bobjots : redux

I must admit to some level of ambiguity here. A few weeks ago, I was quite certain that defections would do no good for a few reasons; the electoral pact between the three main opposition parties was still freshly minted and required some time through the fire, the new opportunities gained by the erstwhile political Opposition needs to be tried and tested and that the quality of defectors may leave a lot to be desired. However with the current developments on both sides of the political divide, I'm becoming much less certain of where I stand on this.

Retrospective observation plays a role in this. With the type of abuse and neglect that has occured after decades of hegemony by Barisan Nasional (BN) and later by Umno, the non BN parties really can't do any worse. And with the recent developments towards formalising an alliance; known for now as the Pakatan Rakyat or People's Pact/Alliance, the non BN parties may actually be more ready than we give them credit for.

This piece by Tricia Yeoh was originally published by Revolution of Hope Malaysia (RoH Malaysia) as part of a series of papers that will be written seeking to provide a fuller assessment of where the RoH Malaysia team thinks Malaysia is now in her journey towards a mature society. Complementing this assessment will be their theological, pastoral, and spiritual responses towards these observed Malaysian realities. These papers will eventually be compiled and published as a book by RoH Malaysia

Commentary on the 12th General Elections
Tricia Yeoh, April 2008

Tricia is currently the Director of the Centre for Public Policy Studies, at which she engages in national socio-economic issues through research, analysis and fostering policy dialogue. This covers a wide range of issues, dealing for example, with inter-faith dialogue and economic policies. Her work involves interacting closely with the country's socio-political environment. She hopes to work constructively toward a matured and united Malaysia, and envisions faith and vocation as one, as we seek common goals and platforms in the long-term nation-building process. She blogs on www.egalitaria.wordpress.com.

The New Straits Times reports that both the Malaysian Democratic Party and the Parti Sosialis Malaysia are considering joining the newborn Pakatan Rakyat coalition. Both these parties contested the 12th General Elections using the KeADILan ticket and gained their maiden electoral success.

I see this as a positive development as it promises to consolidate the political opposition to the Barisan Nasional. While I am not that naive to believe that the Pakatan Rakyat will be perfect, any concentration of power would generally be counterproductive. A viable and effective check and balance would still be the best bet for the Malaysian people. At this juncture in our history, this means the strengthening of the Pakatan Rakyat.

Even as The Star brings some discomforting news about some individuals (no .. its not the obvious one), a glimmer of hope is in the horizon with the formalising of the coalition between Parti KeADILan Rakyat (KeADILan), the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) known as Pakatan Rakyat (People's Alliance). The full statement reads :

The leaders of KeADILan, DAP and PAS met today in furtherance of the meeting held on the 18th of March 2008.

Today’s meeting was attended by, among others, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, YB Lim Kit Siang, YB Dato’ Seri Tuan Guru Haji Abdul Hadi Awang and YB Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

I must admit I have had my doubts about Dr Wan Azizah's (aka Kak Wan) capacity to serve as a leader when she first took the reins of the infant Reformasi movement way back in 1998. Over the years, I have seen her settle and grow into the position of leadership, first as the president of Parti Keadilan Nasional and later as president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat and this is one of the rare occasions that I find myself very glad to be proven wrong.

While the mainstream press has either ignored her or painted her as a subservient puppet of her more famous husband, Anwar Ibrahim, a more detailed look at her record, both in Parliament or outside, proves otherwise. While not as fiery or as adversarial as the more famous Opposition MPs like Lim Kit Siang or Karpal Singh, one cannot fail to notice that she doesn't take the floor of the Dewan Rakyat without the necessary facts in hand. What she lacks in rhetoric and aggressive posturing, she makes up with her comprehensive grasp of the issue on hand. Don't take my word for it, go check out the Parliamentary Hansard archives yourself.

Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, president of Parti KeADILan Rakyat and the designated Leader of the Opposition for the incoming 12th Parliament unveiled her 5 point agenda for the next Parliamentary session (see Malaysiakini and full statement at KeADILan) :

