After 56 years of rule by the same party, it is high time for change. Amelia Tan’s original piece may be accessed here.
In the wake of the coming 13th General Elections, we have witnessed the onslaught of opinions and views. Many articles, posters, cartoons and videos have been flooding our Facebook newsfeed – each reiterating points on why we should vote for change or not.
To be honest, much of the stuff on my news feed are pro-change, which basically means a majority of my friends will be voting for an alternative government this coming elections.
But I have noticed a couple of my friends, whom I hold dear and very much respect, to be supporters of BN.
First and foremost, I believe that it is everyone’s right to vote for whom they think is worthy and I do not think those who support BN as evil or corrupt. Not at all. I know all of you well enough to know you are decent human beings and this is why we are friends. I have also heard your justifications on why we should give BN a chance and I completely understand where you are coming from.
If I may, I would like to state a few points in hope that I could offer an alternative view. Read with an open mind, my dear friends. I do not need you to agree with me and I will not judge if you don’t. We are all entitled to our own views. However, I believe there will be certain things that we will agree on.
ON BEING GRATEFUL
Many who support BN continuously do so because they feel that we should be grateful for what our government has given us. We are given access to education, an economy and a space to thrive, our country is relatively safe compared to that of Cambodia or the Philippines, we have EPF, we are being given BR1M and BR1M2 and we have been a relatively peaceful country for 56 years.
Before I go on to say why I think this is a moot point, let us first understand the role of government. The role of government is to basically do just that, govern. It is to provide us with education, health care, a healthy economy, infrastructure, public safety and to ensure balance and harmony in the nation in which it governs. Obviously, to govern and to ensure all these things are in place, a government would need money. Where does this money come from? Well, yes, us, the people, the Rakyat.
So, very simply, we pay the government money, in the form of taxes every month, to provide us with these things we should be grateful for. Well, I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s like saying my boss should be grateful to me for coming to work every morning when I’m being paid to do it.
Let’s understand one thing. What we currently have; education, health care, EPF and etc, aren’t special things that BN has brilliantly thought of for us. EVERY country with a sound and solid government would have all these things in place, otherwise they would be considered failures. The point isn’t to be grateful that we have these things, the point is to judge whether our government has done its duty and done all it can to provide us with what we deserve. The answer is no.
Our education system has been failing to produce quality students. Crime rates have escalated so badly that no one dares walk out on the streets alone, even in broad daylight. Our infrastructure is inefficient and badly maintained. Our rural folks have no access to proper health care and basic amenities. The value of our currency has taken a huge plunge in the past 30 years. We are no longer as economically competitive as we were before, with the Philippines and Indonesia fast taking over our position and we are way behind Singapore in, well, everything. In the past 5 years, racial tension has been at an all time high and completely out of control with politicians (i.e Ibrahim Ali and his ilk) spewing racial hatred and offensive statements without getting reprimanded. And lastly, early this year, the Lahad Datu invasion and the unveiling of 800,000 illegal citizenships given to Filipinos and Indonesians in Sabah some 20 years ago.
All our lives, we have been told to be better. We go to school to be better, we study religion to be better versions of ourselves, we work hard to get to a better position in life. It is in our innate nature to want to be better. Therefore, when comparing ourselves to other countries, we can’t possibly compare ourselves to countries that are worse off and be grateful that we are not them. It is not about being greedy either. It is about wanting to be better and knowing that there is plenty of room for improvement and insisting upon it. Remember, we pay the government taxes to run the country. We have a right to want it to be better. It is also our duty to ensure that they be better. We owe it to our country. We owe it to our children. We owe it to ourselves.
ON CHAOS AND INSTABILITY
Many have cited this as the reason for sticking with BN. We fear that there will be riots on the streets and our economy will collapse should the opposition win. But that’s not very logical is it? If PR does indeed win the GE13, why on earth would they cause a riot? They have won! So think now, when you think of riots, who then do you think will be causing them? The losing party? BN? If that is so – if you think the party you are supporting would be sore losers and cause a riot thus disrespecting our democratic process, would you still endorse them as fair capable leaders? Is this how we were brought up? Kick up a fuss when we lose? Is this how we would bring our children up? To lose with no integrity?
