Before I start on the 54 years vs. 4 years, lets’ begin with a short Malaysian History. Just to give you an insight of what happened before. Not that I’m a Historian Scholar for Malaysian History, but this is after reading, listening and observing gestures of those who have lived pre and post 1957. I am once again only giving out my opinion after observation and analyzing the theory behind history. The reason why I state this is because each person who reads this has got a different mindset and it’s extremely difficult and almost impossible to satisfy everyone.
Coming back to Malaysian History, it was written in our Malaysian History books that The Federation of Malaya (now known as Malaysia) got her formal independence from the British in 1957. How we got it is a different story. Malaya at that moment had all the states we have currently (although Sabah and Sarawak was snatched from Indonesia) plus Singapore. Malaysia was only born on 16th September 1963 and on 1965, Singapore made a brilliant move to be self governed, thus Singapore became a country by its own. I have not read the 20 point agreement which refers to Sabah and Sarawak so I will not go round preaching about it. In a nutshell, apparently Sabah and Sarawak are not states inside Malaysia but they just teamed up with Malaya at that point of time to be granted independence. It was also said that these 2 Sabah and Sarawak can withdraw from Malaysia at any point of time but through a proper manner like a vote system or referendum.
*note: the texts in italic are not quoted from academic scholars but through blogs and e-media
Now, let’s go back to 1955. Why 1955? Because 1955 was the year Malaya had its first General Election. It was because the tremendous victory in 1955 that pushed for our independence in 1957. Now in 1955, we had this political coalition called ‘Parti Perikatan’. Its members are from UMNO, MIC and MCA. Very well done, out of 52 seats at that point of time, the coalition won 51. Clap! Clap! So from 1957, till 1973, it was Parti Perikatan all the way. 1973, saw the born of our now Barisan Nasional. Why scratch Parti Perikatan and substitute with Barison Nasional? That is another story. Anyhow, Parti Perikatan was substituted by Barisan Nasional and from 1973 till present, it has been Barisan Nasional. Well done once again. Clap! Clap!
2008 general election saw 5 states won by the opposition collation Pakatan Rakyat. Errm, now of course it’s 4 and probably 3 very soon. Nevertheless, on paper in 2008 GE, 5 states were won by Pakatan Rakyat and ever since then, they have been governed by Pakatan Rakyat (minus my state: The Perak fiasco). So theoretically, from 1957 till 2011 we have been under one Federal Government the Barisan Nasional. You don’t need your calculator here, but this means 53 ++ years. Now we hear a number of politicians demand what has been done by the states that is being governed by the opposition (opposition here means the federal opposition) for the past 4 years or so and this is where the title comes into the picture, 54 years vs. 4 years.
What I am going to say next is merely my point of view. You can debate, discuss or even say nasty things about me but I will remain calm and let my patience deal with it.
How can you compare a 50 odd year’s governance with 4 year governance? It’s like asking for advice from learned experienced 50 year old man and asking advice from a 4 year old kid. It’s never going to be easy to trust a 4 year old kid’s advice. I would anytime go for the 50 year old man’s advice. Experience is surely the measuring meter here. So why do some politicians and people want the 50 year old governance changed and give it to 4 year old governance? One wonders why anyone would actually want this to happen. Well although experience is a vital part of managing and governing a country, one must not push aside an upcoming talent. I mean, you could only see what one can do if you give them a chance. Just like fresh graduates, give them a chance into the working industry and they might most probably outshine current managers. Young or upcoming talents are never too dangerous for anything. The only thing lacking here is the word ‘chance’. How are we to measure 4 years of governance with 50 years of governance? The only way is to give a chance to that 4 year old kid to manage it which means they get more experience when they are given a chance. Which is exactly what I want to say, give the PR a chance to govern and you know what, you might actually like the way they do things. If you don’t like it, kick them out and vote back the latter.
