"The winds of change has blown our way... It's time for a reform..."

EDITED: My thoughts on this elections

The winds of change has been blowing upon our country; our Malaysia....

The people have arisen together and spoke together as one voice. The Chinese and Indian Community especially have risen, after 50 years, to speak their mind to the government.

The youth of today, are all (well okay, not all since some didn't bother to register.. or some unfrotunately registered too late..) standing up to their rights, and are making their voices heard. We want a better future, for our future generation..

This was carried out in the form of ferocious campaigns, where the aim was to vote the opposition and to deny Barisan Nasional a 2/3 hegemony, and to place at least 1/3 of the opposition into the Parliament, to tell the government that we have our rights and we will exercise it. It was a really tough battle. (Good work to all the parties..)

Though how many have voted blindly in anger, and how many really thought about their choices, i have no idea, but i am confident that i belong to the latter.

As i write this, all the votes have been tallied for Parliament, but to find out more, refer to the paragraph below for the links..

Click here for the Election Commision's Official Site on how the elections are going.. And for the lastes results on the state seats...

If you can't read Malay... (Sorry there is no english) Try this, though I'm not sure if it will work.. --> Dewan Rakyat... (i.e. Parliement seats) And this, for the Dewan Undangan Negeri (i.e. State Seats).... Hope it does work

So far, it has been a real shock to the country, as we were as equally stunned as the government over our 12th General Election, even just for Selangor itself, even the opposition parties are stunned. The results were shocking nationwide as well.

To read about Selangor's New upcoming MB and our shock, though it's more about the MB click here

BN has lost 5 states, namely, Selangor, Kedah, Perak, Kelantan & Penang, in fact even the Federal Territory (located in the heart of Selangor) was lost in the hands of the opposition with BN gaining only 5 seats out of the 11 in Wilayah Persekutuan. Really shocking indeed.

I bet even the opposition are as shocked at this unexpected outcome, out of the 222 parliament seats, our Opposition DAP has grabbed 28 seats, PAS 23, and PKR 31 (correct me if i'm wrong; BN has 140 seats, that makes up the 222 seats).

To deny BN a 2/3 Majority, we needed a mere 75 seats, but we have raked in an incredible 82 seats, that's more than expected. However, as BN has 140 seats they will still form the majority of the government, I personally look forward to the kind of government that they will form with the opposition...

Rumours of riots have been going on since last night as the votes were tallied, and another May 13 has been rumoured.. But fear not people, as rumours are just what they are.. rumours.. It was just a tactic to scare the citizens who have done nothing but exercised their rights..

A number of old, long standing Ministers have lost their seats, it's the people's voice that this old ministers leave and make way for new blood. (In other words, the people don't feel like they are doing the jobs that they, the ministers have been entrusted with...) One such notable minister is Datuk S. Samy Vellu, (did i get his name right?) whom the public seems happy that he is leaving, (but he has indeed recieved a very sad Birthday gift from the public...)

My personal thoughts on this election:

--> I'm quite proud that our Malaysians have managed to blur the racial line, to vote for a new Government together. Hopefully in another decade or so, my wish for two equal political parties will finally come true. (i.e. Two multiracial parties rather than all these racially segregrated parties we have now)

--> It is however a sad time for some of the parties, notably MCA (Unfortunately, I'm in no position to speak for other parties such as MIC) whom I feel are the poor sacrificial lambs in this campaign for a better life by the people.

But unfortunately, in war, there are always sacrifices...

I personally feel that the jobs carried out by the MCA (at least in PJU) to look after the Chinese Community's welfare is admirable, however, their lack of power to speak up against BN's policies was the key cause of their downfall, as the people prefered someone who is capable of speaking up for them in parliament...

I pity Koh in Penang, who lost, but he has amiably taken it calmy so far, and has promised a smooth transition of power.

Most of all i pity Chew Mei Fun, but as I've already mentioned it in my last post, i digress.

--> Originally i was kind of pessmistic that we wouldn't achieve our goal, of denying BN a 2/3 majority in Parliament, as I believed that they (BN) would be successful in garneering the votes of the Malay Community, but we did even better than the 75 seats we aimed for.

The states lost are notably, Chinese dominated states, so I guess it is a clear message from the Chinese Community, the indian Community & also the Malay Community in the urban areas. (We couldn't have done it without them..)

It's a message to the government that we want more transparency, a more open media, and politcal equality among many other things.