And as for the collapse in the economy, for many years, our economy has been running on auto-pilot. I, for one, do not believe our economy will collapse because I believe in our people. Our economy isn’t run by the government. They have a part to play, yes, but WE the people, play a bigger part. We are the building blocks and we are the ones that move the economy. Do you really think banks and MNCs will fail to function once the government changes? No, it won’t. Because come 6th May, should there be a change of government, we still have to go back to work! It is still business as usual and everything will function the way it always has. The many great businesses in Malaysia did not happen because of the government. It happened because our people are innovative and hard-working. We made this economy, not our government. We just need a stable space to go about our daily routine. So if BN doesn’t kick up a fuss if they lose, deals will still be made, transactions will still happen and trade will still be very much alive. But only if BN doesn’t kick up a fuss.
ON CORRUPTION
As urban folks, it is very easy to forget that in Malaysia, there still exists a huge portion of Malaysians who live in poverty. These folks are so poor that they cannot even afford food. Do we know what it is like to not be able to afford food? I am eternally grateful that I don’t. But does this mean that we forget about these people in the kampungs and rural areas and pretend that they do not exist? We are all Malaysians. Why are they still so poor? Why hasn’t anything been done to improve their lives? You’d think after being in power for 56 years, BN would have AT LEAST helped these people afford food, right?
But no, the poor are still marginalised while corruption is rampant within the government. The one thing I fail to understand, my dear friends, is how can you stand by a government so corrupt?
Every year, our Auditor General Report states ridiculous over-spending and yet nothing gets done. RM15,000 for a laptop. RM700 for a calculator. We all know this happens and we all know it is true. It’s been so ingrained into our system and yet, we close our eyes and let it be. We admit that corruption is a real problem in our government, but which government isn’t corrupt, you say?
Well, my dear friends, this is where WE have to change. I believe all of us are upstanding truthful people. This is why we are friends. Now, because we believe in the truth and we believe in what is right, we must reject corruption. We can’t allow it to happen nor give any excuse for it to happen. Some of us have children and some of us will have children. Will these be the values and lessons we teach our young?
I know for one that I will instil in my child, lessons of honesty, integrity, fairness and equality. To treat each person with respect and to help those who aren’t capable. To always be kind and to be a good person.
If I allow myself to turn a blind eye to corruption and not denounce it, I will be going against everything I believe in. If I support a government that has been so corrupt for 56 years, I am subscribing to those values. How else then would I be able to teach my child the lessons I want him/her to learn? How do I look my child in the eye and teach them the very thing I’m going against by endorsing BN?
Some of us are religious and some of us are not. However, I believe that all of us believe in the same things and have the same values. How do we uphold these values and stay true to our paths while supporting a government that has been desecrating these values for years?
ON RACISM AND EQUALITY
I am a 3rd generation Malaysian. I’ve sung Negaraku every Monday for 12 years in school and I know the Rukunegara by heart. All my family is in Malaysia and I do not have any affiliations with China. I don’t even know how to read and write in Chinese and my Cantonese is atrocious. I only love one country. This country. And if it comes down to it, will only shed blood for one country. This country.
My dear friends, we are the same. It doesn’t matter what our ethnicity is. We are Malaysians. We went to the same school. We played the same games. We enjoy the same amount of public holidays. We have the same memories. Most importantly, we share the same home. Neither of us are more Malaysian than the other. Neither of us should be made to feel that way.
Our parents, our grandparents, perhaps their views were marred by differences as they did not grow up together. Perhaps they felt distrust because they were not privileged like us to live in times of better integration. Perhaps they’ve told us things, from their point of view. But it doesn’t make them right. We should know better. We’ve lived it and we are still living it. We know we can trust each other. We are friends.
My dear friends, if you see me fall, would you pick me up? I am sure you would. How about if you see someone telling me I don’t belong here? Would you stand up for me? As friends, we must stand up for each other. If I see someone mistreating you or stripping you of your rights, I would stand by you. This is because we are equals. We do not need BN to tell us we are 1Malaysia. We have been like that for a long, long time.
ON AN ALTERNATIVE GOVERNMENT
Many fear that PR would be no better. To be completely honest, I do not have an answer for this. I do not know if PR will be the solution to a better government. I do not know if they would indeed bring change upon Malaysia. What I do know is that we desperately need check and balance in this country. To have the same government rule for 56 years is not healthy. Let us use logic to analyse this. If you are the government and you have been in power for 56 years, wouldn’t you become complacent? If you know you’ll win every single time, would you try as hard? It is human nature to take things for granted and BN has indeed taken things for granted. It has forgotten the role it is supposed to play.