Come on guys, our current government is old. 53++ years is very old indeed. Their tricks, mindset political game are orthodox. It’s an old grandmaster against a new wizard. Just like what happened to Man Utd against Liverpool. Sir Alex Ferguson is the grand old master of English Premier League and yet, when battled his technical skills on a fair battle ground, he lost against the like of a kid, Kenny Danglish (Liverpool Manager). So it’s actually not about the fear of May 16 or the racial tension that could occur if PR wins come next GE, it’s because there has not been a fair battle ground ever since. There has only been fear of losing power and this greed has overcome the very people who are supposed to be the peoples’ representative. The peoples’ outcry has become just tears that wet our land. When will the peoples’ tears become the beacon of the rise of power so strong, that even GOD will be amazed? What am I talking? First God doesn’t even exists, and Malaysians voting PR in the ballot box? Nah... !! We are just scared. And scared we are because of the political games and racial tension posed by the powers up there.
Now if you seriously think that Malaysia might end up like Egypt and Libya like how some of our opposition politicians try to create chaos, it will never happen and I will tell you why. Firstly, there are more average, middle class, rich people then compared to the poor. The ones who are going to take it to the streets are the ones, who don’t have a job, don’t have a family. This very small percentage of people is the ones going to take it to the streets because they have nothing to lose already. Maybe, just maybe, we will have another small percentage who really wants a change in government so bad that he/she might leave his job and family and join a protest because they don’t mind losing what they have. With this amount of people, I’m pretty sure our Cops can handle it. Just like what they do best, shoot some tear gas, blast some water and that’s it. They just love doing it. Human revolution is pretty difficult to happen so let’s forget about that fear.
You want a 53 year old government or a 4 year old government? That is the question. Remember, everyone needs a chance to shine. It was we who gave the mandate 53 years back because we felt that Parti Perikatan cum Barisan Nasional needed a chance to shine and yes they did. But that does not mean we cannot give the same mandate to someone else. When BN needed mandate, we gave. Now if PR needs the mandate to prove that even they can govern the country, my question is… why don’t you give a chance to the people who want to shine? Bear in mind that you and I are here today reading this because someone gave us a chance to shine. It could be our school teacher, our university lecturer or even our work boss; these are the people who gave us a chance to shine and that is the reason why we are here today doing what we do best. Ok probably we are not shining la, but at least we are doing something and getting paid right. So yeah, that was what I wanted to say, give them a chance you might be surprised of the wonders they can do. If you need an example of how they govern their states, take Penang as one. Lim Guan Eng, well done!!
And how long can you play with one toy anyway? You and I need a change. I play futsal regularly before. I bought an A brand shoe and it really lasted and I really loved how it protected my feet. I wore it for about 2 years and I decided to change. But the A brand was still usable. In fact it could be worn for another 1 year if taken care off. But yet I went for a change. I went for N brand and although the style is there for the N brand, it did not last a year. I decided to go back to A brand. So that’s how it is. You can’t be playing with your same phone gadget for ages. There are no more Nokia 3310, its all smart phones now. When technology can evolve every 8 months, government??
This is where I believe the youth of the country has to play their part. I know it’s not easy to put some sense to the elderly on the cronyism and corruption that we see on a day to day basis. But we can always try. It’s no harm trying to reason out what is good and what is bad to our elderly citizen. You can try this out with your parents first. Of course it’s against the law to brainwash, bully and threaten our elderly to vote elsewhere, but I’m pretty sure we are matured and smart enough to move the chess Knights accordingly to win over the game. After all, it would be a good start to step into politics.
Come next GE will be the most interesting GE in our country. Why I say this is because, this is going to be last chance for the opposition to win over our hearts and get our trust to vote for them. If they fail to do so this coming GE, they are never going to get into power for a long time. It is going to be the filthiest and dirtiest politics we are ever going to see, but it is also going to be the dawn of a new era for Malaysia even if we don’t see change in the federal power. I adore my country and I love the politics. I would vote for a change, but how about you?
