Bravo Malaysians

"BN lost its 2/3 majority for the first time in forty years." What a news to start off a day. I found myself smiling as i was getting ready for a futsal tournament Sunday morning when the radio announced the news. I had stayed up all night the evening before, watching the scoreboard, and everytime we see a color different from blue passing through it, my friends and i would slightly cheer. Abdul Rahid announcing that BN had won the election - as they always had for the previous terms - was expected, yet it was a huge relief that it wasn't a 2/3 winning at all, or else we risk having our constitutional rights continually being abused.

I take my hats off for those who had dared opted for change, namely Penang, Perak, Selangor, and Kedah (Kelantan is exceptional considering they had been ruled by the same opposition party for the past donkey years), and in some districts in certain states who had collatively voted for change. This year's election is sure a slap on the government's cheek waking them up and showing them that the rakyat are not stupid after all. And that they should do more than just sleep during parliamentary meetings, waving keris in the air, hiking petrol prices and not explaining why thoroughly, nor fix the roads only when it's near election dates.

Sabah remains as the biggest disappointment when it comes to this. I don't know who to blame (maybe i'm guilty as well for not casting any ballots), either the fact that most people in Sabah are still under-exposed to the source of Independent News, knowing that these news are only available online and most rural areas do not have immediate access to Internet, OR the fact that most of them only cared about having roofs over their heads, food to eat and clothes to wear, and nothing more. It would be a lie if a party, any party is to say that they do not use monetary rewards to 'fish' for ballots. And these people in Sabah, believed to be baited by, well, monetary rewards, ... the rest is history. Or they just simply do not see, hear, nor read news and inputs from other sides apart from the government's, therefore they don't know how these so-called democrats had been ripping rights off the people.

PAS is now the official ruler of Shah Alam. Rumor has it that lots of changes are going to be made, specifically about implementing Islamic laws in its administrations. My fellow non-Muslim friends and housemates are all saying, "Matilah kita ni." I laughed and said nothing but "Give them a chance." Honestly, i don't even know what i'm saying. PAS is being known as too radical in practicing its Islamic cultures and values. Even during the campaigning for this term's election, it said little in trying to convince the non-Muslims. All of its promises are dedicated to Anak-anak Selangor. So we are not the least excited when it won the election for our area. However, i believe that no governance of a country should be associated with any religion, especially in a country that claim to be democratic. Therefore, i believe that we shouldn't hate PAS just because it is an Islamic party. My religion didn't teach me to hate other religion, and i believe that Islam does too. So i hope our new ruling party will keep that in mind.

All in all, i'm delighted with the results. It seems like we woke up breathing fresh air on Sunday Morning. I'm not sure how these opposition parties will do in the next four years, although i hope nothing but the best for them. With the risk that the rakyat take to vote for change, they should be using that trust wisely, so as to ensure they'll get another round of winnings in 2012. Let us all cross our fingers.

Bravo malaysians!!!

A Letter To Whom It May Concern

Dear Dato',

Look, I appreciate the government's efforts in maintaining the peace and constantly ensuring the development of this country. And i know you and your people up there are worried sick by now; worried that you'll lose the upcoming election, seeing that the opposition is doing pretty well in trying to convince electorates to "VOTE FOR CHANGE". But why should you worry? The EC is obviously on your side of the game. Can't you see that they're doing everything to ensure your victory, even changing the rules the way they like and whenever they like it (I'm referring to the EC's sudden decision to not use the indelible ink for voting, four days before the big day. Four days). So, why worry? You guys have been winning the election for the past 50 years what. Why worry now, why wouldn't the EC cover your ass now, right? So just sit back and relax. We the citizens know what the government has been doing for us and there's no need for you nor the oppositions to affect our decisions and our stands. You don't have to tell us to not believe what the opposition had said. Neither do they have to convince us. We KNOW very well in our being that IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE. You see, it's a knowledge, which used to be an unconfirmed opinion. Now it's a stand.

I think that we've tolerating the government's nonsense for years now. I'm not trying to be racist, or bring up religious matters up and trying to relate it to political issues. But the truth is, it is interrelated, and yes, it affects the way we think about the governance about this country.