We need this change because we need to restore the democratic process in our country. We need the power to shift back to the people. We need the government to fear the people and not otherwise. This is because only through fear would any government be kept on its toes and do its job well. We know what it is like to have a really scary boss. We naturally do a better job because we’d otherwise be fired. It is the same logic.
Power needs to be shifted back to the people. If we manage to change the government, we would have won half the battle. We would then know that we can pick whoever that is best to run the country. If this does happen, we can easily boot PR out after 5 years if they do a bad job and elect BN again if they prove to be better.
Think of this as helping BN to change. BN will not change if we still give it power to rule after being so inefficient for so long. They can promise us a lot of things and that they will change but we have given them 12 chances to change already. If we boot them out this time, they would have to restructure themselves and compete really hard to win the hearts of the people. Perhaps then, we would see better policies and better governance. Perhaps then, we would have two strong parties for us to pick. And perhaps then, we could have intellectual debates about policies and plans instead of the fear-mongering and racial scare tactics we see in our election campaigns today. If we manage to change our political landscape to one which is that, then we, the Rakyat, would have won. Malaysia would be restored.
So my dear friends, please know that I am not voting for a change for the sake of it. I am doing this for you and me and our future. I envisage a Malaysia that is much better than the current Malaysia. I know our country has so much potential and I want it to be so much better. This is because I know it can be better.
I hope you have read this with an open mind and I hope you will give it some thought. If you know me, you know that I am not an extremist or a radicalist. I am just your ordinary Malaysian person who wants this country to be better.
Just like you.
Assalamualaikum and hello , i agree with the writer and certain comment about it is also true. The problem is you guys only looking at the economic part of the problem .
Let say, party A : said the chinese will rule the country then islam is forbidden ? the person who is creating the racists issue, is trying to fix it back. FYI The Prime Minister must be MUSLIM and MALAY btw we also have agong :) he is the most powerful one in our country . But i still can't understand why do they need bangladeshian ?
Party B : the promise is way of the chart , i disagree with free education " if the education is free there will be a lot of lazy people ! next is the fuel, we cant decrease the fuel man, just remove the fucking tax and toll etc: income tax , other might become possible.
i hate najib and anuar sorry . but i want a revolution ! #Change #NB
1
betul tu ! income tax bapak ahh mahal
gaji 10000 sebulan = 60000 setahun ?
logi ah brim 500 je ? tak logic la acani !
The racist dick will never understand this no matter how much and how sincere we are, they don't, they only know Hidup Melayu and sit there waiting for someone to feed them.
Period.
and i dont think u can speak malay better than your english
if u can lets have a debate….
haha
People who suffer from poor government are mostly the less off in Malaysia. We can state all the ridiculous corruption cases and some people will ask if pkr do better? Personally I have only concern on crime in this country. I used to walk around my taman during the evening, but some unfortunate incidence that happened to me and horror stories from my family and friends, I feel helpless. Everyone have his opinion. Mine is this government is going to the rots, police are always welcome to investigate all the "false" claims in the Internet. But given their efficiency in investigating crimes, I doubt their competency anyway. So do not complain one day when one of your love ones fall victim to crime.
Well, I'm one of the people here. Regular people like you but I find it disturbing in regards of the voice of rakyat. and giving the power back to rakyat? Who decide on that? Just cause u're voting for Pakatan Rakyat, meaning you're the only voice of rakyat. What's is the voice of rakyat anyway? The name bearer of the political party? Hell, I don't know whose giving the power since I'm the rakyat myself and haven't agree to it. Now, don't say I'm pro BN since I'm also a Bit sceptical on that side too, but come on. The voice of rakyat? The whole population of Malaysia?
This is going to get ugly. AFP reporting Anwar as saying only fraud can stop the Opposition from winning. Why is he prejudging the result of the election? The are as many as 17% of the electorate who are undecided. Heck, even I am undecided still. It's a democracy! If people don't vote for you, accept it no matter which side you're on.
Bravo Mr writer, I like your point of view. However I have a few questions. Since you are talking about democracy let us all be fair and let me talk about what I think Pakatan have done to give doubts to some of those BN supporters out there. After all we don't want to be bias right? This is democracy in a way. Here goes:
About Pakatan's manifestos. They are somewhat manipulative don't you say?