1. The Economy
   Malaysia’s economy must be safeguarded to ensure maximum growth, investor friendliness and equitable distribution for all Malaysians. By continuing to speak out against corruption and wastage, we will continue to help guide Malaysia to a more robust, poverty-free economy.
2. Harmony
   We must continue to build genuine harmony from Malaysia’s rich diversity. While we will ensure that the position of the Malays will not be threatened, the rights and access to equal opportunities of Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans and all Malaysians will be fully protected with equal vigour.
3. The Judiciary
   We must move towards rebuilding the tarnished integrity of our judiciary. Judicial institutions that can be relied upon to deliver judgements without fear or favour are a cornerstone without which a democracy cannot function properly.
4. Media
   Malaysia’s media must be given the freedom to report freely and fairly. Any government of the day, at state or federal level, must be subject to unbiased scrutiny to ensure that there are no abuses of power.
5. Human Rights
   We will continue to uphold human dignity and human rights. Laws that deprive Malaysians of their fundamental liberties must be abolished, and Malaysians still detained without trial must be charged or released immediately, including newly elected Kota Alam Shah State Assemblyman M. Manoharan and the other four prisoners of conscience currently held in Kamunting.

The dust has yet to settle after the 12th General Elections when the question of ethnic quotas raised its ugly head again. While observers seem to think that the Malaysian electorate has finally had enough of ethnicity based politics and were willing to give the alternative a try, we saw Umno organised demonstrations against the newly elected state governments for allegedly not having enough Malays in their EXCO lineups, folks upset because certain parties were not given their due rewards in terms of representation (I read it as having not enough Chinese), and now in Malaysiakini's Vox Populi today and apparently e-mails sent to KeADILan's HQ (so I heard); people upset that the Makkal Sakthi movement was not rewarded with enough Indian representation in the Selangor EXCO line up.

Granted that due to the fact that we have had to endure more than half a century of ethnic identity based politics, certain contructs remain difficult to dismantle overnight. A lot of these contructs are embedded in our constitutional setups (like the requirement for a Malay Muslim to be appointed Menteri Besar in the Malay states) and many more remain embedded in our psyche. Many still find it impossible to fathom the possibility that perhaps a Malaysian would stand up for the rights of another Malaysian who happens to be of a different ethnic or religious background.

Whether we like it or not, the politics of Borneo are a mystery to most of us here in the Peninsular. Despite the almost total sweep of the contested seats in both Sabah and Sarawak, I am pretty sure that Barisan Nasional (BN) would be making a mistake to assume that their position is secure there. I have been informed that voting trends tend to go along personality lines rather than party lines. So I reckon it would mainly be because that the dominant personalities happen to be part of BN parties (for now) that the BN gained the victory that they did in Sabah and Sarawak.

Poverty and the loss of indigenous land rights (which makes a mockery of Article 153 of the Federal Constituton) remains major problems in the Borneo states so there exists also a genuine fear of losing Federal support under such circumstances. Ethnic disparities and divisions, while very much hidden below the surface; can be in some ways more pronounced in the Borneo states than they are in the Peninsular due to the more identifiable ethnic categories in the various professions (sort of like pre 1969 Malaysia).

I was going through some online forums and re-read some of the threads that discussed the recently concluded General Elections. A lot of these threads pre-dated the dissolution of Parliament and spanned through the whole campaigning period until after the results were made known.

I couldn't help but be somewhat bemused by the amount of negative things being said about Parti KeADILan Rakyat in the early posts - how the party exists only to make Anwar Ibrahim Prime Minister (a few years back the main argument against KeADILan was that it existed to free Anwar - I guess one had to change that a wee bit considering that the party did not dissolve itself after Anwar was actually freed), how it actually is an Umno splinter party made up of disgruntled Umno members, and of course the perennial "I don't trust Anwar" line (heck .. I don't trust him 100% too .. the same way I don't trust myself 100%).

The tone generally remained the same during the campaigning period although more positive voices were starting to make themselves known, especially among those who have actually heard some of the ceramahs where the Malaysian Economic Agenda was presented (albeit somewhat anecdotally - you really can't expect a full policy briefing in a ceramah). Still the same critiques remained (surprisingly absolutely unchanged). Interestingly a lot of this criticism came from people who would be willing to support the other Opposition parties. They just mainly balked at KeADILan.

The same can be said about a lot of the commentaries from political pundits and observers (which were not from the mainstream media).

Utusan Malaysia, one the country's leading Malay language dailies, have found it fit to publish an opinion piece that clearly seeks to inflame ethnic tensions and pit the majority Malays against non-Malays :

Sebaik sahaja selesai pilihan raya 8 Mac lalu, ramai pengundi yang memprotes menghela nafas panjang dan mengurut dada. Mereka kini menyesal. Baru mereka sedar betapa hebatnya kuasa undi protes mereka. Mereka kini tahu bahawa satu undi kepada Pas dan PKR akan membolehkan ahli-ahli politik DAP menguasai kerajaan negeri dan negara.

