Personal Thoughts on Politics

The 12th Malaysian General Elections was held about 3 weeks ago on the 8th of March 2008. While Peninsula Malaysia saw a political tsunami sweeping the Barisan Nasional off their feets in 5 states, the BN in Sabah and Sarawak held firm winning all but the two largest urban parliamentary seats in the East, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. Some in the Opposition party have blamed 'backwater' rural Sabahans and Sarawakians for the losses but the question arises. Can you really blame them?

Many in Jesselton wanted change. In fact, had it not been the multiple cornered fights, the opposition would have gained many State Assembly seats such as Luyang, Likas, Kepayan, Inanam, Sandakan, Sri Tanjong, Merotai and Bingkor (Api-Api was won by BN by a very slim majority in a straight fight but could have no doubt fallen had DAP and Keadilan combined campaigning efforts). This is even with the fact that campaigning by the opposition was minimal. Election fever didn't really hit Kota Kinabalu until the last two days to election day. My message here is to the arrogant, misinformed, over-zealous Opposition voters in West Malaysia: Please do not judge Sabahans as 'dumb' before looking at the facts. You aren't as smart as you think you are either. If you guys were smart enough, you would have voted BN down many years ago.

Don't get me wrong dear readers. I stand in solidarity with the Opposition. I too had voted for the Rocket and the Eye. I too wanted to see a loss of 2/3 majority by the 'dacing'. But it struck me pretty hard when, after the elections, a reader of http://www.malaysia-today.net/ condemned Sabahans as dumb.

Sabahans have seen change before. We have changed governments more than most Malaysian states. But it was most unfortunate that our political leaders time after time have failed us only to satisfy their own thirst for quick cash and power. In short, Sabahans had experienced 'out of the frying pan, into the fire' and no matter how, it cannot be denied that at this moment, Sabah is undergoing an economic revival of sorts. A change of government would most probably disrupt that smooth and easy flow which Sabahans are not ready to accept as of now.

"Okay, so you don't want a change of government but why didn't you vote to reduce the majority of Sabah BN?" some may argue. To this I say, was it our fault that the Opposition stood divided in Sabah? Was it our fault that the Opposition happened to choose incompetent leaders with a tainted past? Sure, we're not as wealthy as many other Malaysians. Neither are we as tech-savvy. But we are not dumb to see that the opposition is just another crocodile. Will voting another crocodile to take over another crocodile make life better?

Also, consider the tactics used to garner votes in Sabah. A sudden influx of postal votes..all going to the party which controls the EC (bear in mind the EC is supposed to be independent..'supposed'..). Oh and don't forget the new generation of voters..the illegal Pilaks. They'd vote for the government that gave them MyKads. What about the guy that won in Pensiangan where the two opposition fellas didn't get their chance to nominate themselves while the person behind them in the queue managed to get through? Ah..and the money bombs which made many rural households richer by a couple of hundred ringgits over night on the 5th, 6th and 7th of March?

Alright, so we can't really blame BN tactics although they really did very well employing them much better than in Peninsula Malaysia where they concentrated on the big guns AAB and KJ especially. Anyhow, let's not get into the denial syndrome like UMNO has in the West. Maybe, just maybe, Sabahans are really 'dumb'. Or with respect to many of the voters who voted for change, we say the majority of Sabahans are 'dumb'. Let's take it as constructive criticism and discuss ways to really bring about political change in the State.

To really deny BN the majority in Sabah and have a healthy democracy, more must be done. More than just criticising and grouping Sabahans as 'dumb'. Campaigning should be done more vigorously. Education and political awareness holds the key to a stronger opposition in Sabah i.e. a healthier democracy. Education and political awareness such as understanding that you cannot really vote for the individual candidate in Malaysian elections especially if you vote for a Barisan Nasional one because the BN has an anti-floor crossing policy. This means that when a stupid proposal is made by a stupid idiot like the ex-Minister in the PM's Dept's suggestion to give Pilaks PR (and eventually citizenship), and if it is tabled in Parliament by a BN MP, then the BN MPs (inclusive Sabah BN) MUST vote for it. If they don't, then it is tantamount to 'derhaka' and they may face the party whip. Just look at the poor Indian Gerakan MP who got punished just be defending HINDRAF. They also have a 'must-vote-against-Opposition-motions' policy. So if YB Lim Kit Siang from the Rocket proposes a motion good for Sabah, the BN MPs including Sabah ones MUST vote against it. Now this means that they are NOT wakil rakyat, but rather wakil parti if not wakil poket sendiri.

I strongly believe a stronger opposition and a healthier democracy will automatically solve Sabah's problems and issues such as land, illegal immigrants, illegal logging and so forth when leaders are forced to look into these problems when there is the fear of losing their power. How do we strengthen an Opposition? Perhaps encouraging a new breed of young and untainted opposition leaders who dare to speak up for the rakyat? What about making their education level a criteria? Banning 'kataks' from positions of power in the Opposition party? Feedbacks from the grassroots before selecting a candidate? Coming out every once in a week instead of once in five years (you don't want to be like the BN MP here now do you?)? A work ethic that understands that an elected representative is there to serve the people not his/her pockets? Maybe encouraging a sense of loyalty to the State since none of the politicians in Sabah really care about bringing development to the state. Yes that's right..a sense of loyalty..just as the NEP is the root cause of all problems in Malaysia, a lack of loyalty to the State by politicians both BN and Opposition is the root cause of all problems in Sabah. Loyalty.

Which brings me to the next thing..Kataks. Kataks should not be encouraged so if it's true that there are some disgruntled politicians going to jump to the next 'pond', then I strongly despise them. A by-election should be forced. Yes, I despise political frogs I think they should be removed from their position because they have dishonoured the people who have voted him to be their representative. If it is also true that Anwar Ibrahim is trying to buy them over, then I think PKR popularity inside my little mind will lose quite a bit of percentage points. Of course, one can see that UMNO is shitting in their pants at this moment just thinking about the pending retribution. They know that they've bought politicians before and when the anti-hopping law was proposed in Sabah it was overruled by a BN-linked court saying 'its against the Constitution'. Now they're proposing it because it is to their advantage that the anti-hopping law be enacted. A few years down the road when there's a need to buy some politicians, the law will be amended or removed..typical UMNO hypocrisy.

Sigh..I can go on and on..but am I even dreaming? A progressive Sabah? A democratic Sabah? A Sabah with a political attitude like Australian politics? Many Sabahans, when they read this post, will probably think I'm crazy. Maybe they think I'm over-optimistic. Why? Because many Sabahans know that this will never happen.

Perhaps they don't care?

'Okay bah kalo ko!'