I was too young to remember the 1998 reformasi demonstration in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. There were no
Facebook or Twitter or any social media tools for live updates and the only
mobile phones available were those huge solid ones, resembling a piece of brick!
However, I do remember reading about the event on Utusan Malaysia. Yes, I used
to read Utusan Malaysia. Anyhow, I was too callow to understand the politics
and reasons of those events being unfolded.
As time goes by, everything has changed. From September 11,
2001 to the recent Arab Spring (Arab Awakening as put by Robert Fisk) a new
chapter of human struggle was created. If in the 60s, Americans were protesting
against the Vietnam War, today not just the Americans but the whole world is
protesting against war, any war. We have anti ‘gitmo’ demonstration in New York
or London; and we also have anti Internal Security Act (ISA) demonstration in
Kuala Lumpur. Anti nuclear power in Japan for instance, also happened in
Australia, France, Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Public rally or street
protest, civil disobedience or whatever you want to call it, is a manifestation
of rejection against the unpopular regime in that individual countries. It can
be single man protest, a hundred, one thousand or a million it doesn’t matter.
When you are oppressed, you stand up and fight for your right. As simple as
that.
Not too long ago, we have witnessed a classic of domino
effect in the Arab world. From one country to another, each one of those
ruthless regimes responsible for numerous atrocities and human rights abuses
collapsed due to the people’s uprising. But does it solve the problem? No! Does
it create more problems? Yes! The problem is yet to be solved and as a matter
of fact the problems only get worsen. Arbitrarily killings, executions,
violence against women, minorities and children and in fact a humanitarian
crisis ensured at rather an alarming rate. Civil conflicts become our daily
feed. Still the question, why such discontents be met with further escalation of
violence?
It is very important for us to be fair and to assess this
matter wisely. If we were those young Egyptians, are we going to march on the
street screaming “Enough is Enough” or we rather watch it live on TV? Mubarak’s
oppressive regime is no secret to the world. Political opponents and
progressive thinkers were often sentence to jail and subjected to torture, the
minority groups such as women’s group and student’s movement were not allowed
to voice out their concerns. The most important issue that triggered the
Uprising in Egypt is that only the rich become richer and the poor become
poorer. By knowing all of these injustices happening for the last 30 years, as
a young liberal minded Egyptian, what will you choose next? Demanding an
uncompromised and democratic changed in the governing system or sit back, spend
the fat cheques, raise the family, occasionally change hobbies, get sick and
watch your government continue oppressing the people even if the people is your
own family?
It is the same saga in Syria, Tunisia and Libya. Corrupt
government, fat wealthy leaders with expensive champagnes puffing
Havana-bounded cigars while the people had to fight for a loaf of bread and
steal just to buy a bottle of water. Yet, all we do is, we condemn those people
who took the streets, we portrayed them as thugs, branding them as uncivilized
or ungrateful human race. If we were those people in Libya or Syria, what do we
have as an option? Do we send letters to Gaddafi saying “Dear Honorable Colonel
Gaddafi, me and my kids have not eaten for 3 days. Would you mind sending us a
bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken?” hoping for Gaddafi to say this as an answer
“To my loyal citizen, I will not send you one bucket but instead I will send
you 5 buckets of KFC so you and your kids can eat for a week. But remember do
not join any street rally!” Do we really believe that this is the option that
we have? And do we really believe that Gaddafi will eventually read those
letters?
Then we argue, “In Malaysia we are much better than those
Arab or African countries”. “The word ‘Democracy’ is always muttered by our
leaders”. “We managed to have elections without missing a single ballot paper”.
“We have been living peacefully for more than 50 years, why do we need to
change? Why can’t we just live normally”?
Yes, we are living in a logical sense of harmony. No doubt
about that. But does that mean our ruling system is corruption-free? and put
humanity and the rule of law into practice? I believe no. Let us all be honest
with ourselves. We are living in a corrupt system. From the judicial
institution to the election commission and to most government’s department.
Corruption is endemic but it’s almost tolerable! Will this corrupt system
disappear when Pakatan Rakyat takes over Putrajaya? NO! Will Pakatan Rakyat
going to be able to remove and replace it with a more transparent system within
100 days after they ‘seized’ Putrajaya? The answer is again NO! It would take
them years and years and years to repair the whole system. This is the PROCESS that
we Malaysians are about to go through right now. This is the ‘moment of
transition’ that we are trying to walk through and this period will not going
to be easy. In fact this is the hardest part for us Malaysians and we need to
realize that we are making a huge change in our life. A change that is
irreversible.
It is also important for all Malaysians to realize another
matter. We are calling for a better system. A system that can guarantee our
rights and a system that based on the rule of law and people-oriented. We are
not calling for Pakatan Rakyat to replace Barisan Nasional just because we hate
BN. Pakatan Rakyat can be as corrupt as Barisan Nasional as soon as they take
over Putrajaya. This is not impossible. All we want is Pakatan Rakyat to guarantee
the people’s rights, improve judicial system, promote transparency and
accountability within the governing bodies, shut ISA Detention Centers
completely, try those who committed human rights violation in a fair people’s
court, demand openness and accuracy on information related to government
spending i.e. military budget, overseas trips and individual assets, improve
education system for all Malaysians and the list goes on.
January 12 2013 was the date testimonial to both Barisan
Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. There is no turning back. The people are moving
forward, you can put barricades as you will, those barricades will surely be
toppled by the people. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
And for those of you who are against public rallies in Malaysia,
I have a question, are you against public rally because you do believe there is
another solution for the problem i.e. (sending out letters and hoping your
leaders will read it) or you’d prefer to pass on your “talk to the hand” mantra
to your offspring so they too can suffer like you? Oh wait, will you go onto
the street now that PR is a bullish?
