"Novus Ordo Seclorum"

As promised, my views on the new government, my humble thoughts on how change should be in Malaysia's political system.

Note: These are just my thoughts which, I have formed after reading multiple news sources. Both the MSM and the internet... They are in no way, meant to be offending or discriminatory to any person(s). I'm just exercising my freedom of speech to say what I feel. (Though I think at least over a 100 people would have beaten me to saying all these stuff, since I was busy with classess.. Nontheless, here goes...)

This is only a premature view, because the govenment hasn't been fully formed yet.. they have another 95 days for that. So maybe I might post again after 95 days, about the government..

It has been 5 days since polling day, the results have been announced with Barisan Nasional losing it's 2/3 majority by only winning a mere 140 seats, while the opposition (DAP, PKR, PAS) winning 82 seats in parliament. Selangor, Perak, Penang, Kedah & Kelantan has fallen out of BN's hands into the opposition, who will now form part of our new government.

Many people had the mind set that, it would be impossible to deny BN their 2/3 hegemony, what they didn't expect was that every other person had the same thought, and everyone voted freely... Resulting in a huge swing of the polls. But all is well, it is time for a "New order of the ages"

First, I shall with my limited knowledge on politics, briefly underline what I think are the reasons that BN lost the elections this round. Although it's no mystery, I shall just state the reasons here briefly.

• The timing of the elections

~ It hasn't been long since BERSIH marched on the streets of KL, or HINDRAF for that matter, such news was still hot, however, so close to this occurances, the government has decided to hold the elections, though BN's term doesn't end till 15 months later.

~ Speculation has it, that the reason for the early elections was due to Anwar (Who can't contest till April 15, 2008). Apparently he is such a good talker, that he poses a huge threat. That remains to be seen, as according to Anwar, BN's move is futile as, he can still make himself present in Parliament by way of a by-election.

~ It's a question that has to be weighed carefully, would BN's losses have been better or worse if the elections were held later? But that will remain a speculation forever, as what is done, cannot be undone.

~~ In my opinion, I don't know how well a speaker Anwar is, that he has got most of the Malay Community fired up for him, but I personally do not like Anwar. It could be because of what he had done while chairing the position of deputy prime minister before 1998, but I feel that he is a person not to be trusted, and that all he wants is power and money. (My gut instinct... Maybe...)

I feel that he doesn't really have a proper ideal, and will do whatever it takes to gain power. A dangerous man, where you have no idea what is going on in that head of his. This may be the past, but in the past he was a racist, 10 years might have changed him, but that remains to be seen..

That is not to say, that I will not give him a second chance, everyone deserves a second chance, but don't hope for a third chance from me. I may be forgiving, but not that forgiving..

• Arrogance of BN

~ Just because Barisan Nasional has been ruling for 50 years, this has gotten to their heads, and they think that everyone will continue to remain loyal to them even 100 years from now. Don't get me wrong.. I'm not pro DAP (before the elections, would I have been known to be anti government?) no matter how much my blog seems to suggest so. IF BN had been giving what I had stated, (equality to all races & gender, transparency etc.) I would have been a Pro BN instead...

However, they proudly announced that they will win, and that the opposition parties will fail in their bid to garner 1/3 of the seats in parliament... It was such arrogance that caused Samy Vellu to bid farewell to the people.. (Need an army to bring Sammy down? Looks like votes did it nice and well, and without any blood shed..Though he stubbornly refuses to step down...)

~~In my opinion, the government has underestimated the will of the people. They can only continue winning on their raced based politics, if only, the nation stays under developed and un-educated. Those who live in urban areas, the urban intellectuals, as I shall call them, will want a change, for the country to be moving to a Malaysian Malaysia, not a race based Malaysia. This urban intellctuals includes all races... It's a tough battle.

Being in power for 50 years, the government should have slowly progressed to this idealogy, but instead, they stuck to the method used by the British when they colonised us. The reason the British segregrated the races was because if the people united it would be a tough fight on them.

