independent future; that the works of great writers like William Shakespeare, James Joyce, Dylan Thomas and the late Edwin Morgan were shared across the islands but were rooted in distinct nations too; and that the best way to articulate their nation's distinctness lay along a constitutional path that it is for Scots to choose.

By making such elegantly concealed nationalist pitches, Mr Salmond is attempting to massage moderate Scottish opinion towards treating independence as not such a big deal after all. By sucking up to the Queen as he did yesterday, the first minister hopes to tell independence sceptics that it is possible to have it both ways. He reckons that it is possible to dissolve the Act of Union 1707 while maintaining the regal union of 1603, with the Queen as head of state of an independent Scotland. Mr Salmond has chosen to frame the independence campaign in the message that it is possible to separate while maintaining British links from the crown to the NHS. It is a clever message and the opponents of independence will have to be much cleverer than they have yet been, if they are to rebut it effectively.

The opponents will, though, find something to steady their nerves in the result of Thursday's Westminster byelection in Inverclyde. The important news from Inverclyde, which Labour retained with an only slightly reduced share of the vote, is that the SNP is not all-conquering after all. After the SNP's Holyrood landslide in May, this had looked to be a possibility. Mr Salmond clearly thought the Holyrood tide would carry his candidate to victory this week. He put everything into the effort, visiting seven times. In the end, though, Labour's vote held up strongly, while the Conservatives and, in particular, the Liberal Democrats, collapsed to the nationalists. The SNP result was very much par for the Scottish Westminster byelection course in recent years. Labour, still stunned by the May result, was surprised at its own success. It looks as though a lot of Labour voters are happy to vote SNP in Holyrood contests but will stand by Labour in UK-wide contests.

As the two dominant parties in Scotland, Labour and the SNP must weigh the implications of this discriminating electoral behaviour with care. Both can take some comfort from it. But it also presents both of them with problems. Labour's Inverclyde win cannot disguise the scale of its May election failure. Mr Salmond, meanwhile, still faces an uphill task to persuade a sceptical electorate to follow him along the Royal Mile to independence.

Unthinkable? Retiring cliches

The House of Lords should 'avoid cliches like the plague'

The other day the Lords debated the revolutionary proposal that peers who have had enough of the place should be allowed to quit, and even discussed whether the House should have a retirement age. Let us step straight up to the plate and endorse the view of the peeress who acknowledged that while we could simply "wring our hands" about the house being too large, it was in fact high time to "bite the bullet, grasp the nettle and accept that you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs". For while it is always true that people who act in haste may repent in leisure, it's perhaps even more on the nose that a stitch in time saves nine, and they who hesitate are lost. Some peers suggested that to sugar the pill a lump sum might be paid to those who had passed their sell-by dates, but this was firmly resisted by the leader of the house, Lord Strathclyde, who as a Scot is well aware that many a mickle makes a muckle (or is it the other way round?). Riding roughshod over those who thought it best to kick any such notion into the long grass, the Lords agreed, on the principle of striking while the iron is hot, to let the proposal proceed. Yet if peers who are past it need to be told to quit, shouldn't this kind of clapped-out metaphorical ironmongery be sent to the scrapheap as well? Is it really too much to hope that Messrs Cameron and Clegg might now circulate to ministers the advice that used to appear long ago in a Manchester Guardian stylebook? "Avoid cliches," it said, "like the plague."

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY YOMIURI, JAPAN

      

 

Stage set for bipartisan talks on consumption tax hike

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Drastic reform of the social security system, long overdue, has finally begun. However, this is just a milestone. Reform must not end up as just a fantasy.

The joint panel of the government and Democratic Party of Japan-led ruling coalition discussing social security reform, which is headed by Prime Minister Naoto Kan, formally approved an integrated social security and tax reform plan on Thursday.

The plan stipulates that the consumption tax rate will be raised in stages to 10 percent by the mid-2010s, to secure resources to fund the social security system.

An earlier draft set the deadline for the consumption tax rate hike at "fiscal 2015," but the approved plan used rather vague wording in consideration of opposition within the DPJ. Cabinet approval will also be put off.

This could raise doubts over whether the government is really serious about social security reform and financial reconstruction.

However, the government was adamant about stating a "10 percent tax rate." Some DPJ members demanded that "about" be added to the targeted rate, but the government refused. It should be given credit for this.

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Joint action important

It is significant that the DPJ and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party moved in tandem over the 10 percent tax rate, in an effort to secure resources to fund the social security system. The minimum conditions have been met to realize cross-party talks.

Nevertheless, there are many unresolved issues involving the reform plan, including the timing of the increase in the consumption tax rate. The reform plan sets an upturn in the economy as a requirement for raising the tax rate, but it is difficult to determine that the economy has improved if the criteria for such a judgment are left unclear.

