There have been a couple of comments by a couple of politicians recently that have riled me up a little, and I'm sure that I'm not the only individual who feels this way.

Firstly, a PAS MP by the name of Abdul Fatah Harun decides to say that women who get a divorce and become single mums do so because they're 'gatal'. What was he thinking when he made this statement unless he's a male chauvinist pig. But I'd say that it's a mixture of that along with the lack of grey matter utilisation.

Firstly, he's missing the point that most women who end up being single mums do so for reasons that are not of their making. And choosing to be a single parent is no easy matter - there usually is a precipitating event and more often than not, it's the husband who's 'gatal' and not the other way round. And let's not even start on the men who go around marrying like nobody's business.

The Prophet SAW did so for various legitimate reasons, and it's a farce if the men in our society use this as an excuse to 'sow' their uncontrollable 'oats'. Perhaps it would be a better idea for the honourable MP to look into the actual reasons for the increasing number of divorces before making comment? After all, prevention is better than cure, no?

Secondly, we have our very own information minister informing Parliament that the on-going parliamentary debates are not broadcast live to the public because the Malaysian public still has a third-world mentality and will be susceptible to certain issues, for example, racism. This, I believe, is the very public that voted people like him into power. Which brings in an interesting point - is he questioning the intellect of the very people who voted him in? What does that say about him?

Obviously, the paternalistic attitude of our dear minister is a contradiction of the administration's vow of accountability but heck, we're not smart enough are we? It's better that we (the product of the education system that has been put in place by the administration) be left in the dark while the Mensa folks in the cabinet make the really important decisions like deciding to waste a hundred million ringgit on unfinished projects.

Then again, with folks like Mr PAS MP above, how can I argue that we're reaching a state of intellectual maturity?