Don't our politicians get that? Yet they continued with the race based politics. What difference does that make them and the British? All they want is power and money, it's not for the betterment of the people. They do not practise what they preach...

• Opposition riding on the waves of discontent from the voters

~ With the high discontent circulating, especially around West Malaysia, the opposition has taken advantage of this to BN's detriment. The discontent of the people, the marginalized minority, who have had enough. All this was a contributing factor. But I guess that this should be related to the timing of the elections. It is again, speculative if the results would have been different, had there been no discontent to ride on...

~ The internet has also played a big part, with discontent citizens circulating emails of some of BN's MPs callous remarks, and about corruption.. Again the BN failed in this. When the internet was introduced to the general public, the BN should have ceased in their corruption and started to become more transparent. But they didn't, giving the opposition much to talk about on their blogs and websites.

• Voices of the discontent people not being heard in the parliament

~ The people chose their MPs in the elections so that their voices i.e. opinions/complaints will be heard in the parliament. But this was a dismal move. The MPs sent to Parliament were after all under the BN, and many matters had to be swept under the carpet. Instead these aspiring MPs of the people were pressed down and silenced. Causing the discontent of the people to further arise.

~ BN merely blocked out whatever was unpleasant to their ears, and continued with their corruption and covering it up. Why do you think Ong Tee Kiat (I hope I got the name right) was the lone survivor? It's because he brought up the corruption of a project which cost 10 times the amount it was supposed to. He didn't fear BN, and stood his ground. It's people like that, that the citizens want.

~ The people don't want BN to go on just listening to what they want to hear, but to listen to everything. That I believe was a huge playing factor... (That's why the threat of no voice in parliament was useless.. There wasn't really a voice to start with..)

• The inability of our Main Stream Media (MSM) to report unbias news

~ Sitting infront of the television listening to the updates of the election, there was no indication that BN was losing, instead all I personally saw was, BN winning, winning and winning.. It really looked as if the people had failed to deny BN a 2/3 majority. A turn to the my laptop, sitting comfortably on my lap, connected to the internet, shows BN falling. Yet these were not reported in the MSM..(Until later...) One can't help but wonder why.

~ In fear of losing their permits, the MSM has been so used to broadcasting news which are favourable to BN, that they are in a real need of some soul searching now. Their writers and journalists will have to change their views on things and learn how to write things in a different prespective... (Thank god for the internet..)

• Threats that the voice of the minority will not be heard in the Parliament if BN is not voted.

~ The day before the elections, the Prime Minister, did the stupidest thing he could have ever done. He threatened the citizens of Malaysia. As I've already blogged on this, there isn't much to say here. But only that the urban intellectuals believe that the goverment, is by the people, for the people and of the people, the government should fear the people, not vice versa, and this especially sparked a lot of protest among young voters, who aren't afraid to voice out their opinions.

~ Youths today are more open, and will not stay quiet. They are willing to fight for what they believe is right. The citizens of Malaysia are no longer passive like they were, years ago. They are educated, and want what rightly belongs to them... We want a change.. Times have changed..

~I mean, hey tell us not to do it, and we will go right on and do it.. Provided it isn't something stupid, like jumping off a bulding..

*****

Well that's that on my views of what could have possibly went wrong on this election. There are more that I don't think that I've managed to cover, but I'm not writing a political essay here... You can help yourself to the internet to find out more...

Now it's what the NEW Government SHOULD DO:

• Don't punish the voters for exercising their right

~ First and foremost, I think that the government should not punish the citizens for exercising thier rights to vote. Cutting off/reducing funds from the Federal Government (like they did to Kelantan..) to the states governed by the opposition; and from what I just saw on the news, UMNO asking that the 2nd bridge project in Penang to be canceled. (That and alot of other projects apparently, wasn't even approved to start with..)

~My Question to the government: Do the citizens in Penang, Selangor, Kedah, Perak & Kelantan pay less tax than the other states? The answer is a downright NO. They still pay their income tax to the government like any other state... What right does the government have to cut off their funding??? Those are our taxpayers money.

