Any right thinking Malaysian has the right to be angry with all the going-ons on the election day. Took me 2 days to fully recover from this but some people still not got over it & even writing petition to demand intervention from Obama administration & United Nation to investigate the electoral process. Even if we can do it, the best they can do is to advise the newly elected PM to look into the alleged irregularities of the electoral system. General election is deemed an internal matter & other parties have no rights to interfere.
After the 5th May, people pondering what's went wrong for Pakatan Rakyat coalition (PR) & where was God during this time when we need Him? Not trying to be Dalai Lama to preach about spirituality here. Forget about the frauds & cheatings but there's a saying "Everything in heaven & earth is the voice of God". Everything happens for a reason, really. Getting people to accept the change of government is like going into marriage with a potential partner. We can always say we're ready & we can never know actually until we get into it. Even if we are, the other partner-to-be may not be ready & not willing to take the jump. The result this time could be a message saying PR is not ready yet to govern, or perhaps the people is not ready yet to accept a new untested government. Which answer is best to explain the loss? Check this below.
Mourn for now but we need quickly go back to the drawing board, reflect, find out the root causes of the fall & rectify it from there. Looking at the GE13 results, statistically it was the best achievement by Opposition against the ruling government in the history of the Malaysian election. Check the parliamentary seats won by both sides since 2004. It's safe for me to say that in terms of political maturity of the people, this country is moving towards the right direction for a 2-party democracy system.
Malaysians are one of the highest users of social medias in Asia. We are now made aware of all the political-related events around the country within minutes of the happenings. It was just too heartbreaking with the loss this time, when electoral frauds & gerrymandering happening in front of our eyes & yet nothing can be done to stop it. However, several wins by PR leaders proved that the impossible can be made possible when the people votes strongly for the candidate. Even with additional ballot boxes coming from no-man land, phantom voters etc, it's insufficient to take away the rakyat's choice of candidate, Nurul Izzah Anwar for Lembah Pantai parliament. With large majority, buses filled with foreigners voting could not stop underdog Michael Jeyakumar (PSM) to win Sungai Siput parliament. This reinforced the pleas why all Malaysians are urged to come in droves to vote. Although PR has lost credible leaders such as Mohamad Sabu (PAS), Dr Dzulkefli Ahmad (PAS), Saifuddin Nasution (PKR) & many others, be thankful that we managed to vote in highly qualified newbies such as Rafizi Ramli (PKR), Wong Chen (PKR), Kasthuri Patto (DAP) as replacements. Parliament sitting is bound to be interesting really with more check & balance.
For PR, despite of many assurances, it's a fact that many voters (even in urban areas) still skeptical of having 3 parties of different ideologies in a coalition governing the country. Coupled with mainstream media branding of DAP being anti-Malay, PAS wanting an Islamic state, PKR with full of scandals etc; it requires patience & perseverance to make the majority understand. Look at this, if a certified racial bigot like Zulkifli Nordin can afford 38,070 votes (which is 43.7% of total who voted) in Shah Alam, the capital of Malaysia's most industrialised state Selangor & some jokers like Bung Mokhtar, Tajuddin Abd Rahman can still be elected into Parliament, we ought to look into the voters' thoughts about having a new government. Leaders from all 3 parties should avoid making contradicting statements, especially sensitive issues of religion, race etc. Politic is about perception. With the mainstream medias, u can be assured of "twisted" information given to the public with a single blurt of word which can sparks hatred & anger. This GE13 results proved mainstream medias are still the main communication medium to the people, even with rise of Internet medias. All PR parties are to have common understanding of having single seat allocation to stand against a single BN opponent for a seat. Semenyih, Sungai Acheh & Kota Damansara are example of state seats lost unnecessarily to BN, because parties unable to have conclusion of allocation causing split votes.
On the voters side, reports confirmed that PR has the popular votes of 5.3 million voters, more than the victor, BN coalition. Sad truth is, with current electoral system, u cant win the Parliament even if ur popular. This is not an American Idol contest. Area delineation in the constituency system makes it more difficult to get the votes possible to gain control of Parliament. Teresa Kok (DAP) thrashed her MCA opponent with majority 51,552 votes but that still only contributed 1 parliamentary seat from Seputeh, KL. This amount itself, however is sufficient to win at least 3 parliamentary seats from Sabah. We cant deny that PR lost out in rural constituencies, which actually hold more power votes than the urban areas. This gives PR no choice but to penetrate the rural areas.
It is very important to take note that the aspirations of rural Malaysians are very different from those in urban areas. Rural Malaysians are more concerned about their next meal while urbanites are concerned more about the bigger picture & the next generation. Read up on Abraham Maslow's Hierachy of Needs theory to understand this. Penetrating the rural areas does not mean just having regular talks (ceramah) & elaborate about the manifesto. A lot of PR party branches are not strong enough in the constituency, causing the rural voters to choose the devil that they know, rather than the angel that they don't know, borrowing a phrase from a certain doctor originated from Kerala. Have service centres in reaching the locals & identify the potential candidates (who are locals) to expose him/her in serving the people. People in rural areas are more comfortable with people they are familiar with & this will break the ice before informing them about issues. Parachuting outsiders into an area for the sake of getting better chances to win, will not helps although DAP played their cards right by sending their big guns to semi-rural areas in Johor.
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| Do not underestimate the power of the people. Has we forgotten what's Makkal Sakthi means? |
Nation building is a tough, long winding process. Americans take centuries to learn to accept the blacks as equals after Martin Luther King's legendary speech. Comparing to Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela & Mahatma Gandhi who spent their entire life waiting to see a country built with their dreams, what can we say about waiting for another 5 years to realize our dreams for our country? The battle may be lost but this must not shake our faith & beliefs. The world is watching. They can deny but they can't hide. With the power of the people wanting a change, I sincerely believe with God's grace, change is imminent even with the existence of the dirty tricks & all the election machineries, police, medias controlled by the current ruling government. It's just a question of when it's going to happen. We must reflect & musn't stop now. For the sake of our children & future generations, the show must go on.
"Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength. No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful the experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster"
- Dalai Lama -
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