I decided last month to take a break from my erstwhile blogging, if anything just to sniff through the musty air for some balance, some freshness,some insights for sanity...
Alas, during and following the Permatang Pauh by-election, Malaysian politics had descended into crasser and baser meanness.
Torrid mud-slinging wasn't enough, and when the chips and popular support appear to be slipping further down, ethnic emotions have been stoked and charged upwards, with growing senseless and ad hominem rhetoric rising decibels into deaf-piercing levels of plangency.
Personal and racial attacks have taken on an ugly momentum which only breeds a nuclear cycle of chain-reaction—with irrational fears and bigotry serving as fodder for mass incitement into hatred and jitteriness.
Political thuggery appears to have taken leave of the senses of some of our inane politicians, such that one wonders if we are living in a banana republic as currently exemplified by the chronically self-destructive Zimbabwe, Somalia and other failed states.
Perhaps, as passionate Malaysians who hanker for a renewed Malaysia to emerge as a developed first world nation, we are expecting too much. It is painfully clear that we have yet to be able to mature gracefully, without the insane retreat into tribalism and narrow-minded sectarianism.
In this regard I totally agree with Azly Rahman that we can do better and hopefully soon, we must "celebrate the end of racism with the sinking of Bahtera Merdeka. For too long race and religion has been used a twin-concept of fear and domination of those robber-barons who call themselves nationalists in a post-industrial tribalistic world." (see September 16: the end of nationalism and tribalism?)
Sadly, the embattled government is playing straight into the hands of a small band of unthinking, asinine 'territorial warloads', whose locked-in mindsets appear to be to protect or to preserve their parochial fiefdoms, now so overtly taken away from them since March 8, 2008.
The current leadership seems to have become tone-deaf to the rakyat's rising concerns and interests, supplanting these with erroneous and foolhardy tactics to stay in power at whatever costs!
The sudden removal of fuel subsidies, the hike in utilities rates, and the greatest inflation (7.7% then 8.3% in June and July 2008, respectively) ever in 27 years, have jolted the rakyat that this current government is fast losing its grip on reality and has lost its commitment to serve its citizens. (Latest August 2008 CPI at a whopping 8.5%, another 27-year record!!!)
Thus, isn't it understandable that more and more of the rakyat has joined in the rousing call to urge the government to be more accountable and fair, with clarion calls to place the rakyat’s interests first, to eliminate wasteful projects, cronyistic practices and rampant corruption?
Somehow, during these past few years under Pak Lah, the government has become impenetrable and impervious to the reality bites and bytes of an evolved emboldened rakyat who are clamouring for greater transparency, freedom of expression, and participatory engagement.
Most importantly, the urgent need to change from the archaic model of patently racial divide and rule, into one of greater participation and inclusion, sans ethnic or religious compartmentalisation. It is fervently hoped that race-based political parties might indeed be passé, soon in modern 21st century Malaysia.
But the emergence, rising popularity and acceptance of Pakatan Rakyat as a collaborative and viable if cobbled-up opposition front is frighteningly clairvoyant, of political changes to come. Such consistent opposition gains pose a severe threat to those hopelessly clinging on to power from their ingrained stranglehold of outdated top-down Umno-dominated politics and policies!
This sudden realisation of power loss, public disenchantment and disavowal, has made many an old-school politician queasy at the real possibility and prospect of becoming irrelevant, discredited and disempowered!
I am writing this during my lay-over in Dubai, en route to London, accompanying my son who is to begin his university studies at King's College.
Just before I left, my heart sank. Although we had feared that a desperate, embattled government might resort to whatever means to hold on to its challenged power, we had naively harboured thoughts that perhaps sanity and good sense would prevail. Alas, this was not to be so.
We heard that blogger-extraordinaire of Malaysia Today, Raja Petra Kamaruddin had been detained under Section 73(1) of the Internal Security Act (ISA), i.e. detention without trial! This morning, half a day later, we heard that opposition (DAP) law-maker Teresa Kok and Sin Chew Daily Tan Hoon Cheng had also been detained under this totally discredited and antiquated draconian ISA.Newspapers, which had exposed the antics of this racist taunt, were also given show-cause letters as to why they should not be sanctioned! Flying in the face of natural justice is this ludicrous and totally misguided move to sanction and punish the exposers and not the actual perpetrators of this terrible racially charged misdeed!
Ironically indeed, the centre of the storm of these racist remarks and extremism—one previously unheard of but unrepentant UMNO chieftain—has simply been given a slap on the wrist: suspended for 3 years from all UMNO posts!