Mereka kini ada contoh jelas bagaimana kuasa UMNO dan Melayu jatuh. Muncul di depan mata mereka pengalaman orang Melayu hampir-hampir hilang kuasa, pemimpin Melayu terpaksa menjadi boneka dan bagaimana ayat al-Quran digunakan dalam kempen oleh sesetengah pihak tetapi bila memperoleh kuasa ia dilupakan untuk membantu menaikkan politik cauvinis Cina di Pulau Pinang, Perak, Kuala Lumpur dan Selangor.

Family affairs have got me tied down for a while after the General Elections which would account for the general lack of postings, unanswered e-mails and unacknowledged SMS's. My greatest apologies.

Well .. it looks like the Perak saga might be over. Bernama reports that the Sultan of Perak will be swearing in the new Menteri Besar of Perak, Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, at 11.30am tomorrow at Iskandariah Palace in Kuala Kangsar. Someone told me Nizar is multilingual. He speaks Chinese, English and Malay fluently.

Unfortunately the impasse in Terengganu and Perlis seems a bit more difficult to resolve with the MB designates suggested by the Prime Minister being rejected by the respective royal houses.

I'm still trying to catch up with my rest, my family and my work. So I suspect updates will be intermittent for a while. Thanks for pushing the bandwidth meter of this server to the limit :) .. seriously, I mean it.

A friend of mine wrote this and asked me to post it anonymously as the person is currently an employee in an environment that doesn't really appreciate contrary opinions:

When I placed my vote in the ballot box on March 8, I did so with a sense of satisfaction that I was saying something to the government, mainly two words: Buck up.

But at the same time, I was also filled with trepidation ... and a little bit of sadness. Yes, I heard the rumblings from the ground, but I wasn't certain that anything would come from the swell of dissatisfaction from people. Will that translate to votes or is it just mere talk? I was almost certain that it was just mere talk. I expected BN to reap the lion share of the votes and for the opposition to make more of a dent than usual. But at the back of my mind, I also had the fear that nothing will change. And that filled me with great anxiety about the future of Malaysia.

As per requested (and reminded) by BR, here's the Barisan Rakyat poster that I modded uncut :

Now I really hope to see one single logo the next time around and that we actually start delivering to the rakyat. Remember, this wasn't a vote of confidence in us, it was a vote of no confidence in the Barisan Nasional. We only have one term to win that confidence.

Abdullah Osman from Singapore's Today newspaper gives some thoughts about the impact of the unexpected results of our 12th General Elections:

The perfect storm he did not see coming
by Abdullah Osman, TodayOnline

.. there is a fear. Will there be a period of heightened tension, perhaps even riots? Will foreign investors shy away? (emphasis mine) Will the country's politics become so divisive that nothing will get done?

The answers: No. No. No ..

The executive committee of Parti Keadilan Rakyat released the following statement today:

On Electoral Alliance

Parti Keadilan Rakyat's core principles are based on good governance, competitive economic growth, citizen safety, protection of the poor and access to education for all. Furthermore, by expansion of these principles, we stand against all forms of racism, ethnic and religious divisiveness, and an acceleration of Malaysia's economic potential with the focus on uprooting corruption in the public and private sectors.

We believe that our electoral alliance partners, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS), share these core principles with us and with each other, and it is on this basis that we have worked together to change our nation for the better.

.. this is way too good ..

In comparison, Koh Tsu Koon's gracious conceding of defeat and the People's Progressive Party's matter of fact reporting of their loss is in stark contrast to the sulking silence from the other Barisan Nasional component parties' online presence.

These two parties do seem very out of place within the ethos and make up of the Barisan Nasional ... hmm ... one could always hope, I guess.

I'm still very tired and find it somewhat difficult to gather my thoughts together for a coherent post. Nonetheless, I'll share some brief thoughts on the outcome of the General Elections.

The results are now all in and it shows the Barisan Rakyat parties making a very strong and unprecedented comeback after their near rout in 2004. Barisan Rakyat parties achieved her objective of denying the incumbent Barisan Nasional a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat and successfully captured and defended the states of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor. The latter two were surprising wins for both the Barisan Rakyat and the Barisan Nasional although they was some cautious optimism just prior to polling day that perhaps a major breakthrough could be made in Selangor.

Its happened, beyond what I ever dared hope for, at least within this General Elections. The tough job of governance comes next.

Pray for peace and the confounding of the plans of evil and mischief.

More thoughts on this but I've been up for 48 hours and I need sleep desperately.

