Change you can be part of

Ng Eng Kiat, February 15, 2008

English, Eng Kiat, Columns |

Universally, elections are a symbol of change. As Malaysia hurries towards a 12th General Elections come March 8, calls for change ring loud and clear but for those who listen.

People rarely vote for stagnation, continued failures, or a dictator for that matter. People vote for progress, change, and new directions when old ploys just do not work.

For Obamacans in the USA, which is building up to her 56th presidential elections, change is something they believe in, something real.

Here in Bolehland however, our prime minister takes on a rather different strategy. He holds the prerogative to dissolve Parliament, a key act that will effectively pave the way for new elections. And he decides to lie about when he will, or in this case will not, exercise that prerogative. Just how many Malaysians would tolerate a lying PM after former Health Minister Chua Soi Lek was made to resign for cheating on his wife? We shall see.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was perhaps prepared to face the wrath of his critics for such reckless behaviour, but only because they are few and far between. Maybe, it is also because he has managed to do it before when he dismissed rumours about an impending re-marriage, and to the blessing of Malaysians, of course.

As soft-hearted and patient Malaysians truly are, they sincerely believe in the betterment of society, too. A recent survey sponsored by top selling daily The Star claimed 96% of respondents were concerned with a flagging economy and rising cost of living. Second on the list of concerns, public safety and crime pose a serious issue that calls for immediate attention.

Interestingly though, as it was reported, only 1% think “leaders must be proven to be capable”. Making it smell all the more propagandic, issues left out too conveniently in the survey design include corruption - Abdullah’s priority when he took office in 2003 - and the mangled judiciary.

I will not go too far into deciphering what such a survey actually means, as International Islamic University professor Dr Syed Arabi Idid has done so for his readers when he reportedly said “the government did respond to these concerns” and that “the prime minister himself has gone to the ground”.

Conscious Malaysians would remember just a year ago when the Abdullah administration claimed victory over a bullish stock market, good petrol prices, and continuing peace in the country. When civil society and opposition stood up to protest about rising prices, he utilised repressive state apparatuses to beat them up. When little Nurin Jazlin was brutally murdered, a key minister in Abdullah’s cabinet claimed parents should be prosecuted for allowing crimes to be done against their children.

Oil has made Malaysia rich, but the oil company (and the government) has done well in making Malaysians poorer with each price increase. Billions of taxpayers’ ringgit are used to make roads, yet toll agreements are classified secret as though non-existent and toll hikes omnipresent in Malaysian history.

In battling crime, the only suggestions proposed by Abdullah, who is also Internal Security Minister, are increasing the number of police stations and directing all buildings to install CCTVs. Meanwhile, calls for the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), a body that would keep the police force accountable, remain unheeded despite Abdullah’s promise for greater transparency and accountability in his government.

Yet many, many more Malaysians do not see how small an effort it takes from each and every one of them to change such situations. In other words, they do not see a way out. “Malaysia will always be like that” is a self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuated by Malaysians who think regulation, rather than change, is better for a short term future - the next five years.

Hence, oppressors are voted in by the oppressed. But then, some would argue that the opposition political parties are in greater mess than a Barisan Nasional at its worst. Lim Guan Eng, somehow, lends credence to such unfortunate views. At points such as this, where you know Malaysia is pretty screwed up but you believe the opposition is nonetheless screwed, who would you vote for?

Pragmatically speaking, one could vote for the opposition in hope that the lesser-screwed government would wake up. It is perhaps the least one could do if she or he wants a progressive, hardworking, and accountable government. By not giving the ruling party an easy two-thirds, you are sending a signal of discontent and the government has to change and adapt to your conditions.

That is, of course, idealistic. I was asked, “what if the government loses too much? What will happen to the ethnic minorities when they lose representation in the government? Should I stock up on oil and flour before the elections should anything go wrong?”

A good government does not exact revenge people for not voting for the ruling party. A government that selectively develops areas where the ruling party is voted into power is no different from a pimp. It is no different from gangs who claim to control, and in the process - terrorise, their hoods. A government like that is no different from a parasite because it lives off the needs and fears of society. Instead of working towards securing the best living conditions for its people, such a government imposes conditions on the people’s lives.

Would you continue to vote in such a government then? Would you (and your vote) be pimped off by a promise for more schools and more police stations? Or would you vote for better schools and a more responsible police force?

21st century Malaysian history is still in its infancy, and we are all making history. 50 years of nationhood have passed with community relations not getting closer, the rich-poor dived wider, and racialism so institutionalised we pass it off as normal. This century will be about Malaysia rejecting race as the base of all things, it will be about Malaysians standing up against centuries of racist upbringing, and it will be about saying sorry to the “dan lain-lains”.

It will be the century when Mahathir’s Vision 2020 comes true, though not necessarily by 2020, but by the time Malaysia’s oil reserves run dry. It will be when we really have to stock up on powdered eggs that we realise how sickeningly evil past governments have raped the rakyat. And it will be painful.

But you can be a part of change now if you let change be a part of you. Change can start from a single vote, and it is time it started. For a better Malaysia, your voice counts. Let’s allow Makkal Sakhti to resonate through the halls of Putrajaya come March 8 for they often tell us democracy in Malaysia is “elections every 5 years”.

Let’s vote for change with conscience. Valga!

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