Election

Most readers upon seeing this blog title, up til a fortnight ago, would instantly think of the HK triad movie which was a recent hit.

However, this post is not about that.

The upcoming Malaysian general elections will determine our government for the next 4-5 years. We deserve the Govt we get, some say. In the past, usually the Malays voted strongly for the national alliance party, and the other races against. However, in the last election, a significant portion of the Malays voted against the ruling party, but this was offset and more by the other races all jumping on the national alliance's bandwagon, thus giving the ruling party a victory by its biggest ever mandate.

It was a stupid move to make. The ruling party, already entrenched in corruption, incompetence and racism, took this to mean that their previous divide and conquer ways were succeeding wildly, and that their shameful system of modern day apartheid, disguised as 'helping a certain race' (really, what could be more shameful than that? They might as well wear bright coloured underwear on the outside proclaiming that this is an admittance of their failure as a race) is well favored, looked upon and endorsed. With this mandate, they proceeded on a free for all, further depleting the country of its resources.

However although I do not condone it, I can understand why those who voted for the BN did so. Triggered by fears of a racism driven backlash and a new wave of violence, cowarded into believing that their ricebowl was under threat and that only the BN could sustain their way of living, and afraid of an unproven Opposition, they decided to stick to the known evil.

However, in the last 4-5 years, things have gone from bad to worst. Cost of goods and essential items are rising at an accelerated rate, an unsustainable rate, if you look at the income of the majority of the population. [Granted, it is a time of global turmoil, fuelled further by the oil price instability and rise that is sparked and controlled by the shadow puppets and oil and weapons companies' moguls that dictate and pull the strings of the US President]. Race tensions are high, dissatisfaction is rampant, crime is strife and has surpassed despicable proportions, FDI is on the downward trend, foreign companies are pulling out their Msian operations, there is too much red tape to doing business here, confidence from investors is low, neighbours whom we used to be leaps and bounds ahead of are now our benchmarks, SMEs are struggling to survive, businesses are folding, the economy is stagnant, and the fat cats up there are getting fatter and bleeding the country dry, moving their own assets overseas.

This time round, sentiments are changing. The currents are moving and we can feel it. The agents of change are all busy at work. There is increased awareness of the state of the nation. There is a surge of anti govt sentiment from the ground. Many Malays are sick and tired of being used by the government to further keep the NEP around to enrich those in power or with connections, but not for them, the common man on the street, and they don’t get much of the trickle down benefits. Furthermore, to add insult, this implies that they are incapable of standing on their own two feet, and paints a picture of them as useless sods who stand around with outstretched arms awaiting govt handouts. Many Malays are saying enough is enough, lets compete on level ground. Of course, there is still a bunch who are happy to rely on cronies and easy money and have no pride. And these are the ones the govt loves, because as long as they exist, the govt has a reason to keep the NEP around, so it is a case of continuously giving them fish so that they can’t fish so that they can justify the existence of the fish-giving programme. Which is actually state sanctioned apartheid, a heinous and ridiculed act which they keep well disguised from the global view under a variety of names, none of which masks the fact of what they truly are.

At any rate, the govt is getting worried. As the recent Bersih and Hindraf movements have shown, there is a huge anti govt movement, gaining momentum and continuously pulling in more into their ranks. This is giving the govt cause for concern. They are clamping down on all freedom of information, arresting people left and right out of paranoia, and even announced an early election, in order to go to the ballot box before the eligibility of Anwar Ibrahim to contest, such is their insecurity. By right, the election should be held in 2009, but being held in early 2008 shows that the govt knows it cannot hold onto power much longer the way things are rolling, hence it is better to vote earlier while the wool is still covering most people’s eyes.

They are resorting to the same tricks. The newspapers are chock full with articles extolling the current government, and various comments by people on the street praising the government (you will hear nary a peep of any semblance of anti govt sentiment). The govt is handing goodies and freebies out left right and central, and suddenly various Malay federations are being given time and an audience with the powers that be, together with various incentives, in order to get their members on their good side. Previously, an audience with the powers that be comes with a minimum RM100k price tag to the 4th floor boys. The MIC, 2 months prior to the GE, recently held a day in Klang to register all those without valid ICs and birthcerts. In their years in power, they do it 2 months prior. They think we are idiots who can’t see through their blatant transparency.

The above tactics, which would work on the masses, who are basically gullible types who care only about bread and butter issues who accept their lot in life (hence a freebie can easily win them over), unaware that things could be so much better, together with various other means and ways such as phantom voters etc, will ensure that they will still capture a high number of votes. Furthermore, aware that there is a huge number of new-registered voters (who are anti BN, and have finally been pushed to the point of doing something about it), they have been holding back the assigning of these new registrees’ polling stations (perhaps til after the GE) so that they can’t even check where they are supposed to vote under.

At the end of the day, the above tactics will have a significant impact on the results. If you take into account as well that the placement of candidates and eligibility of certain parties’ voting locations and the voting split, you will realize that the breakdown is in such a way that the BN will definitely not lose. It is a guarantee.

The fact that many cowards are afraid to vote for the Opposition and rather remain status quo because ‘at least BN allow me to find food and survive’, and never take into account the others who are made worse off by this apartheid system, will also play a major role. Ultimately, it is the fence sitters, the non voters, and the brave, who we need to win over and deny them that two thirds, so they can no longer steamroll the Opposition and push through unfavourable motions with impunity without regard for the masses. That is all we hope for.

And if we still cant deny them the two thirds this time around, one thing is for sure: we never will. And I for one, do not deserve this government, so it will be off to other pastures I go. However, those who have ever griped about this govt, this is their chance to vote. This time round, either vote for the Opposition, or never voice out your complaints again.

We got what we deserved last time around. Lets not repeat the same mistake.