~ Actions like that will only cause BN to lose more votes in the future, if they continue with such a thinking, not only WILL THEY LOSE their 2/3 majority again, they might as very well lose their majority!!

~ BN should give equal funding to all regardless who is ruling what state. This act of graciousness will redeem them. But I don't know what those old, power and money hungry conservatives up there are thinking.. Only about themselves I suppose.. (Though I seriously hope that is not the case...)

• Parties should be even more united, stop the backstabbing, and calls for the party presidents to step down

~ These past few days, we've been seeing calls for Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and MCA President Ong Ka Ting to step down. In my opinion they shouldn't step down.

~ Under Badawi, we were slowly getting more press freedom. I mean hey, Rome wasn't build in a day, give him some time. Further more, he has all those corrupted deadwood, weighing down on him. As a leader, fighting for something is hard when your members don't support you. Imagine you are the president and you want to cut down on corruption and expose it all.. but by doing so, a lot of your cabinet ministers are going to get wiped out, so they are 100% against it.. How are you going to go about it??

I think this election was a somewhat win-lose situation for Badawi. He may have lost 5 states, at least half the support from UMNO/BN, but guess what? He got rid of those deadwood... Those ministers voted out, we know who they are...

I'm sure if Badawi has stuck to his words of wanting more transparency, then he would have wanted a fair election.. And he accepted it all graciously, I mean what can you do about it?

"Kalah, kalah lah..."

~ Party members should note that, the feeling of discontent, wasn't born yesterday, or 4-5 years ago. It has been boiling for years under the cover. Even as a child I knew of the inequality; then I wasn't so bothered, but as you enter your teenage years and your youth, you begin to realise that you want a change.. I'm 21 already, 22 in another 3 months, and I realised all this issues when I was a child 10 years ago.. Badawi only came into power 4 years ago.. Get my drift?

Mahathir is being a hypocrite, by asking Badawi to step down and saying that it's all his fault. Mahathir had a part to play in this as well. For 22 years putting us under an iron fist, a lot of issues have already been boiling over, and they only came out because Badawi is more liberal than Mahathir. Though it's true that Badawi had to use some threats like the ISA, but see, not everything can come out in the open at one go, the country will fall to ruins, it must go a step at a time, but Badawi has only had 4 years, while corruption has been going on for more than 2 deccades..

Time is against him. And as I said, I pity him for having to clean up Mahathir's crap and looking like the bad guy. He may not be totally good, but so far, I personally find him fine...

~ As for MCA president Ong Ka Ting, he may be at fault, but it's mainly BN's fault that MCA became the sacrificial lamb this round.. so if vultures want a prey, go look for another scape goat...

• Get your act together

~ The results of the elections came as a suprise. True that it's the outcome of the people voting, but they still didn't expect such a swing in votes. (As I've already mentioned above..) Due to the state constitutions stating that the Chief Minister (CM) of the state has to be a Malay who practises the Muslim religion, disputes have beem arising, most notably in Perak.

The Sultan of Perak has the discretion to waiver that law, but he didn't. He chose the minority of the state the representative from PAS. (He had his reasons, read below..)

Now honestly, before I continue, if you asked me, I would say that it's fine being under a Malay CM as long as he does his job, treats everyone equally, and doesn't try to make the state into an Islamic state i.e. The new CM is NOT an extremist.

Honestly I'm fine. But PAS has a minority seat, don't you think it's unfair to give it to them? I believe that such a constitution should be ammended. The party with the majority seats in the state should get the post of CM, that is only fair.

~ If the Sultan of Perak had waivered the constitution, all the other state Sultans could take this as an example, and follow suit. (Or they might blame him... But change, I believe is needed...)

This will pave the road for a Malaysian Malaysia.. Who ever becomes the CM, shouldn't be choosen based on race or religion.

**Compared to the Sultan of Selangor who even wanted the DCM to be a Malay, The Sultan of Perak has choosen what he believes will be in the best interest of the state and what he believes is the best candidate among all 3, as the PAS candidate has had the experience of running a state.