Think of it this way though, Pakatan promised the rakyat that they will lower the fuel price as soon as they come to power. Well we all know that there is no such thing as lowering the fuel price. The fuel price is constantly going up, so in order for government to lower the fuel price for the rakyat is to subsidize it.
It is obvious that I do not know how much Pakatan will subsidize for the rakyat, instead I am going to take a rough figure, lets say they take RM 20 Billion per year. Those 20 Billion is not going to be spread equally towards the rakyat because those 20 Billion come in a form of lowered fuel price. And lets assume those 20 Billion will cut down 20% of the fuel price. For those who spent RM 1000 per month on fuel will save up to RM200 (20% subsidized), For those who spent RM500 per month on fuel will save up to RM100 and for those who does not spend on fuel at all because they can't even afford personal transportation (lower income group, who by the way are the one that need actual help) do not benefit anything at all from the fuel subsidization. As you can see the RM 20 Billion spent for the fuel will not be distribute equally to the rakyat. Tell me is it a fair thing to do? Is this what you call equality and justice? Why not use the money on other stuff that could actually benefit the country and bring up the economy. And if lets say the money used can grow the economy, we could actually improve our lifestyle.
I might get the answer from some of you or probably most of you opposition extremist out there that those are just manifesto and that could be changed in time. Well I want to ask you, why not change now? why not change and show the rakyat that you planned to put the money into other use that could actually bring real benefit to the rakyat? That could actually be distribute equally to the rakyat? They don't want to because they know majority of the rakyat are not smart enough to see the benefits. All I can see is that they need the point of "lowering fuel price" to win the support from the rakyat because that is what rakyat wants to see. The Pakatan knows that majority of the rakyat does not know how this will not result in equal distribution but rather an immediate change to their eyes. I see that the Pakatan knows majority of the rakyat are not the educated ones, therefore they manipulate them in such ways so that they can tell the rakyat that "rakyat sudah bijak" or "rakyat tidak boleh ditupu" and such. Mahathir have seen this a long time ago. You can watch all of his interviews on youtube and he never fail to mention that the "rakyat are not the educated ones, therefore we need to educate them and change their mentality". In some of the interviews he might not say it in those exact words but he never fail to make that point when the westerners are questioning our capabilities.
You see that is why BN supporters are neglected to give the Pakatan a chance because in our eyes we have seen it this way. It is a bit mischievous and for us there is no room for mistake, not even our own mistake to choose because we are talking about our country, our home, our birth place, our birth right, our future ( Malay, chinese, indian and others ). When it comes to that there should not be any gamble on it even as to just give something a chance.
In the spirit of fighting for our country we hope you can bare to listen to one of our many reasons. What I managed to say here is just one of many points, and I dont think I have the time to write all of the remaining reasons as to why we doubt the opposition.
To be fair, we see some good people in the opposition party, people like Rafizi who never fail to speak like a civilized man instead of blatantly lashing out on the BN, people like Karpal Singh who can publicly acknowledge Islam as the official religion for the country, trust me it is not easy for a person at his position to say that. But in order for people to change, you must also change, the Pakatan must also change. Change the way you talk Anwar, talk like a civilized man when you are campaigning, hide your hatred towards UMNO TG Nik, as a leader it is not a good character to show to the rakyat who highly acknowledge and look up to you. Most importantly, try and educate your supporters at least, tell them it is not good to cause chaos on the social network, tell them to stop lashing out on one another, Anwar, LKS and TG Nik, tell your supporters to behave like a civilized society. What kind of leadership you get when the leader themselves are condoning such act.
Finally I would have to say Selamat Mengundi, may we all get what we want from this, a better administration.
Wardina Safiyyah OfficialPage
Yesterday
Ni saya share another status favourite saya dari seorang rakan di UK :) katanya "…saya ni tak boleh mengundi (sebab masa semak daftar pengundi, nama saya kat ceruk Kedah mana ntah yg tak pernah pi, tak pernah daftar pun lagi, saya wonder siapa yg menyamar jadi saya, kalau wujud), tapi saya nak bercakap sesuatu pasal politik… sebab saya jarang cakap pasal politik kan? Sebab kurang suka.. but ianya penting.