I'm a Catholic Sabahan. Being a Sabahan is one, being a Catholic is another. The one issue that is never even made an issue is the "lain-lain" classification of my race, our race, the aboriginals of what makes up larger than 50% of the country. When filling in forms of applications of what sorts, there are only four classifications of races; Melayu, Cina, India, Lain-lain. Sometimes, they'd be nice and put Bumiputera instead of Lain-lain. But even if so, why are we differently Bumiputera classified than the Melayu? It's bitter to talk about this. 50 so called years of independence and we still reasons to argue with the ruling party. Sad.

That's one thing (and trust me, you don't want me to go on talking more about it, it's tiring). The second matter is even worse. I'm sorry to say, the way the leaders in Malaysia (not all of them) interpret Islam is very scary, biased, and radical.We, the ones considered as minority religions (and i'm not just talking about Christians) had tolerated, closed our eyes and let our constitutional rights being ripped from us, conscious or unconsciously. I'd say that these leaders say one thing in front of us and say another behind us, when they're with their "crew". It's not impossible for me to list down a few of things that i feel unnecessary, ridiculous, unfair, and even cruel committed by the authority towards people of its different beliefs, race and creed. But that may take forever, coz a lot had taken place.

So dear Dato' Sri, that is why i want to vote for change. That's why there's a lot of us who wants to vote for change. I'd said earlier that i appreciate the government's efforts in maintaining the peace of this country, and I mean it. But keep in mind that peace had only survived because we've been tolerating your nonsense, and tolerance has a limit. Don't take it for granted.

Confessions of A Former Leader

"Mahathir Mengaku Anwar Ibrahim Dizalimi & Tidak Bersalah". Type this out on Youtube and you'll find the video (i don't freaking know how to link videos in posts, i've yet to learn). I bet most of you had already seen this video. Surprisingly, i wasn't the least shocked or amazed upon seeing the video. For one reason, i know Anwar is not guilty as charged. Secondly, despite the fact that Mahathir (in the video) "confessed" his power misuse, it could well be a mean of sarcasm. His sarcastic tone and grin makes it hard to believe that he even meant what he said. But for all it's worth, i think he was telling the truth (and doesn't feel guilty about it anyway).

Christopher Who?

I know this is a long-time-gone case. But i was having lunch with my friend and out of nowhere we were talking about the government. And it got into long-time-gone Anwar's case (dear authority, if any of you are reading this, don't apprehend me. I'm only practising citizen's right to think critically and express them freely. Cheers!). Anyways, yes, Anwar. Do u remember the guy who was one of his defense lawyers, Christopher Fernando? What ever happened to that guy? Why is his existence no longer acknowledged? If our memories serve us right, he is, or shall i say, WAS, one of the best lawyers in our country. He must be, as he was selected to defend a fallen leader's case, a case that even the illiterate knows of, a huge one, that shocked the whole country. And then suddenly when all the drama is over, he seems outcasted.

Now the question is, why? He is a lawyer. Lawyers' jobs are to defend their clients against all odds (be their clients guilty or innocent). So having said that, Christopher Fernando was left out because he was doing his job? What's that? Okay, we assume that he is being sanctioned because he defended a person who was not in the government's side.Now let's assume that Anwar is not one of them politicians, barely a threat to the government. So assuming that he killed somebody. And Christopher is his lawyer. Does that make Christopher the killer too? Now apply that to the actual case. Anwar, undoubtly, was a major threat to the government. He did something wrong, got caught, and was put behind bars. Does that make Christopher, being his lawyer, a perpetrator too? Should we push aside someone who defended the ruling party's enemy, just because he was doing his job as a lawyer?

And being so, think about it; does the judiciary makes decisions according to the government's whims and fancies? It seems to me, that even the judiciary is being controlled by the government. Funny. So much for democracy. We might as well declare ourselves an authocratic country.

To Elect Or Not To

Somebody reminded me about registering for voting yesterday. He asked me if i'm going to register or not. I said "No". And he asked, "Why not?" "The government is gonna win anyway. And the oppositions are not in a better position to win either." "Ignorant citizen." And i shut up.

