Guest blogger and journalist Jehan Mohd mourns the loss of sense and sensibility in the days leading up to what is turning out to be Malaysia's biggest general elections yet.
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| The circus is back in town, nope, sorry, it's just the latest general elections around the corner. |
Where have all my
cat videos and baby pictures gone, or rather, what has happened to all my
friends whose cat video and baby picture posts used to fill my Facebook (or,
simply FB) wall?
Instead of the
varied interests and quirks that make them individual people, they seem to have been overwhelmingly swept up in election fever.
Granted the
build-up to this general election has been incredible — people have been
anticipating an announcement of the dissolution of parliament leading to the event
since last year.
When parliament
was dissolved last month, suddenly everyone (or at least the ones who load
status updates regularly) was talking about the elections.
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| Election fever is here and it's all anyone is talking about these days —can't wait for things to go back to normal. |
While at first,
it was interesting to see my friends become vocal about political issues, this
quickly turned into something ugly.
For someone who
hardly has a life outside of the online social networking site, this is an
issue.
People might call
this (my dependence on FB) sad and pathetic, I call it practical; eating out
and socialising is costly — and, in some cases, dangerous — these days.
There seems to be
an increase in criminal activity during this period — I personally know two
people who were victims of snatch theft and an attempted burglary and heard or read of several other cases including two involving guns — and this is
probably because the police force is being kept extra busy escorting
politicians to and from their daily constituency walkabouts and ensuring the ceramahs
(rallies, speeches, discussions — whatever best describes them) run smoothly.
Politicians and
party followers taking potshots at each other, that's normal.
What's not is the sight of my usually peaceful friends suddenly in
combat mode.
My FB newsfeed is
filled with posts supporting the Opposition and beating on the ruling (or
incumbent, am confused as to the right term to use here) Government — basically
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) versus Barisan Nasional (BN).
I’m an apolitical
person — never been interested in politics and, frankly, don’t see why I should
be. Only time I find them useful is during the days running up to elections when potholed roads miraculously get repaved in double time and dirty, clogged drains get cleared quickly and littered streets are cleaned up on a daily basis.
It could be
because I was born and raised in a country (not Malaysia; if you’re in tune with
what happens in this region, you’ll be able to figure it out) where it doesn’t make a difference whether or not you vote — the ruling
government is essentially one man and his family and they have never lost a single
election since independence as any real political threats to their rule are
sued for all their worth or sent to prison without trial.
The only time I
ever felt vaguely interested in politics and the elections was during my days as a college
student at an institution in Malaysia.
It was during the
1998-1999 period when then Deputy Prime Minister now Opposition leader, Anwar
Ibrahim, was caught up in the now infamous sodomy trial and the general
elections were held in late 1999.
I remember how
the newspapers chronicled every lurid detail arising from the sodomy trial (Bill
Clinton and Monica Lewisky had THAT blue dress, Anwar Ibrahim had THAT
mattress).
I also recall how
the streets were filled with colourful banners, pennants and flags of the
different political parties contesting during that general election — it made
for quite a colourful and carnival-esque atmosphere.
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| Festive mini flags — not any of the warring political factions' colours but it is an implied affiliation to a certain party that has resorted to cute gestures such as this. |
That was the
first time I had seen such a thing — my homeland had never been decked out so
festively for the elections (perhaps because it is usually only one party — the
ruling one — running for all the seats).
But that interest
in politics and the elections was then and it was short-lived.
Working in a mainstream
newspaper for close to 10 years now, I know of all sorts of crap that happens
behind the scenes that do not (and cannot because all the mainstream media are
in some way or other owned by the ruling government — for the ignoramuses who
are complaining about why the mainstream papers are so pro-BN and anti-PR, that’s
your reason; for that matter, all media would bow to their owners be they the government
or private businessmen so take whatever you read with a pinch of salt, everyone
has their own agenda) get reported in the paper — and it’s affirmed my belief
that politics is a bunch of bull.
