When we say enough
I am not in a writing mood this morning (partly because of dial-up Internet), and let me start by making this clear: I did not create this poster.
This image greets everybody visiting the Barisan Nasional Penang website. Click on image to see for yourself.
The website’s front page proudly proclaims: “BARISAN NASIONAL is unique because it represents all ethnic groups in Malaysia. All groups have a stake in Malaysia’s development. This makes BARISAN NASIONAL the best and most effective power sharing formula today!”
Written to sound like one of those independent reviews on the cover of a best-selling novel that tells you nothing more than that “It’s a best-seller!”, BN slogans are simply repetitive and mind numbing.
No, seriously, do you think any of the five colourful-although-they-come-from-one-ethnic-group characters in the poster look like the distinctly excellent and glorious Malaysian?
If that’s symbolic of excellence, glory and distinction ala-Malaysia, Pak Lah and BN (and especially BN Penang) have a lot to learn from Kevin and Australian Labor.
Okay, never mind the ala-Malaysia part, give yourself a minute, think, do you seriously think that Barisan Nasional is going to bring Malaysia towards anything other than greater economic wastage, greater erosion of civil and democratic rights, greater plunge in education standards, and greater disdain for the environment and resources?
So last Sunday, a group of us younger Malaysians - mostly born post-69 - gathered at one of society’s more exclusive group’s office to discuss what can be done to save ailing Malaysia. I must take this opportunity to say well done to the Malaysian Bar, for if I once thought lawyers are (much like) arrogant pimps, I stand corrected.
Opening her doors to eager youths, Malaysian Bar President Ambiga Sreenevasan told participants at the National Youth Consultation Conference it is time to say “enough is enough” and “make a stand”. It paved the way to a day of critical re-examination of various scenarios in Malaysia, identification of where existing problems lie, and how institutionally rotten roots can be treated.
At the center of the many issue-base workshop discussions was, of course, the BN formula. And paramount to each and every session - education, social and culture, politics, environment, and economy - was the problematic race-base BN formula. Implicit to most of the news reporters present that day was, perhaps, a question of how the BN propaganda machinery can continue to paint everything as statically improving when you simply do not improve if you do not move.
Can a coalition made up of racially divided parties claim to work for the collective benefit of a multi-racial nation? It cannot. It cannot when the very existence of individual political parties are relevant only to race-based mutually exclusive causes. It cannot when the dominant discourse is one that propagates the idea of racial superiority. It cannot when unity is only about tolerance.
And the day Malaysians stop tolerating and start understanding each other a little bit more is the day we tell the BN regime “enough”. It will be the day we stop sweeping every issue that threatens the continual existence of one particular administration as a sensitive one. It will be the day when we, as Malaysians, take back Malaysia.
I will vote for change. I have said enough, will you?
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3 Responses to “When we say enough”
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However, don’t the current situation is the same for opposition? The DAP is for chinese, KEADILAN and PAS are for malay. The Indian don’t even has a prominent opporsition party. Voting the opporsition party doesn’t mean you’re voting a ‘Malaysian’ party. Even the Malaysian Bar Council is seen as a non Malay group, anything done by them is seen as the approach of ‘non Malay vs Malay’. This is the reality of Malaysian racial politic.
So “Can a coalition made up of racially divided parties claim to work for the collective benefit of a multi-racial nation?” It cannot and I agree with the answer.
But is the answer the same for the opporsition parties? The answer is again definitely YES.
I wouldn’t hesitate to. (Note to Eng Kiat: This is Daniel Bong, your rapporteur)
To poor Malaysian,
Then what other options do we have left? Not to vote? Let us not give the ruling gov’t the pleasure shall we?
Poor Malaysian,
I think at this point of degeneration, it is absolutely unproductive to think along the lines of the “lesser of two evils” argument. This is especially so since oppositions would never win anyway in the near-term, and hence the fear of the oppositions being worse off is a trivial one.
By voting FOR the government because of this reasoning is akin to rewarding your students (say you are a teacher) for doing badly in exams because the students in another class is doing worse.
Rather, the emphasis should be on signaling to the current govt that we do not condone to what is being done.
It is not who you are voting FOR that matters now; it is who you are voting AGAINST that does.
Never underestimate the power of democratic pressure.
Furthermore, what else are there left for us, Malaysians, to lose?
Elanor