The Sultan of Perak even wanted two DCMs, one from each race. (See it's still raced based, people only think it's fair if something like this is done, all 3 have to rule together, this is BULL, the people shouldn't be bothered if there is a Malay, Chinese or Indian up there, but just someone who is capable.. My Idealogy; and many others who share it, will still have to wait, as it still has many years to come..)

Though I think, he could still have choosen the one with the majority seat as CM, and the one who had experience in running a state, should advise the CM. (i.e. as the Deputy CM @ DCM) But I digress, as this is a matter of personal preference..

~ Maybe this is only the starting point, so a lot of the Malays are not ready to give up their special rights yet, (it's not easy to give up something you've been so comfortable with..) but I hope to at least see some change in the next election.

~ The parties should stop their infighting on who gets what position.. They should get their act together, this is about serving the people, NOT power. If the person is qualified then let him take the post. If they are both equally qualified, than take the one that has better PR, if they are both still as good (which I doubt), then just play rock, paper, scissors/ flip a coin.

Seriously all this infighting is just a pain in the ass. Choose the best, and that's it. Contest fair and square, don't back stab (guess that's impossible, it's politics after all..). Sure they say, they are fighting to serve the community, but what they want is power.. (Politics..) Reach and agreement, and may the best man win...

~ Just because you are capable, that doesn't mean you should hold so many posts!! If you don't give others a chance, how are they going to learn and become good?? That's the thing I can't stand about politicians.

If you are already holding 3 posts, for heaven's sake don't except another, give it to the next capable person, and tell that person that if he/she needs help, feel free to approach you.. It's selfless giving; sharing of power, but will politicians do that? NO! Because they are all (or at least the majority of them are) power hungry vultures, regardless of party (See that's why I'm not meant for politics, unless I have a party called Altruistic People Democrats Party @ APDP haha)

--> Maybe they should make an act where each politician is only allowed a maximum of 2 or 3 posts.. If you have so many posts, you are too busy and can't divide your attention properly, resulting in a poor job done.

** Before I recieve the same question, I read on Malaysia Today,(I think..) a commenter saying, why must the Malays always be the one asked to give? My answer is simple. What do the other races have to give?

We've already given, the Malays have it all now. Special rights.. I'm not meaning to be racist, but the minority have given up a lot of opportunities, opportunities to enter into public universities, opportunities to buy houses, there are plenty more opportunities that was forgone by the minorities...

Most of all we have given tolerance, (it's a two way street though..) the minority races, had to work so hard to be where they are today, they are successful even with all this hindrances to them, but what about other minority groups? Sometimes when you keep giving and giving, it feels like it's only a one way street, people get tired of that.. Why does the minority have to be second class citizens in their own country? It's abominable. Are we not Malaysians too??

• Move towards the Idealogy of One Race, One Country i.e. Stop race based politics. Instill a fair and equal policy...
  

~ Well for this, I guess you can refer to the above, basically all I can talk about is Perak, because at the moment that's the best example. The arguments are about the same. I'm not asking for total abolishment of the special rights, (The people aren't ready yet for zero racism..) but do it part by part. A little competition is healthy for them as well, and I'm sure the urban intellectuals know that. What the government has been doing since Mahathir's time, is spoon feeding them, NOT aiding them. (correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I feel that they are doing..)

~ The main purpose of the special rights was to aid the Malays to let them live a better life,but the government made them dependant on them instead, so that they can't live without the government, and have to keep voting for them. Well that works in the outskirts just fine, but not that well in the urban areas.

~ The reason why HINDRAF got off and started rallying, is because of all this race based politics.. The Chinese community may seem indifferent, because where we can afford it, we rather leave the country and gain a PR overseas.. The country is losing out in the long run...

~ This Idealogy has a long way to go, when the opposition asked for a Malaysian Malaysia and Badawi said the people weren't ready for it yet, he was right. IF they were ready, then we wouldn't need a CM who has to be a Muslim Malay and 2 DCMs one from each race. IF we were ready, we wouldn't give a damn what race or religion the CM & DCM is.

