Yang Terlarang

Bersih 2.0 July 9th Rally - All chairman & rally organizer Datuk S. Ambiga wants to do is to march to the palace to send a memorandum to the King seeking for a clean & fair election; independent of any political parties. Their demands included Cleaning up the electoral roll, Minimum 21 days of campaigning period, The use of indelible ink, Free & fair access to the media, Stopping corruption, Strengthening public institutions, Reforming the postal ballot system etc. Sounds reasonable right?
(Bersih is a movement that consists of a broad but loose coalition of groups, including non-governmental organizations)

Then things began to blow out of proportion because the Opposition parties began to show support for the rally while Perkasa and UMNO Youth decide to counter demonstrate to protest against the Bersih 2.0 rally. Perkasa wants to counter this because it thinks it suspects a hidden motive is behind it. It accuses Bersih of challenging the country’s sovereignty. Meanwhile, UMNO Youth protested that Bersih should have a meeting with the Election Commission instead of holding a rally. And of course our present government is very worried…what if the scenario of the Arab Spring type of demonstrations that forced out a string of powerful leaders like Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak & Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and which is currently trying to chuck out Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi & Yemen’s Abdullah Salleh finding its way to Malaysia? So the Government have asked Bersih to rally in a stadium instead…and the stadium management refuse to grant any of the organizers any permits to rally…so where is Bersih going to rally peacefully? Instead it just makes the people feel ire towards the government.

Nonetheless, I believe that everyone has the freedom of expression and the right to protest – these are the basic principles of democracy after all. And I also believed that Bersih’s electoral reforms good intentions have been hijacked by other political parties for their own personal agenda. Yes, the Opposition has won big in the last 2008 General Elections…but that doesn’t mean that our system is perfect, there is always room for improvement.

Without the chaos, the anger, the police barricades, the rowdy protesters, the water cannon, the tear gas, the arrest – it would not be a success. So, it all comes down to that.

I’m struggling trying to understand the atmosphere that surrounds the coming general elections. I can understand why there are people out there that are so unhappy with the current government. I also can understand why people think that an alternative party is the solution to all the mistakes that the current government has made. Which government in the world has never made mistakes? Which solution to a problem doesn’t bring along with it a string of implications? Is fixing the “problem” really that simple? On the other hand, I do appreciate that an alternative party will give the current political system a shake -up. I like knowing that there are debates in the system. Arguments are good. That means decisions go through a comprehensive thought and argument before they are being made, and are not set by one sided opinions. We all know that no one person consistently makes all the right decisions by himself/herself. There is more check & balance.

So, who will I vote for? I guess I’m going to vote for the team that I believe can “work” for the residents. We don’t need promises and words. We need folks who CAN deliver. The team with the dreams and the heart and the precise eye for problems & solutions is wonderful and admirable, but if I think that they are not resourceful or strong enough to take Malaysia to the next level, the team won’t get my vote.

I have to admit that I don’t really care which party wins. To me, the fact that there is so much debate and awareness for this coming general election is heartening. It means that our people have woken up and are taking charge of their own destiny. That’s the most important thing we need for our country. We’re on to good things ahead.