These rafts of undignified and uncalled for actions are to be condemned in the strongest terms. It would appear that the government headed by UMNO is stating in effect that if only the journalist hadn't reported (and the media hadn't exposed this!) on these outrageous remarks by that racist UMNO chief, then there would not have been any knowledge of this simmering racial tension, deviously stoked by this repugnant man and his coterie of supporters.
Never mind that selected people on the ground had already been inflamed, and jolted in their many targeted pockets about possible ethnic fears and strifes... that 'immigrant' and 'squatting' races don't need to be considered as citizens, and that they can leave the country, if they do not like the current policies!
Oh, how can we peaceful Malaysians counter such bigotry, such calls for racial purity and protection which harks back to the days of Hilterism and Nazist ideology, or former South African apartheid regime?! How can we ever hope to rebuild a newer more inclusive society that protects the rights and sanctity of all?
Worse this government is now resorting to all sorts of draconian laws to further extend itself, consolidate its eroding popularity and power, and repress disgruntlement from a fractiously impatient and angry rakyat clamouring for greater and greater freedom and change for the better!
As 'puny' rakyat there appears to be only so much that we can do, but each and everyone of us must rise up and speak our mind for justice, fairness, freedom to express and live, with due protection of our laws and our Constitution.
We must not let ourselves be intimidated by these new fear-instilling extra-judicial acts from our common purpose to rid Malaysia of such excesses of governmental decadence!
While we abhor and eschew all forms of violence, we urge the government to respect the rakyat's wishes and not dampen and dumb down our efforts to be heard!
By deceitfully creating a climate of fear and uncertainty, this government must not be allowed to fan and provoke public unrest. This would be to play into the hands of this beleaguered and unpopular leadership waiting to unleash possible emergency laws to promulgate and propagate their power indefinitely.
We urge our peace- and freedom-loving Malaysians to pray and speak out for the better good of our nations. I don't believe we are alone in this.
The world is watching, and we cannot allow this government to ride roughshod over all of us. The USA has already summoned our embassy staff to protest. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are condemning this desperate act of our current leadership.
Even the government's own de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim has protested these actions which he felt were totally inexcusable and has threatened to resign (see Law minister threatens to quit over ISA).Thus, how can any sensible Malaysian view this differently, if not to believe that these dastardly acts reek of pure political overtures of cynical overkill and power play? Zaid Ibrahim has stated that "We have a government that commits to laws and reforms, we can't be using old-style politics or resort to creating fear. We have laws and they (the detainees) should be charged in court... The problem with the ISA now is that it is used against certain people, it is a very unjust law."
Another minister (human resources minister) Dr S. Subramaniam has also openly complained that "(t)he prospect of a person being detained without a chance of being heard and to defend himself is against the grains of present day popular belief," and that "a government sensitive to the feelings of the people cannot be blind to the fact that a significant proportion of the rakyat abhor the ISA." (See Another minister questions ISA dragnet) Let's hope common sense will prevail finally, and a new dawn will rise for a truly resplendent and modern liberated Malaysia.
In the meantime, all Malaysians must call for these freedom fighters to be set free immediately!
This untenable ISA should be repealed and its arbitrary acts must be laid to rest forever!
These repeated acts of political desperation and social injustice seriously undermines the rights and the mandate of the present leadership to govern!
Perhaps, it is truly time for a new rebirth, a new leader, a new government of integrity, greater righteousness, transparency, social cohesiveness and promise, to take over.
Enough is enough, we cannot afford such callous abuse or any more of the same ineptitude to go on and on! It's time to call this government to accounts. It's time to say it's time for change!
"We shall overcome
We shall overcome.
We shall overcome the tyranny of an arrogant, ineffective, incompetent, corrupt and lazy government that
does not have any more respect for the rule of law
does not have any shame in showing its greed and lust
does not have any mercy in using brutal force to silent the voices of change
does not have much respect for the principles of human rights
does not have much intelligence when it comes to parliamentary debates
does not have a clue of what good governance means
does not have any regard for the plight of the poor and their livelihood
does not have any respect for the intelligence of the faculty and students in our universities
does not have any shame in overstaying their welcome
does not have any interest in controlling crime
does not have any will to fight corruption
and does not have leaders that are wide awake,
and does not have any idea that spoiled brats and greedy ones are running the country and finally destroying not only the party but also the nation."
~ Azly Rahman (Victory Speech)
An edited version of this blog appears in Malaysiakini's Time for a Just Malaysia
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