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The people believed the promises candidates made. They were awed by politicians.

Now, I notice the smirk on their faces and hear cynical laughter.

Today, people are selective about the candidates who represent them.

Umno is today facing voters who are informed enough to judge what is right and wrong.

Candidates cannot lie to the people anymore. They cannot expect to shove anything down the throats of the public.

Thanks to technology, people keep themselves updated with the latest development and issues.

Canvassing for support began long before the election campaign started, using SMSes and the Internet.

The government and the ruling party must resort to more effective means to gain public confidence.

Politicians must meet the people face-to-face and we cannot forsake the traditional house-to-house campaign.

Some people say that the government is making a mistake by being more transparent. I disagree.

Mindsets of our people have changed. They are more open and are more prone to make public their views.

Through its developmental efforts, the government has made the public more conscious of its surroundings and its responsibilities as citizens. And the government encourages those who are not satisfied to express themselves openly. This is a new thing, which is good.

I think there is tremendous amount of feedback, although some are nonsensical.

So, administrators and political leaders must be open to all kind of criticisms. This is the new reality.

I also believe that leaders who have been around a long time should retire. It's not good for the party.

A first-term leader looks appealing. In the second term, the appeal wears off slightly as the warts start to show and in the third-term, he begins to look ugly...

I believe leaders should step down once they have reached a certain age.

I am 70 years old. My mind is not what it used to be. But some can even be senile at 60.

When I was still in the government, I created activities that allowed the people to participate like the Semarak programme (a meet-the-people programme which successfully turned public support towards then prime minister (Tun) Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad after the 1988 split in Umno).

Now, there are no such programmes to bring leaders and the people together.

Leaders have to go down to the people. Many now want to get rich through politics.

I have told my son (Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, MP for Pulai), you must learn from me.

I may have nothing now but people have not forgotten what I have done for them. For 30 years, as a wakil rakyat I did not think about making money.

I have also told Jazlan to keep in touch with the party workers and the people. The Malays want to see whether their chosen leaders have the sense of closeness with the people and have manners.

These are important. Don't become arrogant. Politicians are chosen by the people. The person will stay in power so long the people want him.

Politicians should become the people's "servants" and not the other way around. - NST

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