14 years of struggling for what seems like a thankless cause sometimes, my whole adult life .. I feel vindicated.

The Lord bless our nation and have mercy on us all.

The debt is paid.

Stay calm and keep hope.

Fellow Malaysians,

Assalamualaikum and warmest greetings,

The moment of truth is upon us. The 8th of March 2008 is the pivotal moment of our time - when the people of Malaysia have a choice between changing to a better, more wholesome Malaysia; or continuing to be trapped and shackled by 50 years of a chequered independence.

There is an attempt to mobilise the nation's Christian community to unite in prayer on March 7, 2008 at 12.00 noon to seek the blessings of God on our nation.

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land .. 2 Chronicles 7:14

This came in my mailbox today :

O God, we acknowledge you today as Lord,
Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments.
We thank you for the privilege
Of being able to organize ourselves politically
And of knowing that political loyalty
Does not have to mean disloyalty to you.

We thank you for your law.
We thank you for the opportunity that this election year puts before us,
To exercise our solemn duty not only to vote,
But to influence countless others to vote,
And to vote correctly.

Lord, we pray that we, your people, may be awakened.
Let us realize that while politics is not our salvation,
Our response to you requires that we be politically active.
Awaken us, your people to know that we are not called to be a sect fleeing the world
But rather a community of faith renewing the world.

Awaken us that the same hands lifted up to you in prayer
Are the hands that marks the “x” in the voting booth;
That the same eyes that read your Word
Are the eyes that read the names on the ballot,
And that we do not cease to be Christians
When we enter the voting booth.

Awaken us, your people to a commitment to justice and equality
To the sanctity of marriage and the family,
To the dignity of each individual human life,
And to the truth that human rights begin when human lives begin,
And not one moment later.

Lord, we rejoice today
That we are citizens of your kingdom.
May that make us all the more committed
To being faithful citizens on earth.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Malaysian now residing in the UK sent this to some of us KeADILan folks as an encouragement and I thought it was worth sharing :

Father give us, at this pivotal moment in Malaysia's history, a government we need not a government we deserve. We see indecision and paralysis, wickedness and injustice, corruption and venality, fear and oppression.

But you oh God are God of justice and righteousness. Deliver us oh Lord from wicked men and the insidious politics which has governed us for nearly 50 years.

Let not bigotry and extremism prevail but let the hopes of hearts everywhere beseech God for Malaysia at this critical crosssroad.

You allowed for Malaysians from Malay, Chinese, Indian and indigenous East Malaysians and others, disparate and different in our ethnic and religious identities, to come together as Malaysians.

Grant us God that we will have both the courage and imagination to show the world that men of very different colour, culture and creed can live and work together in peace, respect and mutual happiness towards a kinder, gentler, more just and compelling country - Amen

Reinhold Neibuhr who wrote the prayer

'God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change and courage to change the things we can and wisdom to distinguish one from another'

also wrote at another point:

'Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible. Men's inclination for injustice makes democracy necessary'

Let Justice roll on like a river and righteousness like a never failing stream (Amos 5:24).

Martin Luther King from the jails of Birmingham Alabama wrote:

'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere!'

I am no admirer of Richard Nixon though I think of him as a man of exceptional intellect and international acumen but in severe deficit of integrity who played on the politics of fear and fear mongering instead of faith and hope. But Nixon said something poignant at his first inaugural address and I paraphrase slightly:

'As we wait for the dawn to break, let us gather the light and not curse the remaining darkness'.

Let us wait upon the Hope of our hearts in Christ and forgive the hurts of history. God's redemptive grace is at work.

The Sun today carries the large headline "CHOOSE" with the subtitle; "Stronger Voice In Parliament Or Bigger Representation In Cabinet" (which incidentally is NOT in the web version of The Sun (at least as of posting time). It basically had the caretaker Prime Minister and Chairman of the contending Barisan Nasional threatening non-Malay voters with an ultimatum - either abandon your right to have voice heard in the Parliament or we will remove non-Malay members from the Cabinet. This story was followed by the same flip flopping politikus warning us not to be fooled by the racial card!

Are you angry yet? I am incensed!

Who the heck does he think he is? Who is using the racial card here except Barisan Nasional? Does he think Malaysians are Neanderthals?

My choice is clear - I want a NEW GOVERNMENT - one that does not look at me by the accident of my genetic history but by my virtue as a Malaysian citizen. It is apparent that the Barisan Nasional is not keen on that. We need a NEW DEAL!

