Clear my name – Kangkong

 Dear Malaysians,

I am writing to you to ask for your help to clear my name. In recent days my name has been stained by associating me with a failed leader and thus become a derogatory word. A by-word. I have become infamous.

I want to appeal to your good nature and kindness to disassociate me from this person and restore to me my dignity.

I want to remind you of my humble, down to earth status and lifestyle. Very unlike the person I am now associated with.

I live on the ground and serve the people, not in a palace that spends RM8,500 on lighting a day.

Remember that I have always served you and will continue to serve you, not my party or family.

I can be harvested for free, but this person creates hardship and makes your lives more difficult by raising the costs of living.

I am evergreen and consistent, I taste the same. This person is inconsistent and a political salamander, changing colours to suit the situation.

Please, if you have to use a vegetable, use a pendatang one, like Brussel Sprouts. Others have already maligned that vegetable and it has an inherent bad reputation.

Remember how well I served your parents and grandparents during World War II. Malaysians from all walks of life, Chinese, Ibans, Indians, Malays, etc., survived on me. I nourished them, not sucked them dry with petrol or toll hikes.

I will always be available and with you during times of crisis, unlike this leader who is silent and abandons the people on all important issues.

I have no need for slogans, meaningless catchy phrases and cannot waste my valuable time on roadshows to explain myself. I do not put up one front while behaving in a different way behind your back.

I am who I am, the original Kangkong.

Now that I have been relegated to the dump and am down in the ditch, I appeal to you to remember all my past service to you and rescue me. Help me regain my respect.

Please return me to my rightful place at your table, as a trusted servant. May you continue to enjoy me plain, fried with garlic or sambal belacan, in a soup or in other imaginative ways.

Sincerely and always for Malaysians,
Kangkong. - January 25, 2014.

* Kangkong is a reader of The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.