"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!!!
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