Also, it is not clear how much of the extra revenue resulting from the tax hike will be allocated to local governments' social security budgets, and the reform plan is rather weak in terms of eliminating waste in the health care and nursing care systems to make them more efficient.

There is likely to be much opposition and many questions over the specifics of the reforms. However, now is the time to bury minor differences for the common good.

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Time running out

There is little time left to achieve the consumption tax rate hike by the mid-2010s. The ruling and opposition parties should start talks quickly. We believe the opposition parties have no objection to the direction of the reforms themselves. Whoever the prime minister is, reforms must proceed.

It is unreasonable for the opposition parties not to participate in discussions simply because of their antipathy to the Kan administration.

Within the DPJ, there will likely be active bargaining over choosing a successor to Kan, who has already expressed his intention to resign. It is possible that the consumption tax rate hike may become a point of contention in the DPJ presidential election.

Kaoru Yosano, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, worked on drawing up the integrated reform plan and has said the DPJ should maintain the plan even after Kan resigns.

"The DPJ, not DPJ President Kan as an individual, decided [on the reform plan]," Yosano said.

That is only right. The government and the ruling camp must not allow what they have decided on to be set back.

China still learning its world power role

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) commemorated the 90th anniversary of its founding on Friday.

The international community expects China, which has become the second-largest economy in the world, to fulfill its responsibilities as a major power.

To do that, China first should correct its habit of unilaterally pushing its opinions through on others and repeatedly causing friction with neighboring countries by intimidating them.

The Chinese military, which is increasing its strength through such steps as building its first aircraft carrier, is gaining an even greater voice within the country. Military influence is seen as a factor behind the hard-line attitudes taken by the Chinese government concerning issues involving sovereignty and maritime interests.

This might indicate disrespect for the conventional Chinese system in which the party leads the military. We cannot dispel our concerns.

The launch of bullet train services connecting Beijing and Shanghai was timed to coincide with the party's 90th anniversary. The train is apparently a technically modified version of the Hayate train that runs on Japan's Tohoku Shinkansen line, but the Chinese side claims its train uses only original technology developed by that country.

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Intellectual property unsafe

When Japanese bullet train technology was offered to China, its Railways Ministry reportedly promised Japanese companies not to transfer the technology to third countries. It is surprising to see that the Chinese side has now filed patent applications on the bullet train in Europe and four countries, including the United States, regardless of that promise.

However, the Japanese side must have known beforehand that China does not respect the intellectual property rights of others. Japan apparently let its guard down.

The Chinese government has domestic problems, too.

On a daily basis, farmers and urban residents are holding mass protests and even rioting against the forcible expropriation of land and the high-handedness and corruption of public officials. According to one estimate, there are now more than 180,000 such incidents per year.

The Chinese public's dissatisfaction with social inequalities, symbolized by a widening gap between the rich and the poor, is reaching its limit.

The costs of maintaining law and order exceeded defense spending this year for the first time in the history of China's national budget, a fact that suggests the seriousness of the social unrest in the country.

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Human rights disregarded

Authorities are detaining and putting under house arrest one intellectual after another for voicing objections to the government and the party. The authorities' disrespect for human rights is outrageous.

Conflicts between Han people and ethnic minorities such as Tibetans and Uygurs continue. Riots by Mongolians have erupted recently. They show the limitations of Beijing's policy toward ethnic minorities, which focuses exclusively on economic development.

When it was founded in 1921, the CCP had only a little over 50 members. Today, it has expanded into a gigantic organization with a membership of more than 80 million people.

Those party members, who account for only 6 percent of the whole population, are the elites of Chinese society. They comprise a special interest group enjoying various privileges through the party organization or as senior officials of the government and state enterprises. "Realization of a harmonious society," a slogan chanted by the party leaders, rings hollow.

The CCP will hold a party convention in autumn next year to choose Xi Jinping as new general secretary to succeed current General Secretary and President Hu Jintao, who is set to step down.

Xi, who will be put in charge of steering the major power, has extremely heavy responsibilities.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

            

 

It's a mistake

Unilateral amendment will gravely complicate politics

The Constitutional amendments voted into law on Thursday have many aspects. Today we will confine our comment on the care taker issue.

The scrapping of the caretaker government (CTG) system is a move towards brinkmanship that has pushed the nation towards political uncertainty. We do not fully share Khaleda Zia's view that now political confrontation has become inevitable but we definitely feel that possibility of that confrontation has greatly increased.

The ruling party has not been able to make any case for the abolition of the CTG system. In fact it did not even try. It took the Supreme Court verdict in part and used it to suit its political end- to hold the next election under their government.