For one thing, yes, i'm being irresponsible for not giving a damn about the election and thus ignoring the part i'm supposed to play as a citizen of this country. But on the other hand, i believe i'm right; the government IS GONNA WIN ANYWAY. The Election Commission of Malaysia as we all know is an unofficial component of Barisan Nasional, and its chairman is an UMNO member isn't he (go and look it up, you'll see it for yourself)? So practically, in its function to regulate the election, its subtle (or probably even obvious) purpose is to ensure BN's winning by hook or by crook. So why bother? They are gonna win anyway.

And it's not like i favor any of them oppositions either. Handing over the governance of this country to them might not change anything, or may even makes it worse (especially financially). Both (govenrment and opposition) parties, despite the fact that providing monetary or material rewards for voting or not voting certain candidates are considered as an offence, are doing it as a matter of factly speaking. In a nutshell, i personally think that our politicians from both parties are corrupt. Our governance is corrupt. I understand pretty well why Fong Po Kuan backed off. Politics are no longer (or has it ever even been) a noble and humanity-saving field to be involved in.

I do not post this to induce ignorance in my readers. You wanna vote, go ahead. But if you think that it's gonna change anything, I just wanna let you know that i envy your optimism. May it one day be so.

p/s: I was thinking, Mat Rempits as stated in the news every now and then are the number one enemy of our country. But imagine this, if they roam the roads and streets waving BN flags while wearing BN T-shirts, making the same nuisance that they always do without exhibiting any BN identities, would they still be the enemy and get apprehended? Or would they be granted monetary rewards instead? ;)

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 in Current Affairs Permalink Comments (4)

Crossword Puzzle Over Chauvinism

Fortunately i brought my crossword puzzle book along. At least i had something to do rather than listen to another prolonged, time-consuming (or time-wasting i would say), baseless, crappy speech about special rights of a certain race. Okay, Malay. There you go, i said it (and yes it makes me sick already alright, so sue me).
I did not expect to gain much from the talk/speech/or whatever you call it, that my lecturer asked all of me classmates to attend. But i honestly did not expect to be injected with chauvanistic/racist statements either. The moment he said out loud that "kita tidak harus pandang ringan hak kita sebagai M...", I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Here we go again..." Seriously, when will you people (not all the Malays, only those who is so into chauvinism) ever stop?
Trust me, i'm not racist, nor do i support people who talks about it. But you know what, it makes me sick to hear some of 'em "clever" so-called leaders who keep on talking about fighting for racial rights and shit. Melayu ka, India ka, sama ja semua. I thought we're supposed to be a harmonius multi-racial country and our fore-fathers had long instilled in us a pride in the fact that although we're all different, we're all one. To this very day we're still able to see and hear leaders of our nation saying "Kita harus berbangga kerana kita adalah bangsa terbilang..." Ah, bullshit. Hypocrites. We keep on putting this front to other nations that we're all united and able to work together as one nation. But what truly happens is that we keep making fuss about our special rights, demanding to be given extra attention than the other races. And just why the hell there are special rights implemented in the constitution if really, REALLY we're all about unity and harmony?
If there was anything anyone ever did wrong in the history of Malaysia, it would be putting down the Union Jack and replacing it with...you know what. I was once proud to be a Malaysian. Now i barely care about what happens. Coz the pride had already been broken by completely idiotic individuals who always forgot that we're a multi-racial nation acting as one and moving towards one goal; for the prosperity of the country, and just can't seem to stop 'bising-bising' pasal hak-hak mereka like drawing out a Keris when doing his speech. Racist.

Greetings!

I had a blogspot account dated way back in 2006. But i rarely ever take it seriously until recently when i realize how fun, mind-stimulating, vocab-improving blogging really is. All these while i've been blogging craps and not until recently my lecturer encouraged us to read more about our government and current issues that i generated my current interest in chastising the ruling party. Ha!

Friends, this is... SPARTAAAAA! Kidding. This is where i express myself best; my thoughts, opinion (whether agreed upon or not), my disappointment, hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow (specifically regarding the governance of our country), and everything else you could find buried in my thinking-box, and constantly changing.

Enjoy =)