• Prepare the Malaysians for a Malaysian Malaysia

~ I hope the government will pave the road to a Malaysian Malaysia. Suggestions are as above, no more infighting, give way to the better person regardless of race and religion.

~ Put aside all extremist thinking, such as an Islamic state, or a Chinese State, go for a Secular state. Go for equal rights among all citizens, equal opportunities, gender equality, freedom of religion, freedom of press... You know, the works..

~ If the leaders can display racial tolerance, the people will follow suit. Being an MP doesnt mean just looking after the people's welfare or about development, it's also about setting a role model for the people to follow. (Its a fact that the people are not ready for this idealogy yet, but a step in time, goes a long way..)

That's why a lot of politicains had to quit when they were invovled in a sex scandal. True they are only human, but they are meant to be a role model, and role models don't or rather shouldn't do such things. Though I must commend Dr Chua for being honest about it.

~ Have two parties to run for government. Things would be much easier if we just had two parties, both multiracial in nature. That would be really nice... No more race based politics..

• Serve the people!! Concentrate on what the people want, if they voted for it, then give it to them. If they voted you into Parliament, they can very well vote you out.
  

~ The reason that the people regardless of race and religion united to vote for the opposition party is because they could no longer tolerate some things; mainly corruption, cronysim, nepotism etc. The government as a whole should give what the people want i.e. more transparency or at least try to, or at the very least, start to take steps to do so.. Pave the way for the sake of the new generation..

• Get the extremists out!
  

~ Extremists, who think that only the Chinese should rule, or that Malaysia should be an Islamic state. PLEASE for heaven's sake, pack your bags and get the hell out, go back to China or Arab. (Sorry, for offending anyone with that statement..)

This is a multiracial country. Such things only work, if your country started out as only Chinese or only Muslims.

• Khairy's 5000 vote in Rembau?

~ Last but not least, it's not really related per say to my topic, but Rembau should get another round for the elections.. I mean from losing by 141 votes, then winning by 5000 votes. (on the 3rd count, I heard, heck even if it was the 2nd count, where the hell did 4859 votes came out from??!!)

Where did you get all the Hantu (Phantom Voters) from? (Hired some from hell?)

And where is your form 14??!!

Just becaue you're the PM's son-in-law doesn't mean you can act like a hooligan. (or Mat Rempit) Khairy is in the same line as Hishamuddin the Keris wielder, who wants to bath his Keris in Chinese blood. These are fine examples of extremists; politicians who only want power and money, and the type of people, who should just dig a hole, and hide there for the next 50 years.. Make that a 100...

Don't sabotage our plans for a Malaysian Malaysia...

*****

In conclusion, this is not an exhaustive list, but there are far too many to write down here, (I've already been accused of writing a political thesis...) that I actually have my dad suggesting that I go into Politics to fight for it all, but hey, I've put myself in the shoes of these politicians one time too many, and in the end, I can't stand the back stabbing.

And it's hard, unless you have people who share and support your views backing you. Also the people are not ready. (Though we can start paving the way..)

It's not easy.. and I really, REALLY hate the back stabbing part. I'm too nice and passive for that, (and also, I value friendships too much) though I profess, I can be a real bitch when the right buttons are pushed, but let's just don't go down that road haha...
(You can say I'm lazy if that pleases you? haha I mean hey, I haven't even completed my education..)

And with that, I end this ever long post.

Please note: I've been recieving alot of comments in the flesh, that i'm a strong supporter for the DAP...

A disclaimer here: I'm not Pro DAP nor Pro BN, just take it as I'm an idealistic person who wants equality in politics, race, religion and gender. And I'll vote for those who can fight for all these. If you can't, then it's just simple, I won't vote for you.

Realistically speaking, It's very hard.. What happens if both sides are the same? incapable of doing anything? I don't know, I guess I could always don't vote, or start APDP haha..

“In this war we cannot use weapons.. In this war, We use the ballot box..”

-Oracl3-