Parliament House
by Paul Chong
My heart was pounding, the day has come. We got to visit somewhere everyone knows but not somewhere everyone can enter. The Parliament House. A place where the most exciting debate takes place. At 10am we were already all suited up. From top to bottom, the dress code is formal, very formal. This is the first time I wore a full suit. With my dad’s grey wedding blazer up and a final check at my necktie, we’re all ready to go.
Bags on the conveyer belt, our mobile devices and wallet in the basket. We passed the security checkpoint. After registering, we went up to the parliament corridor. Just then, a familiar figure appeared in front of my eyes, it was Dato Seri Ong Ka Ting. I was perplexed and did not know how to react. He put on a smile in front of us and then walked past. I wanted to move forward to shake hands with him, but my feet were trembling in his presence and would not move.
When we reach the second floor, we couldn't stop wowing at the sight in front of us. I couldn't imagine that the roof of this corridor was once leaking! The corridor was beautifully decorated, very high class indeed. I felt like I was inside a huge mansion. On one side hung the portrait of our past and present rulers, on the other our prime ministers. To our left was where the parliament seating being held. And to our right, filled with groups of reporters and journalist, was where the live televised screen placed. They stayed attentively in front of the screen in hope of catching some good news. A row of video cameras were line up in front of the big LCD screen to provide live coverage to national television. At the far end on the right side was the place where press conferences were always held.
When given a choice of ruling party or opposition party, we chose the latter, and therefore entered the opposition’s room. The parliament seating is split into two halves, with two major opposing parties opposing each other. The middle part is where the independent candidates sat. Visitors have the honour of sitting at the sides of the parliament. When entered, we saw at least five foreigners with a headphone over their head. My curiosity later led me to know that they might be foreign observers.
Right before our eyes were the people chosen by the 'rakyat' during our 12th GE. And to our despair, the rumours about them were right. The attendance was bad as usual, and more importantly, the atmosphere of the discussion was comedic. They were absolutely making a fool out of themselves, with both parties constantly trading sarcastic blows. In my opinion, why bother going to circus when you have a parliament like this? One seating will provide you with one week worth of laughing stock. I can’t help thinking what was in the minds of those foreigners, what do they think of our MPs and of our country. Almost all the answers provided were off topic, I can’t help but felt that the people of Malaysia were cheated. Millions of taxpayers’ money used on the allowance of them coming here to make a fool of themselves. Billions already wasted with the previous projects mis-implemented. In my opinion, they need to be more open and matured in discussions. All in all, our parliament was in dire shape and in need of an overhaul.
