NB: This article was first published in the March 2011 issue of The Rocket.
“A new star rises in the eastern sky – a star of freedom for yet another Asian people. A new hope comes into being, a dream long cherished now materialises. It is freedom for the Malayan people and once this torch of freedom is lit let us hold it up high so that all around us will glow with radiant happiness. Let freedom be secured for all the law-abiding people. There shall be freedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedom of want, freedom of association, freedom of assembly and freedom of movement.” – Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, 1957
The aspirations above were cast 54 years ago by the buoyant father of a fledgling nation. Were he alive today he would undoubtedly lament over the fact that we, his children, have collectively failed to live up to his ideals of nationhood. The torch that he lit is now all but extinguished.
Over the last five and a half decades, every basic tenet aforementioned has been compromised for the sake of political and economic expediency by a government intent on maintaining their stranglehold on power. But what’s worse, we let it happen.
Our democratic institutions did not collapse overnight. It was a deliberate process over three decades, in which our country’s proud foundations – the civil service, judiciary, police, civil rights – were abused and dismantled piece by piece until we are left now with a dark void of tyranny where once there was a beacon of freedom and dreams of an august future. It happened systematically before our very eyes, yet we shrugged it off and allowed the decay because we were satisfied with the spoils that trickled down. Our country was rich enough that we could overlook the excesses of the regime because we were comfortable.
But we cannot afford to any longer.
Our finite resources are running out, and the Barisan Nasional government, mutated as it were to its current despotic form, will run our country aground if left unchecked. Our national debt is more than half of our GDP, and soaring from year to year. Our resources are mismanaged – operating expenditure increases exponentially while development expenditure remains stagnant. Inflation is accelerating by the day, and the government’s response is to reduce food subsidies that total only RM4 billion a year while conveniently maintaining the irrational subsidies for independent power producers and highway toll operators that cost us RM23 billion a year. Cost of living is spiralling and the income gap between the rich and the poor is acutely widening. The bottom 40% of our population earns 14.3% of total income while the top 20% earns nearly 50%. With an average household income of RM1,500 a month, millions of Malaysians exist only to subsist.
Yet the solutions proffered by our federal government are as maniacal as they are megalomaniacal. A RM36 billion MRT project and a RM5 billion 100-storey tower are championed as the answers to our economic woes. These are nothing more than the desperate salvoes of a government in decline. Whither goes our beloved country?
Not only have we been rendered economically impaired, but the BN formula of governance has left racial relations severely fractured. The mainstream media is used to antagonise ethnic fault-lines on a daily basis in an attempt to polarise the country to suit the political needs of the incumbents. Is this the country that we wish to raise our children in? A country in which deaths in custody are an accepted norm, in which the words ‘judiciary’ and ‘circus’ have become synonyms, and in which corruption is endemic and the term ‘cost overruns’ has become a part of everyday lexicon?
The future of our children is at risk unless we act collectively and immediately. The genesis of change must come from us: conscientious Malaysians who are willing to stand up for truth, justice and a natural sense of what is right. Our country is ailing, but it is not yet terminal. It can still be saved. I believe that, and so must you.
Change now, save Malaysia. This is our hope, and this is our cause. The time for change is now, and the champions of change are you, and me, and every true Malaysian out there. This, in essence, is our perjuangan.
I began this article with words of hope, a rhapsody to the stars on the birth of a new nation. Although we despair that our father’s dreams have thus far been unfulfilled, we must also persevere and believe that they will soon be. And so I end now with the words of a man who inherited the dreams of a nation, and who against all imaginable odds, succeeded in making change happen.
“We are the hope of the future. The answer to the cynics who tell us our house must stand divided, that we cannot come together, that we cannot remake this world as it should be…. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama, 2008
///Yet the solutions proffered by our federal government are as maniacal as they are megalomaniacal. A RM36 billion MRT project and a RM5 billion 100-storey tower are championed as the answers to our economic woes. These are nothing more than the desperate salvoes of a government in decline. Whither goes our beloved country?///–Zairil Khir Johari
It seems that there is only one industry in the country, the construction. Najib learned about multiplying effects in economics and he believes that the unseen hands will move the economy, just like the hands not seen by public moved 889 billion overseas, illegally.