They totally ignored the suggestion by the SC that, for the sake of peace, and public interest, elections “may” be held under the Thirteenth Amendment for the next two terms. This is a clear sign of insincerity and political opportunism. The inexplicable hurry to do away with CTG even though the next election is two and half years away reveals an attitude of arrogance and disdain towards the opposition and raises doubts whether the government was at all interested in opposition' views. For that matter there were no attempts to solicit views from a wider section of the public, like civil society, professional groups or even the academicians and constitutional experts outside the ruling party orbit.

Voters will remember how they had to suffer through relentless hartals, sometimes extending for 5-7 days when AL was agitating for the CTG system. For it to now turn and say that CTG is bad is an intellectual somersault that public will find it hard to accept. In fact it is a sign of how disdainfully public opinion is being treated.

BNP's agitation for midterm polls was completely devoid of either any logic or any public support. But now, thanks to the AL, BNP has a serious issue to galvanise public support behind. While we have always stood against hartal, and still strongly urge the opposition not to subject the economy to this onslaught, the possibility of such occurrences has been greatly increased due to this unilateral amendment of the constitution.

From all counts we consider the government's action to be a mistake, and from which government will have to extricate itself. Prime Minister said that she is open to further amendment of the constitution if the opposition gives its suggestions. Passing the bill and then soliciting suggestions is self contradictory. But if it is a genuine sign of accommodation, then the government should go much further and engage in confidence building measures with BNP and create openings to prevent the political crisis which looks inevitable.

Managing body fracas in schools

Why must students suffer?

Academic activities of a village high school in Lalmonirhat remains suspended for the last one week following disputes over formation of a controversial managing committee. School authorities have kept the class rooms locked up. As a result, nearly 300 children cannot attend classes. They come to school everyday but go back without taking any classes. The students or their guardians failed to get any reasonable answer either from the headmaster of the school or any other teacher regarding abrupt closure of the institution.

The dispute arose when the headmaster of the school recently formed the school managing committee from his chosen people from outside the locality for his personal interest. As tension mounted in the area, the headmaster and other teachers are absenting to avoid the rage of the locals; hampering normal schooling of the children.

Reports of influence peddling and highhandedness of the school managing committees in districts and rural areas are nothing new. Powerful people, who mostly figure in the local school committees, wield their influence to run the affairs of school according to their will.

From appointment of teachers and staff to managing of school funds, they try to wrest control over all matters. In most of these schools less competent people get precedence over genuine applicants for teaching or other positions. Alleged mismanagement of school development and teachers benefit funds is also a regular feature in these schools.

These conditions need to be addressed with seriousness. The education ministry and local authorities concerned should monitor the actions of the governing bodies and the school administration to ensure smooth running of the institutions. Hapless students should not suffer for the unscrupulous elements that sneak into the governing bodies of these schools.

EDITORIAL : THE HINDU, INDIA

Old fears in Thai election

The July 3 parliamentary election in Thailand is the culmination of a bitter five-year-political battle that haunted the country, leading to constant unrest and uncertainty. In December 2007, a year after the Thai Army removed the billionaire Prime Minister Thakshin Shinawatra in a coup and banned his political party, its proxy, the People Power Party, managed to win the parliamentary elections impressively. However, within a year, it found itself outmanoeuvred, and the opposition Democrat Party led by Abhisit Vejjajiva put together a coalition and took office. Since then, there has been a rash of protests resulting in bouts of political paralysis. Last year, security forces put down anti-government protesters with bullets, leaving some 90 people dead. Clearly, in the coming election, Mr. Thaksin, who lives in self-exile abroad after fleeing Thailand to escape prosecution on corruption charges, is eager to avenge his 2006 removal. His party, now called the Pheu Thai, has fielded his sister Yingluck Shinawatra as the prime ministerial candidate. Evidently, the former Prime Minister hopes to run the country through her. There are fears that the election itself will not remove the tensions between the colour-coded political camps — Red Shirts, comprising mainly the rural and urban poor, for the Shinawatra clan; and Yellow Shirts, made up of the prosperous old ruling elites, for Mr. Abhisit and his Democrat Party — until Thailand addresses the deeper malaise of the military's role in politics.

The Royal Thai Army — which has carried out a total of 18 coups, and like the Pakistan Army, has played a backroom role supported by the monarchy during times of civilian rule — is a powerful player in this election. Army chief Prayuth Chan-Ocha declared recently that as a neutral entity, it had no intention of meddling in the election. But his warning that the monarchy was under threat and his demand that voters must elect “good people” have left no one in doubt that the Army has already made its choice. General Prayuth led the 2006 coup, and his televised speech came as polls predicted Mr. Thaksin's PTP in the lead. With the Army having helped put together the 2008 Democrat Party-led coalition, there is concern that if the Pheu Thai Party wins this election it will not be allowed to remain in office for long. On the other hand, it is certain too that the political roiling will continue should voters choose the Democrats — Mr. Thaksin has enough money and street power to ensure that the government will never have it easy. Either way, it appears that political peace in Thailand is still a distant prospect.

