Some thoughts before I call it a night and drift off to lala land. You know, it’s quite typical of those of us who disagree with the government to suggest “vote opposition”. It’s an easy answer, and for some, the ‘right’ answer. For others, it’s the ‘wrong’ answer, but mitigated with reasons. These reasons range from there not being proper alternative parties, to voting for the ‘devil you know’. They are, to some degree, falacious; if you don’t know if an alternative can perform, you therefore do not vote for them.
On the flip side, the concerns are a bit more complex. Alternative parties include the DAP, KeADILan (or PKR) and PAS. DAP doesn’t have a strong representation here in Johor, so while there are those who’d like to vote for DAP, they don’t have the opportunity to exercise their choice. KeADILan is a big question mark. They have, in the past months, been working toward firming up their stand, but the question of where Anwar Ibrahim will go still hangs above the fate - and therefore the viability - of the party.
As for PAS, well, there will be some who will answer PAS’s call for a more Islamic Malaysia. I don’t doubt that PAS will look attractive to staunch Muslims who feel that the solution for Malaysia’s ills is more religion. For the rest of us who find their rules, laws or ideas either too draconian or woefully out of step with modern realities, they represent more of a threat rather than a choice.
All of this leaves people with Hobson’s choice; either the devil or the deep blue sea, apparently. I think an answer to such an insoluble problem presented by either a lack of choice, or a fear of the alternative, would be to channel all available energies into civil movements or organizations.
We have, as it is, an incumbent which assures itself of victory every General Elections. In one form or another, the incumbent survives - and in the case of Badawi’s own elections, with a huge mandate - and continues in its own ways. It’s no surprise that major policy decisions are carried out in a rarified atmosphere: the people vote BN to power incessantly, and BN assures itself of a large mandate, and then does pretty much whatever it wants.
I think this is where civil society groups will have to play a part, and where the public needs to focus on. Building and maintaining strong NGOs encourages the general public to take an interest in their own, well, interests. These NGOs in turn will form the basis of pressure groups to bring to the table concerns of the communities they represent. The government, theoretically, should take those concerns into consideration.
My thoughts are tempered by bitter experience. I was in Kota Tinggi about a year or two back on the job. The banks of Sungei Johor had flooded and mainly Chinese businesses near the river were affected by rising flood waters which stood almost 5′ high. Thankfully, most of these shops were constructed of raised concrete platforms, so the flood damage to their contents was minimal.
I was in one of the shops, and it was in the evening. My client’s wife was distraught, and in tears. Just at that time, UMNO’s politicians (I won’t mention who) were making their rounds to, presumably, ‘go to the ground’ to meet constituents. The elections were not far off, and the UMNO politicians were there to ‘press the flesh’, so to speak. As they neared my client’s shop, his wife remarked bitterly how these politicians would only come to the ground once every few years, and only just prior to elections.
The entourage arrived at our shop, and the prominent Johor politician was smiling and offering handshakes. None were returned. There were about ten of them, some amongst them were women. The Johor politician lingered about for a while, commenting on the damage the flood waters had inflicted. One of the ladies in the entourage, quite articulate, promised better embankment works in the future.
My client’s wife didn’t wait for her to finish, and laid it out on the politician and his entourage. Their smiles became forced and commiserations offered. From what I learned, there had been many promises of embankment works, but nothing had been done, despite the rivers flooding over constantly. I must admit I lost my head, so I dove in with my own questions. What is the government going to do about this? I asked, and why haven’t they done something before?
The articulate lady mumbled something about the floods being far from normal. I interrupted her and told her how many times that place had flooded within that very same year. She looked speechless. I asked my questions again, and she forced a smile, saying they’ll do something about it.
It was then that I wondered if anything would change in Johor, or in Malaysia. I’ve always advocated that people vote, no matter what they felt; they must vote because it is one’s duty to vote. I still stand by that, because voting is consistent with being a citizen of one’s country. It is sanctioned by the constitution and it is a duty imposed by the same. But it’s become abundantly obvious that politicians are less willing to do something about their grassroots, and more concerned with playing politics in the parliamentary stratosphere.