20 minutes passed. We saw a prominent figure left the room. It was Dato’ Sri Anwar Ibrahim. We soon followed. We reach the place where press conference was being held and saw him talking to reporters. It was then we were interrupted by 3 security guards. They checked our visitor’s passes and ask of our coming. He told us normal visitors shouldn't idle at the parliament corridor. We did not do anything wrong. All we did was stand there and try to listen to what Anwar has to say. Is this the way it should be? Should we, as Malaysians and as people that vote for these politicians be not allowed to even stand on the corridor? Should we not be given a chance to see what was going on here in the house of parliament with our own eyes? We then decided to move to other parts of the House. We had no reason to argue with them as they were only carrying out their orders.
金玉其外——国会见闻录
陈秀兰 撰写
从来不曾想象过，我会踏上这片土地，更别说是参观了。国会大厦一直以来给我的感觉就是很严肃、庄重的场所，所以一踏入大厦的那一刻，我挑起了十二分精神，绝对不可有任何胡言乱语、举止失态等的行为。心跳急促，神经紧绷，连写字都抖了起来。经过登记后，终于可以安心地步上“红地毯”，往国会礼堂前进。印入眼帘的事物简直让我看傻眼，设计装潢气派，这里的一砖一瓦想必都耗资庞大吧！不禁让我想起印象深刻的国会大厦漏雨事件，事隔多年，依然仿佛记忆犹新。这就是我对国会的第一个印象——“金玉其外，败絮其中”。
国会大厦是国家的象征，人人口中所谓的政治战场，外表华贵，内涵却是让人寒心。据历史课文所知，国会拥有两百多名议员，为何在国会表决议案的此时此刻，出现在我们面前的只是区区的二十多名议员。这代表着什么？人民手中的一票所选出来的议员大多数都不重视自己在国会上的权益，我想在报章上报道的议案以及修订法案都是透过这种方式而订立下来的吧！作为人民的代表就是要维护大众的利益，代替大众在国会上发表人民的心声，可是我们眼前所看到的场面，真是让人感到大失所望啊！
走在华丽堂皇的国会走廊，以设计风格来说也许有些气派、庄重的氛围，但是更可悲的是这里头的每一砖一瓦都是人民百姓辛苦赚来的血汗钱啊！更有新闻播报指这座国会大厦将被列为博览馆，而另物色新地段重建国会大楼，可想而知这些所谓的建筑费用又会从哪里来呢？政府近来调整津贴，理由是减少赤字亏损，那么另建国会大厦就不用花钱吗？政府口口声声说把调整的津贴用来另作补贴于其他如教育还是…实质的说，只闻楼梯响，不见人下来。人民有那么好骗吗？不在紧要关头，这些国务领导人都不理你的死活，在我们即将投下神圣的一票时，才来派糖果吗？太迟了吧！
最让人无法谅解的是…为何在国会走廊站着也会妨碍到这些议员办公？我们没说什么，就这样站着看我们人民血汗钱打造出来的一草一木，为何这样也是一种错误？难道人民没资格了解国会的实质状况吗？难道人民没权利知道那一项项法规如何产生吗？反而是作为人民的我们，却要被一群听命于当权者的工作人员，如猫抓老鼠似的追赶呢？实在是非常荒谬！是我们的存在威胁到当权者的安危吗？是您太敏感了吧！也不能怪啦！您身娇肉贵，出入要保镖护驾，难免会对身边的风吹草动为之惊动，但是如果您这份警惕之心，更多利用在理解民生事态，那不是更好吗？
作为人民的我们是否应该站出来，让我们尊贵的国务领导人们明白我们的决心呢？议员原是传达人民心声的公务员，但在事态逼迫下，总会有些私心啊！所谓“人不为己，天诛地灭”嘛！为了全民的未来，我们必须全民一心、同心协力，争取属于我们的权益！
国会行
陈抿川撰写
今天将会是我们旅程中最刺激的一天，因为今天我们将会遇见很多平时在电视机里常出现的某某部长，全部影像都成真人都可能会出现在我们眼前，而且我们还不知道去到哪里会遇见谁，我都带着很期待恨期待的心情去国会。
8点的闹钟响起我们个个都很紧张的爬起来，洗刷、收拾东西、穿上整齐的西装，不过感觉怪怪的因为我平时都没有穿到那么隆重，也不管那么多了，准备好了之后我们就去早餐，大家的眼神都飘到我们这，因为我们穿到这样去菜市场里的小贩中心吃东西，我们也不管别人在看，就是赶快吃了然后走人。
今天，有两位哥哥带我们进入国会，我们到国会之后，感觉很特别，因为这里不是每个人都可以进入的，能进入这里的都是部长，一些工作人员还有记者，其他的都不可以进入除非特别情况，我们就是一要找议院为理由我们才可以进入，多么雄伟的建筑物就在我们眼前，我很迫不及待的想进去我穿上的大衣就进去了，在进去之前，还有很多步骤要跟，要填写一张表格才可以进入，填完了我们就走上楼梯，这个楼梯就是国会漏水事件的事发地点，走上这楼梯之后，眼前就是国会走廊，走在国会走廊时，在我们的左边有5至6个的大荧幕，这些荧幕都是在播放国会里开会的情景，记者都会围到荧幕前去聆听或做记录。在我们右边就是国会的入口，有两个入口，一个是反对党的入口、另一个是国政的入口，我们就选择反对党的入口，进入了。。。
我们进入时很兴奋因为我们都见到了部长的真面目，虽然不是每个部长都出席，不过我能见到一部分就够了，我们还看到了安华呢。我们大概在里边呆了15分钟就出来了，因为实在不想，回答的人回答得时候都文不对题的，很奇怪，是否耳屎没挖听不清楚刚。在我们出去的时候刚巧安华也出来不过我们从不同的出口出来，因为部长们有特别的出入口，我们看见的情景就是记者们一窝蜂的围着过去安华那里，接下来安华就慢慢的走到一个地方就是开记者会的地方，安华就开始讲话了，还记得当时，他讲话很小声我怎么也听不到，我就上前去想听清楚他说什么，在听的当儿我还忍不住拿起相机大开杀戒，结果被一名守卫拦住了还找我们麻烦，要我们到楼下等候。我们没管他，两位哥哥带我们到处去参观，在进入国会图书馆是还看到前首相Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi 的女婿凯利在国会图书馆里看书。
突然有几名保安人员再次要求我们下楼等候 ，我们才肯离开，我总算了解到马来西亚的国会情况，及亲眼看见部长的真面目，也看清楚人民缴税给这些人拿来干嘛，听说还要建过新的国会，我在想是否因该考虑先清除一些“垃圾”才是重点吧。
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