Sepanjang saya duduk di UK, sudah 3 kerajaan pemerintah bertukar party (conservative, labour and now coalition lib-con), ianya menunjukkan keberanian dan kepandaian rakyat dalam menilai, kerajaan tak elok diorang tukar, rakyat yg menjadi boss dan penentu supaya mereka tidak mudah diperkotak-katikkan. Setiap kali kerajaan bertukar, jabatan2 kerajaan biasa je.. tak banyak berubah, takder kucar kacir seperti yg di momokkan oleh sesetengah pihak di Msia. Ianya lagi better untuk rakyat sebab setiap gov berusaha perform yg terbaik supaya setiap kali diorang boleh bertahan dan menang. Gov pun telus, setiap perbelanjaan mereka kita boleh tengok, bahkan kalau ada mana2 menteri yg naik keretapi 1st class pun kita boleh bantah. Pekerja kerajaan dipanggil sebagai civil-servant (pekerja kepada orang ramai bukan kepada kerajaan).
Saya juga nampak beberapa perkataan seperti, “tidak tahu bersyukur” etc dari beberapa orang yg saya rasa salah konsep. Kerja utama sesiapa yg menjadi kerajaan adalah memberi khidmat kepada masyarakat tidak kira dari parti mana, itu kewajipan mereka. Kalau mereka salah, mereka wajib ditegur tapi itu tidak bermakna rakyat itu rakyat yang tidk bersyukur. Nabi Musa menegur perbuatan salah Firaun yang telah membelanya, beri makan pakai etc dari kecil, adakah dia nabi yang tidak bersyukur? Kalau pencuri rompak rumah kita and kita komplen tapi polis cakap, “kamu kena bersyukur at least kamu tak dibunuh” adakah itu konsep syukur yang benar?
Saya bukan mana2 ahli politik, saya bercakap atas kapasiti seorang ahli akademik dan ingin mengajak kawan2 semua berfikir dan membuka minda. Islam itu rahmatan lil ‘alamin, rahmat untuk sekalian alam, bukan sahaja utk orang Islam, and so yg bukan Islam tak payah worry kalau orang islam yg sebenar memerintah. Orang islam amanah, dia tahu Tuhan sentiasa lihat dia. Yang muslim pula, jangan risau kalau ada orang nak pijak kita kalau dia menang sebab saya yakin, golongan kebangkitan rakyat baru2 ini jugalah yang berani bangkit ke atas mereka sekiranya mereka cakap tak serupa bikin. Dan saya percaya rakyat kita juga sudah matang, pandai berfikir sendiri serta tidak mudah termakan dengan propaganda. Politik menakut2kan rakyat, dan fitnah memfitnah adalah politik yg tidak matang and so ketinggalam zaman. Selamat ber-PRU kawan2"
Satu lagi hati-hati dengan PERSEPSI dan perang saraf ni… Jangan dibaja…
Riots? BN lost Penang, Kedah, Perak, Sgor, Ktan and two-thirds in 08 and there was no riot. If there is one now, it won't start with BN.
Ideologically different parties and a party that is totally in chaos is the party to look upto for a change. Lol I mean how stupid can that be. Just listen the word change and jump. I mean why waste time talking sense to people who talk without any clue of what politics or economics and wealth management is all about. Hey misinformed voters if god is kind enough about your souls BN will wincoz there are still people in this country who can make sane decisions for you
Although I do not completely agree that BN is all that great, I definitely agree that the jump and change terms are a bunch of political BS. Remember the anticipation we people had on Malaysia Day 2008, the day that Anwar announced that a group of BN MPs were supposed to jump to PR, which will shift the power of the parliament to PR. Obviously nothing happened since then. However when those 3 state assemblymen from Perak jumped from PR to BN in 2009, PR leaders condemned them and even placed them on floor mats so that people could "step on those frogs". Wasn't that Anwar's idea in the first place? I am totally against the "katak" scenario and unlike most anti-BN or anti-PR, I'd rather look at the situation as a whole before judging who is right or wrong.
As for the riots speculation, I think the national instability is to be expected regardless of the results. If BN wins, PR would probably accuse BN for manipulating the SPR and certain violent groups may decide to cause unnecessary chaos. If PR wins, the country will be governed by a relatively inexperienced party and another violent group may wreak havoc as well. All these are to be expected, so brace yourselves for a wild ride.
hi, you two planting seeds of thoughts about riots.
Change, ANY change is better for the country. At the rate we're going, we'll be a bankrupt nation before Vision 2020 is realised.
The logic that BN has – Dulu, Kini dan selamanya, shows their dictatorship mentality. They thing the country belongs to them, hence gerry mandering, vote buying, Banglanation and frauds.
