GE14 was a big step forward; vital in reinstating belief in the rakyat that our votes mattered, that our voices could make a difference and in our abilities to make an impact.
However while the battle for GE14 is over, the Battle for Malaysia isn’t.
In fact it’ll never be.
Like everything else in life, It is and always will be an ongoing battle. And we just gotta Keep Moving Forward.
A constant and perpetual series of ups, downs, corrections and over-corrections, that hopefully form a desirable trend line — desirable being a subjective matter which we’ll get into another time. #KMF
I know it’s not a Friday but this one isn’t a Note on Life, it’s something much much Closer to Home.
This is Roshan ‘Arkay’ Kanesan’s Thoughts on Change, Democracy & the 13th Malaysian General Elections.
Before I start, here’s a little intro into my political views.
Me
I do not define and limit my fight for this country to a political party.
I believe in 2 things very strongly:
* “Power Corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely” – Lord Acton
* “People should not be afraid of their Governments, Governments should be
afraid of their people?” – V
which is based upon:
“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. ” – Thomas Jefferson
So right now my support is for Paktan Rakyat, but that doesn’t mean it will always be
like that and it sure doesn’t mean that I am going to be blinded to their faults. I will support PR for as long as their struggle and long-term goal aligns with my fight for Malaysia. I will not define myself as a BN supporter, nor a PR Supporter. I’m just a Malaysian.
Now,
The 13th Malaysian General Elections
On the 5th of May 2013 I was one of about 10 million Malaysians that went out to the polls to vote. My first time and i was part of the biggest turnout in Malaysian history and also one of the biggest turn outs in modern history… 80%.
Many people wanted change. The urbanites, the younger generation, the first time voters.
However Barisan Nasional (BN) won.
There’s been a lot of noise of foul play and following that it has been concluded
that 5/5 was the date that Democracy Died in Malaysia because apparently our votes didn’t count.
Foul Play
I don’t want to dwell too much into fraud here. Yes, it does indeed look like fraud
was a foot. I’m not condoning it, but I also ask you if fraud is exclusive to Malaysia?
They way some people are talking it sounds like electoral fraud doesn’t happen anywhere else but Malaysia.
I would like to ask this question. What happened in the U.S. Elections of 2000, Bush vs Al Gore? There was foul play there as well, wasn’t it?
So when Malaysians say that GE13 was the dirtiest election ever in the world and democracy died here, I beg that these people think for a moment, before making such statements. Fraud happens in many elections worldwide and so does gerrymandering, so just because BN won, it doesn’t mean that this was the dirtiest elections ever.
And even after all that, Pakatan Rakyat:
still made progress,
still made inroads,
strengthened their hold on Penang,
strengthened their hold on Selangor,
took a further 7 Parliamentary seats from BN.
And Barisan Nasional:
has become even more unpopular,
lost more parliamentary seats,
lost more State Seats (collectively)
and didn’t come close to getting back their beloved 2/3 majority.
What does that tell you?
To me it shows that fraud is not enough to stop the WILL of the People, it’s just that
we didn’t have enough strength this time around to counter the trump cards that BN had up their sleeve. Sabah. Sarawak. Johor.
The Rural Vote.
The major support for Change was mostly urban, that’s NOT ENOUGH.
It is the rural areas that have the most influence. KL, Selangor and Penang do not accurately represent the rest of the country.
Jointly Sarawak, Sabah and Johor have 82 Parliamentary seats and BN won 68 as opposed to the total of 46 seats for Penang, Selangor and KL, in which PR won 36.
BNs stronghold has almost twice the number of seats than PRs stronghold.
What does this tell you?
It tells me that over the next 5 years PR has serious work to do in the rural areas.
Those are the areas that will bring the real Tsunami. The urban votes alone won’t get PR into Putrajaya.
Change
For those who are saying that change didn’t happen? Are you defining change by a change in government? If you are, I’m so sorry but you’ve got the plot wrong.
Forget BN, Forget PR, Forget Najib, Forget Anwar.
We aren’t fighting for a political party; we’re fighting for Malaysia’s soul.
Malaysia’s soul is US.
Friends, Malaysians, Countrymen.
Change should not be defined by the changing of government but off the Change in the mindset of the People.
So don’t say Change hasn’t happened – it has.
It started in 2008 and has continued growing. Many of us are more actively involved in politics. More of us have become Political Citizens and the numbers will only continue growing.
And this leads me to:
Democracy
I’ve seen many posting on Facebook & Twitter that democracy has died,
and this annoys me,
extremely.
Democracy died a long time ago, it was dead before GE12, when most people didn’t care about elections, or voting or politics, and assumed that BN would just go on ruling Malaysia.
Then 2008 happened and for the first time in decades we saw BN lose their 2/3 majority. We saw PR take two juggernaut states away from BN. We saw that our votes could make a difference. We saw change that day. We saw the rebirth of Democracy in Malaysia. We saw the beginning of the Fight for Malaysia’s soul.
I respect every individual’s political stance and opinion but if you come and tell me that Democracy is dead now, then we have a problem.
It shows that you’re just following the trend of the hour, a mere follower.
Yes, on Sunday we saw democracy get hurt and abused but it’s still alive and ready to continue the fight through fighters like Karpal and Kit Siang.
Look at how long have they been fighting? How many loses have they suffered?
Have they given up? Did they sit around and feel sorry for themselves when a setback hit them? So why do I hear so many people whining?
I’ve learnt firsthand that feeling sorry for myself never got anything done.
So lets stop the noise, stop the complaining, stop the whining and go out and help out with the cause you believe in. Because Democracy can never die as long as there are people who still BELIEVE.
So to conclude,
PR Lost.
Get over it.
This isn’t a battle, this is a War for Malaysia’s Soul,
Not for BN. Not for PR.
What’s important is that we DON’T GIVE UP because one battle was lost,
What’s most important is that PR stay strong, united and grow.
What’s most important is that we, the People, Keep Moving Forward.
Democracy cannot die as long as there are people who believe in it.
As for me,
I will not be mourning.
I’m going to celebrate the progress and the inroads that PR has made,
Friends. Malaysians. Countrymen. Tomorrow we vote..
Who you vote for or whether you vote or not is you choice, either action is your right. Just remember this. Whoever it is you vote for, make sure that you are true with your vote. If you vote for change remember that with change comes resistance and if you vote for stability, remember that absolute power corrupts absolutely and no improvement or greatness was ever achieved by colouring within the lines.
Tomorrow is big day for Malaysians and Malaysia.
People in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s 60s 70s etc will be heading to the polls for their first time.
Tomorrow we are all equal.
Tomorrow we fight for what we think is right.
Whatever happens tomorrow, be vigilante, vote and be safe. If a storm comes we will brace it for every storm eventually comes to an end.
But whatever it is, don’t so anything stupid. Stay out of hot spots, don’t antagonise and keep calm.
I’m not a BN supporter. I’m not a PR Supporter.
I am Support the Rakyat. I am Pro-Rakyat.
Sidenote: don’t sit around and complain if you can vote and aren’t going to vote.
arkaysthoughts 