Malaysians at the crossroads

 

Updated on 15 October 2022

By Stephen Ng

 

         Malaysians have arrived at the crossroads.

         It is either we stand united or over 24 years of call for Reformasi by former Opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim would be wasted, as the nation returns to the rule under the former Barisan Nasional regime.

         Crudely speaking, Malaysians will again have to welcome former “First Lady” and her husband, now jailbird, Najib Abdul Razak despite all the efforts to set things on the right path.

         As I see it, most Malaysians who support Pakatan Harapan want to see change, but they are somehow easily swayed by paid cyber troopers and opinion influencers engaged by politicians with deep pockets.

New Trends

         In the next general election, a new stage will be set up as well for Independents comprising mainly opinion influencers to steal votes from PH. In a small state election like Melaka, there are 22 Independents, and none of them won a constituency, yet they are willing to lose their deposits. I wonder where their money comes from, but I know that when votes are split, BN would have the advantage over PH.

        From my observations, when Melaka fell into the hands of Barisan Nasional, the first explanation given by those appearing to be cyber troopers disguising as PH supporters is: “Anwar is not relevant anymore.

         I have heard the same tune when the political frogs jumped out of the PH government, causing the collapse of an elected government.

         My question is: What has Anwar to do with this? If the people rallying to his Reformasi call are determined to see change, they have to stay on the right course.

         If we pay enough attention and observe more, a lot of salvos are aimed at only the key leaders: it is either Anwar in PH or Lim Guan Eng in DAP. Previously, it was Lim’s father, Kit Siang.

        Some are true, because critics like me, for example, want a more credible party to lead the country than what it is now. In recent months, I have hit DAP hard because of its shortcomings, and the tragedy is that the leadership is not capable of getting back on track. To me, DAP is slowly losing its grassroots support due to the arrogance and oblivion of some of its leaders. If they do not turn around, they will become another MCA, MIC or even worse, Umno. 

        Others are just political attacks by the opponents and their cyber troopers. The reasons are obvious. Just as in a chess game, the biggest victory is won if you are able to “kill” the king. Over the years, Anwar has been the target of many smear campaigns and character assassination.

         There is something really wrong if Anwar was thrown into prison twice for the wrongs he did, but not the others from the court cluster or the politician who has been identified in a video involving him and his political aide.

Time to Wake Up!

         Malaysians, please wake up! A lot can be said about the Melaka state election but I will just give a cursory commentary on this. 

        Firstly, it is a state election, not the General Election. Therefore, the response from the voters especially the PH supporters was lukewarm by comparison.

         Secondly, the borders were still closed and the Covid-19 pandemic was still unabated when the Melaka state election was held. Many Malaysians who are residing overseas were unable to return. In fact, the Election Commission reported that turnout at the Melaka state election was as low as 61 percent.

        Thirdly, most of us were busy with our own daily affairs, and we were simply not bothered with a state election knowing that the general election was just a few months away. Now, the 15th General Election is just round the corner.

         I believe come GE15, it is again a question of whether we want the country to revert to a former regime that is known to be corrupt. For me, it is better for a government that is built on integrity than one where its same leaders are trying to make a comeback.

No Party is Perfect

         No political party is perfect. There are good and bad people in each party. Therefore, we have to do a reset in the way we think.

         PH supporters should ask the question, if Anwar is too old, then, what about former prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, or even tainted politicians, such as Najib Abdul Razak and his deputy, Zahid Hamidi? Are they any candidate younger than Anwar with the same experience that he has gone through?

        Anwar knows UMNO in and out, and he will be able to dismantle the Umno Baru that Dr Mahathir had built. Maybe, this is the reason why Dr Mahathir is afraid that Anwar would become the next prime minister. 

         To me, the clarion call for a two-party system in a democratic country is still relevant in our political landscape. We were expecting PH to be perfect, knowing well that such expectations were simply unrealistic. My only disappointment is only when a political party refuses to take criticisms from concerned citizens and choose to go down the slippery slope.

         We have not given PH sufficient time to carry out the reforms in the country, bearing in mind that the government under Dr Mahathir, fraught with political frogs who had their own agenda, to cause the collapse of the government. 

        The PH leaders who were helming the ministries were also too big headed, being in positions of power for the first time. Some were too arrogant, and failed miserably with their public relations. Compared to the example of Senior Works Minister, Fadillah Yusof and State Assemblywoman, Michelle Ng, these PH leaders fare badly with their communication. 

        Somehow, DAP has lost its altruism, yet they are not ready to change, but my take is that most people would still vote PH. Therefore, none of the DAP "bigwigs" can dare think Putrajaya is theirs forever. Just as BN was ditched, the rakyat can also throw out PH from Putrajaya when they lose touch with the grassroots. Read this blog post.

Looking Back at Sheraton Move

         One cannot help but to go back to a grand plan that some Umno leaders had revealed that PH would collapse during the first half of its rule. What a lot of people do not see is all the scheming that was taking place within and outside of PH itself through no fault of the good people in PH itself.

          If PH had people like Azmin Ali, Mahiaddin Yassin, Maszlee Malik, and even Dr Mahathir, BN too had people like Najib, Zahid, Ahmad Mazlan and the likes.

         In fact, what we have seen in the past, was a lot of political intimidation through people such as Ibrahim Ali, Jamal Mohd Yunos (now Dato’ Seri), and Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris or better known as Papagomo was conferred Darjah Kebesaran Pangkat Keempat Johan Mahkota Wilayah (JMW).

         I dread to think that if BN wins the GE15, many of these people will again fill the positions that would further bring the country down the wrong path, not to mention that the court cluster would be set free again. 

(Thanks to the help of one gentleman, Danny Francais and Google translate, the original article in Malay is now available here (Kita telah tiba di persimpangan jalan (come-to-senses.blogspot.com)