If youre afraid of riots, tell Utusan and that illegitimate PM to stop inciting racial hate. It was a Malaysian tsunami NOT a Chinese tsunami. Tell that to Zulkifli Nordin and the Ex-Judge. Tell them to pandang cermin.
Lol losers want a change please grow arm pit hair or change curtains. This article makes no bloody sense. Instead of talking and holding the government for you being a loser go out and make yourself worthwhile
Agree with most of what you said except for the 56 years part; our founding father's Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Sambanthan, Tun Tan Cheng Lock & Tun Hussein Onn had the right of it. Its sad that all of their hard work and idealism fall to the wayside once Razak took over and became worse with Mahathir at the helm.
You got to be kidding about Razak and the subsequent fall of your "idealism". A certain devastating and ugly incident happened at the end of Tunku's carrier as PM. The country was in chaos similar to what we are experiencing right now, just much more violent and unsettling. From a certain point of view, Razak rebuilt the "idealism" with his far sight and hard work. Although some plans made during his time may withstand the test of time, it was revolutionary during his time and it reunited the nation once again. So go back and read your history before commenting!
Kudos! Well written piece of article. This is my first time voting and to be honest, I am sick with the former government tactics of playing the race and religion cards prior to dissolving the cabinet. For me, keeping mummed on racist remarks from those of Ibrahim Ali and alike equivalence to condoning such acts. I love this country. Yes, I do. But i won't allow myself and my generations to live in a place where the government had repeatedly keep a blind eye to threats and racial mockery to its own people. Who voted for BN? Malay, Chinese, Indian and the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak. And you dare asked this non-malay people to just 'suck it up' and accept the fact that they are a second class citizens and if they wanted to challenge the "Malay Supremacy", they can pack their things and go back to India or China! A part of me just shed some bloody tears of grieve. Having heard that UMNO is openly condoning to money politics with the infamous quote from our 'beloved' PM, "beri salah, tak beri kalah", I am very certain I want a change. Now!
Agree with you. Most of the time i am fence sitting, the one issue that shift my vote is racism still widely practise by the current regime.
Be aware that it is likely that if BN wins this election, it will try to make it impossible for PR to win the next, through hanky-panky, gerrymandering, etc. As it already is doing to some extent even in this election. So this might be your only chance to bring about a change that will make the next election much fairer for the voters because PR has already agreed to level the playing field if/when they get into power.
So how do we know that if PR wins this election, it will not try to make it impossible for BN to win the next?
Do you truly believe that? Action speaks louder than words. See how PR has managed their states and compare them with the BN managed states. It is likely that PR will be significantly more democratic in their practices. If not, I shall vote them out the next time!
Well, they wouldn't have been in power long enough to obtain the necessary resources or knowledge to do that. Anyway, if we manage to overturn BN this time we can surely overturn PR if they end up worse.
I'm still on the fence too.
What an insightful article! This is one of the few articles on the net that breaks down the ideology of Ubah. There are certain points that I have to highlight.
Firstly, I do not agree with the part about chaos and instability. It is definitely logical to expect some form of instability after the current election regardless of the results. However I do not think political parties in a country of millions should be addressed as mere two opposing entities. Political parties are supported by the people and if chaos ensues, it is probably not the 'sore loser' attitude of that party or their leaders, but the violent nature of a portion of their supporters. I assume I do not have to quote the ugly incident almost 45 years ago.
Another thing to point out is the issue about complacence. I agree that 56 years of ruling a country with little to no threat seems ideal for BN to lay back and enjoy the glory. But recent emergence of a threat has shaken their position significantly. The 2008 GE proved that strong and threatening oppositions encourage progress, especially when there is always a fear that the ruling party may lose their position if they do not buck up. So within those 5 years, we have been comparing notes between BN and PR. What I am trying to convey is that BN has been changing throughout the 5 years, hopefully for the better with 'guidance and supervision' from criticism from opposition. It may take time, but change is in progress already. The bigger question would be "If PR gains control of the parliament, would they be able to cope with the sudden surge in power?".
Overall I enjoyed your article very much. I am still sitting on my lonely fence trying to decide who to vote. Social media is clouded by tonnes of ridiculous remarks about both parties, mostly directed at the incompetency of BN as a ruling party. Your article is the first one that I can actually ponder upon and compare pros and cons reasonably. Thank you very much.
Give PR a chance! 5 Years! If they are incompetent! Change!
