the evolution of malaysia

The just concluded 12th general election in Malaysia has brought about changes that not every Malaysian could envision in their wildest dreams; the diminishing control of the mammoth Barisan Nasional over the government. No one expected the opposition parties can turn the tides as what had happened and this comes as a surprise even to the opposition members themselves. However, one can argue whether this is actually surprising to us normal Malaysians, especially those that cast their votes.

The built up to the election had seen many rare happenings that have never been seen before previously. Opposition’s rallies had seen crowds nearing to the thousands and mind you, these crowds comprised of different races mingling together to see what the speakers were trying to bring forward. The internet was abuzz by postings and discussions of all Malaysians irregardless of race and all of them saying the same thing; the present government is too powerful at the point of being arrogant. Malaysians should deny the Barisan Nasional 2/3 majority in Parliament. In the previous elections, all these talks did come out too, but the difference this time around is, it really happened! This is certainly mind boggling since for the opposition to achieve that, the majority of Malaysians voted against BN comprise of Malays, Chinese and Indians. Every race voted as one. It is still too early to tell but from what can be roughly seen, could this be the beginning of the creation of “Bangsa Malaysia”?

Before we jump to any conclusion, let’s do an analysis on how the opposition able to gain an upper hand this time around. What pushed nearly half the Malaysians to vote for opposition? During the campaigning period, the opposition actually did bring up some issues that affect all Malaysians irregardless of race; petrol price, judiciary problems, minorities’ rights eroded etc. These issues are commonly brought up by the opposition and BN with its past experiences should be able to brush them off as they did so previously. The plan did not work this time judging by the opposition’s thumping unprecedented success. BN had definitely miscalculated certain items not seen before from previous years.

The first miscalculation is that the bulk of the voters belong to a newer generation. Long gone are the days when issues like the racial riot of the 60s send a chill down the voters’ spine. This “scare-tactic” is no longer applicable since these voters are born after that period and it is difficult for them to visualize the so called terror then or even to comprehend how such event could happen in the first place. There is no place for racial sentiments for the younger generation since many are well read and exposed to global affairs. Threats will only put a foul taste to their mouth. The second miscalculation is the boon of Internet. The previous tactic of BN is to control the mainstream media to spread its propaganda. Media is a powerful tool to sway opinions. That is exactly what the Internet does. The old hands in BN have lost touch of what the latest technologies able to offer and the opposition took advantage of this. Propagandas had been spreading like wild fire thru the Internet championing the opposition’s cause. This is apparent since even a well known blogger has been voted into Parliament. The third miscalculation and the most critical one are the issues being put forward. Higher costs of living and increase in petrol are all normal issues faced by any developing country. The BN did a good job in pointing this out and even when the opposition says that it will reduce the price of petrol, it does not hold water for most of us well read Malaysians. Then why do the votes swing to the opposition one may ask. The real grouses most men on the street have are prices can increase but the government should justify why this has to happen. The magic words here are transparency and accountability. Corruption has been rampantly committed and charged in the court of law but this is just the tip of the iceberg, in the opinion of this new generation. Therefore, in their opinion, BN should be put in its place and to have a wake up call that its power is not a privilege but actually a blessing from the people of Malaysia. The outcome of the 12th general election showed just that.

Every Malaysian will now ask the same question, “What is in store for Malaysia right now?” Malaysians have shown that they are not to be cowed at anymore at the polls and they will vote for the benefit of the whole nation first with racial issues coming second. Just has they had single handedly dealt a blow to the ruling government, they could do the same if the opposition are not up to mark for the next 5 years. This will definitely keep the ruling coalition and even the opposition at their toes. They know now, to capture the hearts and minds of all Malaysians are at utmost important and will never take them for granted anymore. Changes are being made by both camps to reflect the wishes of the people. The opposition’s Malaysian Economic Agenda (MEA) is actually quite similar to the New Economic Policy as practiced by BN. However, even though similar in essence, the MEA has a slight advantage; transparency. Open tenders will be practiced by the states captured by the opposition. Whether the ruling coalition will follow this directive remains to be seen but one thing is for sure, if they do not, the opposition will be seen as a better alternative. All senior officials are required to declare their assets in both camps and this is definitely on the right track to combat corruption. However, a point of note though, declaration is one thing but verification that it is correct is totally a different thing.

The sceptic would say that all these measures taken by both camps are just rosy color lenses aimed at enticing the people. This cannot be denied outright but in the end, if things do not work out, the people of Malaysia will exercise their voting rights effectively again in the next general election. This is definitely an evolution that can propel Malaysia to a whole new beginning in uncharted waters. God bless Malaysia.

nepotism

Nepotism. We have always come across this term and not everyone understands what it actually means. Let’s get the dictionary’s definition of what the word means.

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“The giving of special favor to one’s relatives, especially good jobs, because one is in a powerful position”

From the definition given, that seems kind of like what every family should do. Always give preference to one’s close family members first as a priority. Is that perception entirely wrong? Isn’t that what every typical Chinese family will do? To enrich its future generation. I believe the other races also should have this perception deep inside their culture. If that is not the case, then we can argue that it boils down entirely to human nature itself, if one is in a position of power, why not use that power to create a better life for one’s family members, relatives and close friends? I believe everyone in majority, irregardless of race thinks that way. So what is actually wrong with nepotism, one may ask.