Don't bloody assume you have the Malay votes yet, Barisan Nasional. Malaysians have gone far beyond in our imagination and vision than you'd like to admit. As Haris Ibrahim noted during a ceramah at Brickfields and Pantai Dalam :

.. People were standing in the rain and the mud and they did not move. And when Raja Petra said that “BN can threaten the Indians and Chinese over our dead bodies”, the Malay crowd roared approval ..

Haris Ibrahim, of the People's Parliament, has been one of the more critical voices of KeADILan's decision to field Gwo-Burne Loh as their candidate for Kelana Jaya. After doing his own homework, I am happy to know that he finally thinks that Gwo-Burne is really worth our votes after all.

I have to admit skepticism on my part as well, especially right at the beginning, but I must admit that Gwo-Burne seems to be growing into the role as both a candidate as well as a potential Parliamentarian and law maker over the last 2 weeks that he's been subject to public scrutiny.

Raja Petra Kamaruddin, of Malaysia-Today fame, has been on the campaign trail nationwide as well supporting Barisan Rakyat candidates :

Taman Tun Dr Ismail

more videos here :

• Video #2 (Part 2 of above)
• Video #3 (Part 1 of 3)
• Video #4 (Part 2 of 3)
• Video #5 (Part 3 of 3)

In view of the recent bad press against Anwar Ibrahim, with many bringing up a lof of "facts" from his previous career as a minister in Umno, my friend Steven came up with an interesting write up that we, especially Christians, can perhaps consider:

I was reading Pastor Sivin Kit’s blog and found a comment that says,

So… how ah?? Vote? Vote who? Although I understand and agree with most of the things mentioned above, (except for the guy that got punch in the eye… that fella is snake himself la! I must say this… let me remind you that this is the same fella that called the Chinese PENDATANG and started the trend to halau the Chinese. The then MCA president, Datuk Lee Kim Sai made an issue by protesting to his coments and he was suspended from work as a Health Minister, strip of his Datukship and turun tangga in shame. ) I don’t see any calibre opposition party worth my vote….

With the last minute flip flop by the Elections Commission to scrap the use of indelible ink, Polling Agents and Counting Agents (PACA) are the last line of defence against electoral fraud.

Polling Agents act as observers in the voting process and one agent per competing party is allowed to be stationed in each polling stream. A polling station may have multiple polling streams which are divided by age group. The Polling Agent is given a copy of the stream's electoral roll and will be there to make sure that anybody who is not registered in the roll is not allowed to vote and also to raise any objections if any suspicious activity is spotted (ie. an IC which claims that a voter was born in 1957 but the person looks 25).

The Counting Agent is the person who's job is to observe the counting of the ballots after the voting is concluded. Counting Agents are also expected to make a tally of the ballots in their respective streams and countersign the final tally by the Elections Commission's returning officer.

One doesn't need to be a member of any political party or organisation to be a PACA and training will be provided.

Many many moons ago, I was approached by a group of University of Malaya students who were enthusiastic about wanting to bring about positive change in our society and they invited me to tag along. We had the facilities provided by the office of a particular head of department in the university and used it to discuss strategies, make flyers which we proceeded to go around town pasting and putting into mailboxes. Then suddenly the apparent leader of this group of students dropped out of sight.

A few months later, he resurfaced (with a new car and a nice new job) and claimed to represent a national students body which nobody had heard of until then. He took a decidedly pro-establishment stand which got some of us curious.

I think I'll leave it to people like one his former lecturers and others to give an account of the character of this person - the one and only notorious Stephen Doss.

Funny but strikes close to the heart ..

Dengar keluhan seorang rakyat Malaysia berketurunan Melayu dan buat penilaian kamu sendiri :

Inikah yang dimaksudkan dengan pembangunan dan Dasar Ekonomi Baru yang diagungkan oleh puak Barisanputra selama ini?

Our ministers have gone around claiming that IF the current non-BN parties ever come into power, the implementation of their electoral promises would bankcrupt the nation. KeADILan Vice President, Sivarasa Rasiah, who's also contending for the Subang Parliamentary constituency replies to these allegations :

Personally I found it laughable when Hishamuddin claimed that it would be impossible to implement universal free education because it would cost the Government tens of millions of ringgit per year in taxpayers' money to do that. Considering that it costs us taxpayers RM4.6 billion (that's 4,600 million) to bail out a failed crony's Port Klang Free Zone project, an allocation of a few extra tens of millions per year to ensure quality education isn't really too much of a price to pay.