Yes we can! First thing is to throw BN out of office at the next election. And in Sarawak throw Taib out of office and into jail.
“A new star rises in the eastern sky – a star of freedom for yet another Asian people. A new hope comes into being, a dream long cherished now materialises. It is freedom for the Malayan people and once this torch of freedom is lit let us hold it up high so that all around us will glow with radiant happiness. Let freedom be secured for all the law-abiding people. There shall be freedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedom of want, freedom of association, freedom of assembly and freedom of movement.” – Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, 1957
There you are. Its clear beyond doubt. This passage says somewhere that umno is supreme. And non-umnoputras are not allowed to eat rambutans. And and indians are pariahs and chinese are useless and unpatriotic. And ungrateful.
But seriously. Yes umno and bn have already expired. In fact they are now way beyond their use-by date. For decades umno has (actually dr mamak has) bred a large core of super greedy and power crazy umnoputras. These bigots in turn have some blind followers. Together they are still able to hold their ground. Enough of it to stay in control.
It is like gaddafi in libya. Who does not know that he is rotten to the core? Who does not want him out? But he has a core group of supporters. And that is enough for him to hole himself in.
That is more or less the same scenario in malaysia. Who still wants umno. Not many actually. It is just that come election time, a number of them still voted umno. They do so for all sorts of (by now) irrelevant and even outright wrong reasons. Fear of change is one factor. Still harbouring that sentimental feeling for the old umno – the real umno is also a reason.
Obviously, supports that are based on these reasons are actually filmsy and weak. Like in middle east these supposedly umno supporters could easily turn away from umno. They have enough reason to do so. When that happens, umno would collapse like a pile of rubble within a short time.
I can see that happening.
Why was the book ‘interlok’ approved as literature text for spm?
http://scottthong.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/interlok-chock-full-of-insults-against-chinese-too/
Mahathir’s words
CHANGING REGIME
By Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on February 28, 2011 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (62) | TrackBacks (0)
///1. The people of Tunisia and Egypt have overthrown their Governments. A number of people have been killed in the process. More will follow before the uprisings will be over. Now comes the problem of setting up new Governments which would make the struggle and the sacrifices worthwhile. If the new Governments fail then all the struggles and sacrifices would have been in vain. ///–Mamakthir
The government of the old overstayed their welcome and the corrupted practices. That must be changed. The people can never be certain that the replacements would be good. That is why they have to ensure that a change of government in the futures does not have to come with bloodshed. The deaths were inevitable, and there was no question that the struggle would be worthwhile since more die and suffer in different circumstances with their erstwhile governments, and they have to be removed. That episode serves to remind new government that as leaders they perform public service rather than professions to enrich themselves.
///2. I am sure that the people would want to see a democratic Government, a Government of the people, by the people, for the people.
3. This sounds great but Government by the people will not be so easy. You cannot have the people directly governing themselves. You will need to have a new constitution and political parties which will enable representatives of the people to form the Government. For this, elections will have to be held. Unfortunately elections can be manipulated. ///– Mamakthir
Was Mamakthir talking about Malaysian government’s experience in conducting elections? If not, why is Malaysia special?
///4. There will be a rush to grab for power by nationalists and by opportunists. It will not always be the good people who will win to form Governments. The idea of people choosing their leaders sounds very democratic but the people may not be savvy as to the quality of the candidates. Sectarian loyalties, money and narrow-mindedness may bring instability, economic regression and even anarchy.///– Mamakthir
The same argument goes with removing UMNO from governing Malaysia. It is true that bad people might succeed UMNO. But there is still hope for the better rather than continuing with the status quo whereby the people experience the results of a failed government under which the government institutions, the judiciary, the police and in general the government service fail to perform what are expected of them. And worse, the government practices rule by law.