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| How many flags does it take to get a point across — Lembah Pantai folks will definitely not have any trouble knowing which symbol is for which party; I just pity the independent fella who doesn't have any flags or pennants. |
This brings me
back to the present day where Malaysia will go to the polls to decide the fate
of the country tomorrow.
While I feel that
the current administration is an overbearing bully and not that bright or clear
of the concept of elected officials’ responsibility to the country’s people
rather than to their own greedy ambitions, I do not believe that the Opposition
is the panacea to Malaysia’s woes either — and anyone who thinks so are only
fooling themselves.
So many friends
have turned to promoting the Opposition and spreading whatever “news” the
Opposition generates as truth without necessarily looking at the bigger picture
(or even, gasp, the fact that they would lie to get ahead just as the current
government lies to do the same).
It’s become cool
to beat on the ruling government — the Opposition is like Barack Obama,
bringing in a sea of change; it even has cute mascots and gimmicks such as colourful
little pennants they call “flowers” to appeal to the young and first-time
voters and appear more innocent and martyr-like than they are.
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| Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), a component of the Opposition coalition, hit PR (public relations, though, coincidentally, the same initials as their coalition) gold with this idea — "flowers" planted by the residents rather than politicians. |
There are a few
reasons why I trust the Opposition as much as I do the ruling Government (which
is about as far as I can throw an elephant).
One is that the
Opposition is a loose coalition put together for convenience after the last general
election in 2008 — just so they can say that they control five (now four)
states together rather than a hotchpotch of seats here and there — and each
component in it has very different philosophies and goals.
Another is that
they, like the ruling Government, are in no short supply of corrupted people in
their ranks.
But the main reason I do not believe that PR would
be any different from BN is because they are politicians — and ALL POLITICIANS
LIE.
And in Malaysia,
where the politicians seem to take office because it is a lucrative business
(not talking about their salaries but all the under the table income they would
get from people who want things from them), it just comes down to whose pocket
you want to line — one bunch of idiots or another bunch of morons.
Okay, I admit
there might be some good folks in or are running for public office but,
frankly, the system will ensure they do things even they would be ashamed to
admit to themselves (and this is not just in Malaysia but in every single
country in the world).
I do not
understand my friends who believe that these guys will bring about change just
because they say they would — I think one of the first things they would do if
they win the elections is fight about who will be the Prime Minister (two of
the component party presidents have already staked their claim to that position
should PR win in previous reports).
I do have some
friends who see the cracks in both sides as I do.
As a friend of
mine puts it: “Stop succumbing to peer pressure just because it’s cool to vote
for Pakatan.”
She intends to
vote for the ruling government because in her constituency, the Opposition candidate
is a person from the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), whose vision is a “more
Islamic” country than we already are (I won’t go into the details of what they
do, you can check it out for yourself) — which is why it is important to
consider the individual candidate, not the party.
I find it
insulting when friends say that just because you are voting for the ruling
government that you are a drone or you are a racist — voting, like religion, is
a personal choice.
I wish they would
wake up and see that just because someone sees things differently from them it
does not make them a bad person.
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| Diabolical Candy Crush that defies its own logic but is oddly comforting in a sea of angry voices. |
In all the
ugliness that has come out in the past month since the dissolution of parliament,
I have resorted to something I haven’t done in a long time — I caved in to peer pressure and
started playing Candy Crush, a most diabolical of games that defies its own
logic.
Tomorrow will be
an interesting day as we go to the polls — and I vote for the first time ever —
but I will be so happy for things to go back to normal and for my friends to go
back to the varied interests that make them individuals.
And I would be bloody glad to not have both political parties spam my phone with text messages and recorded voice messages about who to vote for —I'll make up my own damned mind about it, thank you very much.
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| Political paraphernalia is nothing compared to the wrath of Mother Nature — previous days' stormy weather's handiwork is evident even when the sun comes out again. |
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