That’s where civil society groups must come in. I’m starting to have less faith in political parties, and far more faith in NGOs with members of a like mind, and who know what they’re fighting for.
Comments (5)
im a field worker and poverty exists everywhere on every level and every race and ethnicity. I have seen it to a certain extent. To the 10 km of brushes students have to go through to get proper education to the hopelessness of existing infrastructure in rural areas. Promises aside, with smiling faces of superficial grace. A charade, only camouflage for more evil intent or of insidious nature. Who knows?
When they do the dance of that nature, all one has to ask is this: who benefits? when they commit indifference upon the public: who benefits?
NGO’s have little or no power at all. they talk and talk and talk… they can huddle together in numbers for security… but it boils down to this: who benefits?
If that organization is frowned upon by the current admin. you can sure bet they will be silenced or hidden well enough to avoid collateral damage to those its causes is against or for.
It all boils down back to freedom of speech, freedom of expression to an acceptable level to ensure fairplay.
Political parties should be allowed to have speeches. It is from these speech rallies that one can gauge who one is voting for, or maybe a rough idea.
We need that level of freedom, also to ensure that the voices of victims are HEARD. We really need that. An organization merely assist the individual, but he must speak to be heard…. But that, unfortunately cannot happen because of restriction placed by the incumbent party.
I think it has to be a two-way thing. Organizations cannot have the requisite clout without having enough people willing to step up and participate. I think the same follows for political parties - at least, opposition parties.
It boils down, as you’ve said, to freedom of speech and expression.
The downside is, waiting for these conditions to be present only perpetuates the lack of such freedoms. I’m not advocating that we take to the streets and demand these freedoms at the edge of a parang or such; I’m no revolutionary.
There has to be, however, an alternative means to circumvent this current veil of silence beneath which we all harbour. In recent months, we’ve seen NGOs taking a real stand, a brave stance. If what they’ve done doesn’t encourage people to flock to their cause, then I despair for the people. And now the judiciary have stepped up to the plate to try and restore some semblance of independence from the Executive.
I admire these people for doing something, even if only because Mahathir’s not in power. They are pushing the boundaries to the limit, and that can only infuse Malaysians with a sense of hope that something is changing.
With regards interests. Well, the plain truth of the matter is, each NGO strives to better the interests of its members. It’s no surprise, and it’s inherent; they wouldn’t be pressure groups otherwise. But the same follows for people who do not see fairness in government - they wonder if their interests are really looked after if the government spends lavishly on suspicious projects.
It’s all about interest, in my opinion; government - right government - seeks to balance these interests in a democracy.
A part of me feels that all this rioting and grandstanding for freedom - in which I have taken part as well - feeds back to what some would call middle-class angst. At the end of the day, I also do wonder if what we fight for right here and now truly benefits the people far less fortunate than we are.
I honestly do not know. It is my hope that the right government in Malaysia will turn things for the better for the less fortunate, and this can only happen if we have a strong accountable government.
What I do know is that the interests of those less fortunate will barely whisper along the halls of the current government.
The needs of a few outweigh the needs of many. Altruistic, logical and selfless people are not a product of today’s society or maybe they are a small majority rarely ever heard on the media or often misquoted to seem like they have other agenda’s. You need these kind of people to make a stand.
How many people ” are willing to die for freeedom, but not willing to kill for it?” That is a paraphrased quote from MK Gandhi.
He tried to look after the interests of the Hindu’s, Muslim’s and Sikh’s and look where that got him.
Its a sad fact.
But protest and rallies to some people is not really about angst because of the frustration of seeing the unfairness of life while one is barely making ends meet even with effort and dilligence, it is a whole lot more.
It is about ideals of real democracy and freedom.
I just came in for a quick scan, and I confess I haven’t read past the third para, but here’s what came right off the top of my head….
tweedledee, tweedledum and tweedlediddle… they’re all afraid of scaring the same bunch of horses.
cheers.
Succint and accurate! Ha! :p
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[...] I could participate with more like-minded people. In any case, some time back I blogged about how civil society must replace the opposition in creating a space within which to negotiate with the government of the day. That is: stop talking [...]