--> In PJU, DAP's Tony Pua won our PJU area, out of our 76, 618 voters, there was about a 76% turn out. (Well 76% nationwide I think, but I'll just use that figure as a rough estimate) That means at least 58, 230 people in PJU voted. Woah.. When they were counting the ballots last night, and it was unofficially announced that Tony Pua was leading by 4,000 votes i thought that, that was a lot.

But there were more.. He won by 19, 000 votes

--> I noticed that there wasn't much about phantom voters (or what we affectionately call "hantu" meaning Ghost) or maybe they were, but they just couldn't find enough to cover for them, (How are you going to find 19, 001 voters to beat DAP?)

It could be that, or it could be that BN, or notably our Prime Minister (whose actual wish when he joined the office was for less corruption, and more transparency) declined in cheating, or maybe it was pointless to cheat, as everyone would know about it if they did, thanks to the internet.

Whatever the reason may be, I personally think that this may be the fairest election that we've had for years (Though it's not exactly throughly fair.. The boundaries for one, need to be revised, especially for PJU...)

--> To be honest, initially as i watched the unofficial results go on live on Malaysia Kini, I became slightly afraid, a slight overcome of panic.. (there is a fear that riots or things might happen, because of certain Rempits...) as it was truly and unexpected result.

However, that fear subsided as soon as it came and was replaced with joy, because rationally I knew the people were calm enough not to riot (especially my place, because they are the ones that choose the party, so they should be happy) and well, contrary to all the rumours it was a peaceful night, with most of us glued to the internet and the television awaiting the results, as if we were watching a live football match, the suspense was great.

It was also great to discuss and chat with friends about it, in a chatroom, and get the updated information from them, when you can't enter the sites haha.. It was a fun night, unfortunately I had to leave the chat room early to get my sleep. Which I didn't get

--> For the new and upcoming government to be formed, I'm pretty sure that they will be under tremendous pressure to perform for the public, because as we have shown in this 12th General Elections, we want results, and don't want to be taken for granted..

We believe that the government is ours, and they should fear us, not vice versa, we believe in Abraham Lincoln's words.. well not "we" per say but at least I do

So work hard everyone!!

--> I hope that the new government can deliver, and will lobby not only for the rights of the ethnic group they represent, but for all the other races. This is a must to a first step to a multi racial community, and to blur the racial lines.

--> Leaders like Hadi, and his wish for an Islamic state, should be ousted, as his methods will threaten the multiracial harmony in the near future. Though Raja Petra says here, that the news in the Star newspaper about Hadi introducing Hudud laws in Kedah is untrue, you read and judge for yourself.

--> In order for Malaysia to achieve a multiracial community, multiracial political parties, citizens who can live together in peace, we MUST be a secular state, and NOT and Islamic state. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT POINT!! We are made up of many races and religions, trying to make us an Islamic state will demean all the work of all those who have been trying to unify our country

--> That's about my thoughts for the moment, i lack sleep for these past two days, and my brain was killed by my lecture today.. Oh woe is me lectures on a Sunday.. My weekends are on Thursdays & Fridays, what planet am I, and for that matter, other CLP students living on??
(Answer: Law planet... Where my morning is your night.. Where your social life, is my "no life", Where law books are my best friends.. )

-->Before I end, I would just like to say that, I think Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi isn't a bad one, he may have succumbed to his ministers or many other things, but if he can find himself again, the courage, and his promises to the people that he made in the 2004 elections, and well, carry them out. He will be just fine.

Maybe it's just the empathetic, altruistic side of me doing the talking here, but I have tried to somewhat place myself in his shoes, and realise his difficulties. He can't make a change when his own ministers in parliament is fighting against him. So, hopefully with this new change in parliament that is occuring, he will fare better in his war against corruption, and allow us for more transparency.

We must remember that our independent media i.e the internet, is growing faster than how the government can open up their controlled media, so it's one step at a time. If you can't trust what other writers have written about the government, then you could always try Al Jazeera.. There are plenty of alternatives out there... Remember that..

~~
Other sites:

For some interesting insights, and some scanty and sarcastic remarks by Raja Petra, (He hasn't updated on his thoughts on the election, but he has only extended his thanks to the people for their willingness to accept a change) try his site, he is his highly entertaining.

It's too bad that Malaysia Kini requires a subscription, or I would have posted the links to their highly entertaining " Jual Mahal" article here as well. As of now, their site is still overloaded and is unavailable to the General Public..

"In this war, We cannot use weapons, In this war... We use our voices, We act as one, We fight as one, We stand united... victory shall be ours.."

*Sort of ammended from Dave's MSN nick *

-Oracl3-