A clean chit for now

The Reserve Bank of India's latest Financial Stability Report attempts to assess the health of India's financial sector in a holistic manner and pinpoint the incipient risks to stability that may arise in a systemic sense. Like its counterparts in the advanced economies, the RBI seeks to draw the right lessons from the interplay of the macroeconomic setting, policies, markets and institutions, for which it claims to rely on up-to-date techniques and methodology. The report declares that India's financial system remains “stable in the face of some fragilities being observed in the global macro-financial environment.” Growth has been slackening in most parts of the world and the risks arising from global imbalances and the European debt crisis show no signs of abating. The truth is that the causes for some of these persistent problems have never been fully addressed. India's growth momentum has moderated slightly on account of both domestic and global factors, but its economic fundamentals continue to remain strong despite concerns over inflation and the fiscal situation. The widening current account deficit also is not a matter of serious concern for now, although a slowdown in capital inflows could occur as the advanced economies exit from their accommodative policies. However, government expenditure needs to be more tightly managed as part of a well thought-out process of fiscal consolidation.

The domestic financial markets remain stress-free and are expected to be so in the near future. There has been a strong demand for credit and, consequently, liquidity has tightened recently. One subject of concern has been the currency mismatches that have arisen in the wake of domestic companies relying more extensively than before on external commercial borrowings. A related problem is that many domestic corporate issuers of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) might face refunding risks by March 2013, when it would be time for redemption. The conversion prices on many of these bonds are much higher than the current prices of the linked equity shares, and it is unlikely that the gap will narrow. The Indian banking system remains well capitalised, with both core capital adequacy and leverage ratios ruling at comfortable levels. Even as credit off-take has rebounded recently, asset quality has improved although certain specific sectors of the economy could pose problems. For now, a rise in net interest income has boosted the profitability of banks, but over the near-term rising costs may weigh in. Banks need to be vigilant in facing up to interest rate risks in the prevailing inflation scenario.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY MIRROR, SRILANKA

Get involved in action for justice not party politics   Politics has been one of the most misunderstood words. What would immediately spring to our minds, is our understanding of party politics and governance within a democratic framework, besides the deception and double dealing, corruption and the desire for personal gain or glory that are often associated with party politics. Most people will naturally feel it has little to do with them. Still more to the common people, who go about their normal way of life. However when we take a deeper look we discover that every person by virtue of his or her existence needs to be involved in politics. It has all to do with social concerns, social justice and social involvements. Such a person is a model politician. Politics has a lot to do with our relationship with other people, especially the poor, the voiceless and the marginalised. Nobody could live on earth, free from the influence or support of others. We are all interdependent on each another. Politics is more to do with concern for one’s neighbour. We are called therefore to care for, support and answer to the needs of others. Failure to do so would ultimately cause the collapse of society. The creative force within us is paradoxically more concerned than us, about how seriously we take our civic and social responsibilities, or the lack of it. The transformation of our society and even of our nation is dependent upon the responses of the common man. Our wrong response hinders the creative force that works within, to evolve society and make real that dream of a just and fair society, a dream of a world whose ugliness, squalor and poverty; whose war and hostility, greed and harsh competitiveness, alienation and disharmony are changed into their glorious counter virtues. This would happen when individually and collectively we exercise qualities of love, forgiveness, humility, generosity and courage. These seeds are not only in the hearts of party politicians, but more so in every man and woman. These seeds however, would bear fruit only in those who are other centered and not in those self centered. Any government however powerful it thinks would collapse like a sand castle unless it is other centered. This is a vital requirement of the creative force. Every individual life has to be like the yeast in the dough. Each must make their indelible mark in family and society, to enrich it. After all politics is about caring for the weak and the helpless, whom we meet in our daily life. We may sometimes say that university students should not deal in politics but rather, concentrate on their studies. This may be true in regard to party politics. Yet their legitimate protest could be in obedience to a higher power, more concerned than us, in wanting change for a higher ascendancy of society. Youth’s social concern and involvements need to be encouraged. That way, they would feel the need to perfect themselves, their family and society, even in later life. The worst thing for the future generation is to breed those who silently accept selfishness, evil and disorder, as normal vices that grow out of a self centered society. The greatest misfortune is to have people who don’t care what happens to others, as long as they are all right.