Excellent points Amelia!
In today's context, the dichotomy of rural voters and urban voters are glaring and while it is safe to say that the Opposition has garnered staunch support among the urban elite, the million dollar question is how do we translate this articulate piece to the rural and silent majority?
U sound as if u r a great shaman, u can tell ppl where they come from just from the way they talk.so arrogant.so stuck up talking like u are much better than others.the article was written by a pro opponent supporter who try to talk as if he/she is 100% neutral.no matter how hard u try to conceal,with ur experiment ideology,u sound so much into the PKR,PAS,DAP.of course u are afraid of nothing, u must be somebody who are not taught by ur parents to thank ppl when they do good things to u.u talk without facts,saying we are living in a country with high crimes.where did u get the info.did u compare our crime rates to other countries.u sound as stupid as mat sabu…who stated that the communist killing our police was the hero.not the polices who had sacrificed themselves.u r so much blinded by the promises made by the PR.lets review the 5 years given to them..they were all wasted..so much problems, so much weaknesses, we have seen much,what else do u want as a prove.ur sick way of thinking which u tried to spread wont work oN me.i am mor rational than u are, u can keep on dreaming that ur PR gov wins.mari kita tengok.lepas 5 hb ko kalah what will u say.haha..dont blame the SPR or UMNO.face it…u must be a chinese right,cuz u dont even talk about ISLAM.thats why u said that u dont need to thank gov.i pity malays who agreed with ur statements,cuz they rely too much on the gov,cuz they are the poorest race among the three main races,but they forgot about ketuanan melayu..now they talk about equality…haha.melayu mmg me-layu.kuli cina dan suka bercakap besar..sedarlah.melayu mudah lupa.hidup umno..hidup bn.hidup better nation 1malaysia.takbir
is this a copypasta? at least make it less obvious.
wow… hard to believe someone who types like you has and with your standard of english, with your 'skills' of articulation has any place in this comments section at all. go back and learn to articulate yourself properly and be more objective with your opinions. maybe then people will actually take you seriously.
ahhh the bigotry shows again….. what other constructive opinions can come from ppl like u other than RACIST nonsense? In reply to ur "why u said that u dont need to thank gov. i pity malays who agreed…..", I really dunno which brain cells u lack in that thick head of urs, that renders u unable to comprehend this simple idea.
Let me educate u here, kid. Its the government's DUTY to run the country. We didnt force them to pick up the jobs. They VOLUNTARILY took the office promising to improve citizens' lives. We as citizens entrust them with power and authority, and reward them with their salaries among other perks. Of coz they need to do good things to the ppl, why else were they chosen for? But when the government is found to be a corrupt regime, one that does MORE HARM THAN GOOD, we as the citizens r responsible to change it. In case u say we r not grateful, we would like to announce a 5-year holiday package to them too. Nice?
Why would you pity the malays who agree? Do u think that they cant think for themselves? Do u think ur more superior than them? Do u think u possess more mental power than them? The problem with ppl like u is, u guys think ur smarter than anyone else in ur race. If their opinions differ than that of urs, u accuse them to be stupid or being manipulated by other 'devils'. Then u try to use skin colours and religions to make them agreeable to u. By the way… apasal hidup hidup sana?? Dah mati ke ni? nak hidup hidupkan apa benda?
Racism, racism everywhere… just like that screwed up government you're voting for. 'Ketuanan Melayu'? Who made your race a 'Tuan' and other races the 'Hamba'? We're all mere humans. Born and bred on the same soil. So, you're implying that you are above the other races? Then don't bring Islam into this, because that's insulting to Islam. Islam teaches fairness and justice for everyone. Which is exactly what you're NOT doing. And contrary to what your said, I pity the Malays who agree with your statements, cause they rely too much on the government. And that's why we stagnate. Always taking the easy way out, "Who needs to work hard, when we get free money?". This is what will cause our downfall, and the only way to break out is the compete on equal grounds.
"Apa tu Ketuanan Melayu bila kita semua adalah hamba Allah" tell me what this implies to you….still think you are greater and superior race? Know your history..this concept was before this region embrace Islam..when the sultans was once practiced hinduism and buddism and callled Maharaja/Raja instead of Sultan….im a chinese that does not mean i do not know about Islam or history of Malaysia..get yourself educated and get out of ur nutshell before you speak…because it only reflects ur mentality of not properply educated…