In Malaysia, just ask a layman on the street what he thinks of his elected representative in Parliament. More likely you will hear him say that the elected representative is going to get rich beyond his wildest dreams. Actually you cannot blame him from saying so when in majority, most of the elected representatives are really getting rich beyond their wildest dreams. Most of the aspiring politicians have one aim to gain power; when you are in power, lots of opportunities open up miraculously. This perception is open to debate of course, but for the time being let’s put it that way. Now you are in power and able to make lots of money. What do you do next? Common sense speaking, time to share the “wealth”. Who do you share them with? A stranger on the street or your close family members? I believe the answer should be quite apparent. The question right now is where should we draw the line on nepotism rather than eliminate it entirely which is quite impossible to begin with.

If one is a self-made millionaire with a huge organization, then nepotism should not be criticized here. Of course, that person would like his management board comprise of trusted members and who can you trust if not your own family members. You can’t say he is not doing the right thing just because he didn’t choose the best person to do the job because every consequence to his business, he has to bear himself including losses and even bankruptcy. That is his prerogative. No problem with nepotism here. However, what if the person is holding a public office in a government? By virtue of his position, he will be able to grant government projects to his family members. Something is definitely not right here, because in this case, it is not his own skin that he is putting at risk here but rather the skin of the entire nation! Taxpayers’ money is being channeled to your own relatives. No way could this be right in any way you look at it. As stated earlier, it is basic human nature to enrich its own kind so how do we go about this?

To kill off nepotism in public office there are only two ways one can think of. The first one is to have an honorable elected government leader that is not corrupted. Let’s move on to the second option since this is not just near impossible but chances to find such leader are virtually zero, because power corrupts. The second option will be to put into place a machinery within the government that can keep in check for any nepotism to occur. This is called check and balance. To have an effective check and balance system, there is only one way to achieve the objective that is to ensure the check and balance system is free from any influence by the ruling government. This is because if the ruling government has influence on this system, then the credibility of such system will be highly questionable. Therefore, to implement a perfect check and balance system a committee should be formed to helm it. The committee must have the following characteristics:

1) Comprise of politicians from the ruling government and opposition.
2) Comprise of intellectuals that have no affiliations with any political parties.
3) Politicians within the committee must be free from any party WHIP order.
4) All government tenders must be presented to this committee and the debates are conducted in public eye.
5) All members of this committee must declare their assets periodically.

It is wishful thinking to eliminate nepotism entirely, but with proper system in place, this problem can be mitigated to an acceptable level.

fight for equality

The fight for equality has always been the backbone of every struggle encountered here in Malaysia. There is always this tendency for the government to label these struggles to be challenging the special privileges accorded to the bumiputras. However, the government is not entirely to be blamed in its action to crack down hard on these “elements” since most of the methods employed could be construed as extreme and sometimes to the extent of being violent. It cannot be denied that equality is a form of basic human rights preached by the doctrine of democracy. Everyone should be treated as equals regardless of race, religion or nationality. However, the main question that everyone should ponder on, what is actually regarded as being treated equally?

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In Malaysia, there are many races and with different faiths living side by side. How do we determine then that what is accorded to one race is actually not equal to another race? For example, in education, the Chinese are well known to emphasize in this area from generations ago and they normally excel in this area. Therefore, in order to be equals, don’t the Malays or maybe Indians required additional help in order to be on par with their fellow counterpart? There are many other areas that one race requires much needed assistance compared to another race and vice versa. Everyone should be given an equal chance to compete with the necessary tools. Isn’t that what is construed as everyone being treated equally? The Malaysian constitution and the political landscape actually promote this ideology of protecting each race’s interests. Where else in the world that we can find a ruling government consists of various race-based parties working together so effectively? Not to belittle the oppositions’ contributions, the current ruling coalition is the best bet entity to bring success to Malaysia.

The next question that comes to mind is, why are there so many rallies demanding for equal rights? What the people that supported these rallies don’t realize is that they are barking at the wrong tree. The system does promote equality but the people executing the system are the failures. For example, why the bumiputras still cannot achieve the 30% equity of the economy? How will they be able to achieve that if the whole pie accorded to them is being given to a selected few only? Imagine a tender for a RM10 million project being given to a sole beneficiary. Wouldn’t it be better to have spread it out to 10 beneficiaries? It might be a mistake by thinking this happens, but all doubts can be eliminated if there are open tenders published publicly. Corruptions are rampant within the government and some officers are publicly charged. It would be wishful thinking if these are considered as isolated cases. Government agencies wasting millions on pointless projects and shadowy claims whereby these money can be used to benefit every Malaysian citizen.

Every citizen must realize that the peace we achieved here in Malaysia is envied by other countries. We must never jeopardize that by being guided to the wrong direction. The equality we all should be fighting for is to ensure the government treats its citizens and its “elite friends” as equals.