///5. The administrative machinery would need to be revamped and retrained as they would not be familiar with the democratic system. The police and military will have to understand professionalism i.e. that they will be the permanent part of the Government as against the elected Government which will last only as long as they manage to retain the support of the people.
6. The professional administrators, military and police must learn to be subservient to the elected Governments even when they are changed by the electorate through periodic elections. Their political affiliations will be private as they will have to serve whichever party forms the Government. It is going to be hard. The temptation to seize power will plague the minds of many.///–Mamakthir
The above should be told to Malaysian institutions. We saw how Perak state government fell to BN, and the police was serving political party rather than the government, in the states concerned. Nobody asks the police or the military to be subservient to the elected government; they have to adhere to the duties which they are employed to serve without fear and favour. That is why even serving ministers including the head of government are not above the law.
///7. Both the elected and permanent members of the Government will wield power to some degree. Power corrupts and will affect the performance of the Government. It is not necessary that the Government which replaces the old regime will be free from corruption. The people may have to try to remove the Government again and again with no certainty the replacements would be any better.///–Mamakthir
In a democratic system, the worst government would serve only to the next election. Replacement is certain to take place, and with fair probability good government would appear. The story that things can turn out to be worse serves at best fear mongering.
///8. I pray and hope that the people who had suffered so much under the old regimes and suffered more in their present struggle will be rewarded with Governments that they had dreamed off.///– Mamakthir
The prayer appears to be more appropriate for Malaysians where the suffering population is obstructed by Mamakthir himself to seek the government people are yearning for.
Zairil, I think you are not very accurate in your assessment of the Tunku and those in his first Cabinet, post merdeka. He was as culpable as any subsequent PMs that led to our present situation. You should perhaps ask how Stephen Kalong Ningkan was dealt with by him. As the first Prime Minister, I believe he should have played a more compelling role to set the ethos and the tone for this nation but he did not. It was only nostalgically we tried to remember him when we see the country continues to deteriorate. He was as tribal as any subsequent PMs and UMNO ministers. How do you explain when Singapore wanted to join the Federation of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak too must join the federation? From day one, the country was set to be Malay-Islamic centric. It does not matter how other races in this country have tried to be more Malayans or Malaysians. Ketuanan was alive then as it is alive now, please don’t kid ourselves. The second wave is coming – I believe UMNO has successfully engineered the Malays back to its fold. The only problem I see is how can the nation continues supporting an increasingly majority to free lunches. Who are going to work and finance all this – the number of Chinese is withering while the Indians will stop working soon.
Please kindly provide us the moderation guideline so that we do not have to waste our time.
Me too,feel the same with the illogical moderation.Even wishes and non vulgar or racist comments are moderated some of the time.Getting fed up…
limkamput #6
Good comment. The real truth and nothing but the truth.
Yes, in absolute terms. But in comparison, we can only say other than the worst PM Mamakthir, the others rots , and one worse than the others.
Tan Siew Sin was said to be quite good until one knows the background of how he single-handedly destroyed MCA independence to be UMNO’s appendage.
I am 100% agreeable with the writer. The time for change is now not later. I have 6 kids and certainly not wanting them to grow in an environment run by tyrant. A revolution like being done by our brothers in the middle east must take place right now or else the status quo will remain. This could be a legacy that our generation leave behind for the next generation to remember us by. Long live the “Ketuanan Rakyat”. We the people of MALAYSIA has had it with this tyrant.
Inspiring…..a great asset to the party!
……and our country, a potentially a great leader.
I will prefer people to change a better government while browsing throughly their brain circuit in preparation to vote than to lift their finger on uncivilised or undemocratic way of protest.A pen is mightier than sword.Everyone is equally supposed to put some effort pursuing freedomhood by sharing and parting away your knowledge and wisdom thru blog,read,hear,talk and action when finally the day our vote counts the most.Optimist clearly prevails pessimist as it’s poven by history.