Sunday, March 09, 2008

G Election: surprisingly not surprising

The 12th Malaysian general election is basically over with the BN keeping a simple majority; and that is a big deal because the last time that happened, some malay and some chinese go out in the streets and killed each other. Let’s just hope that this grand political shift that our young country is facing does not result in a violent knee-jerk reaction from the fanatic supporters of any political parties involved.

Before the election, I knew that BN will never win Kelantan and Abdullah’s supporters will be reduced significantly; but I don’t expect such a big loss to the National Front! This shows how pissed the rakyat is with the current government, and the rakyat had delivered a severe punch to the groin of BN by voting in protest of the government, NOT in support of the opposition.

Although I believe that the National Front’s agenda is still very much relevant to the current social and economical patterns of Malaysia, I’m really looking forward to what the opposition can do to outperform what the government had done, economically and socially.

Malaysia under Badawi had a pretty good economic exponential, a pretty awesome success that exceeded foreign economist’s expectations. But it looks like a stable economy is not enough. The rakyat wants a racial stability that focuses on equal prosperity and transparent governing; a system that gives the people true freedom of speech, and an equal chance to strive for their own success. These are the things that the rakyat wants, and I can’t help it but be doubtful that the inexperienced opposition party could magically make those fancy words into reality. Those same fancy words came out of the charismatic mouths of Anwar Ibrahim, and for the sake of our country, let’s hope it’s not bullshit.

Politicians using fancy words put aside, let’s put reality back into play. Although Kelantan and Kedah will surely be governed by PAS, who is going to be the boss on the newly won opposition states of Selangor, Perak and Pulau Pinang? Although Parti Keadilan Rakyat appeals to the multi-racial rakyat, PAS’s pro-islamist agenda and DAP’s pro-secularist agenda will surely clash when making decisions about the states that they will control in the future. Will this lead to PAS being expelled once again from a political coalition just like when they’re with the National Front in 1977? Ok, maybe I am over-analysing the situation here. PKR, PAS and DAP will be nice to each other. Let’s hope they will.

One main question lingers inside the head of teary eyed BN supporters: Why we lost this bad? I’ve been away from Malaysia since 2003, so how the hell would I know? Although I have no real idea of the reasons, some of it is quite obvious. The first main reason would be the disappointment among ethic minorities, of course. Especially the Indians. They have been a firm supporter and believed in the government since independence, and just look at where they stand in the social pyramid of Malaysia. It’s not very pretty to say this, but any race would surely be pissed if they were to take the Indians’ positions. Basically, with the several religious rifts and the gigantic feeling of their voice not being heard, the Indians just gave up on BN to channel their support to someone else because most of them have no faith anymore in the coalition. But they just form 8% of the population, how can that be a significant power to change the guys sitting on top?

Oh man, I just forgot about what I want to write about the Chinese. What I can think of right now is that the Chinese has been long disappointed and felt been treated like a second class citizen in regard with the positive discrimination to the bumiputras. And the sexy Chua Soi Lex scandal does not help the MCA, at all. Powerful viagra pills put aside, I still think the Chinese still believes in BN; they just vote against it as a protest, and what a great protest that was. I don’t think the Chinese saw it positively about the islamization-race going on between UMNO and PAS either.

Crap, I don’t really want to write about the malays because it could be too long for anyone to read, including myself. So I’ll just point out the obvious reasons that I could think of:

1) Voting to protest the corrupt government, not to support the opposition.
2) Everyone likes the candy that Anwar is selling, because it tastes different, but nobody really knows whether it’s better or not.
3) Worried at the rise of crime and price of everyday goods.
4) They don’t want to vote for anyone else except Mahathir. These people need to wake up though.
5) Kelantanese don’t want to be thrown into the fiery fire of hell if they vote for anything else except PAS, because the guys who tell other people that they are ace in religious matters said so.

Wow, what the hell am I babbling about? I don’t even like politics! I woke up this morning, take a look at the news, freaked out and opened blogspot to write about how freaked out I am. What really matters to me right now is actually this: Is my scholarship going to be affected in any ways? I mean, I don’t want anyone to realize that they’re actually giving us more money than we needed to survive in japan, all these years. I hope they still don’t realize this little luxury they're given us and focus on the development and the racial harmony of the county. Because that’s more important right?

Man, I better close this one fast. I’m already sleepy and I need to edit some ugly pictures I took during the graduation party for foreign students yesterday. So here it goes:

The opposition has (almost) got what they wanted for the past 50 years. Now the main question is: can they deliver all the sweet promises to their hopeful supporters? Although there is a great sense of anxiety of what will happen in all of this suddenly powerful political change, something that Malaysians are not used to; I hope this is the change that all of Malaysians had wanted. I hope this is a change for the better. There is no better time for us to also enjoy political growth in parallel with our stable economic growth since the late 90’s economic crisis. Lastly, I am glad that the Human Rights Watch is WRONG. The opposition will never win this big if the election was rigged by the National Front. At 50 years old, Malaysia is still a young nation that is still searching for its true identity. This change might have helped us came closer to the society that we have long dreamt of: a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious community that enjoys economical stability, spiritual harmony and blooming prosperity. No dream is too ambitious, right?

Peace out to all my malaysian brothers and sisters! remember: don't kill each other this time, ok?

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