Dear Fellow Malaysians,
DO NOT GIVE UP.
I am pleading with you, do not give up. Do not give up on democracy. Do not give up on hope. And most importantly, do not give up on our country.
Because if you do, you are doing exactly what Najis wants you to do, then we have really lost.
I believe that many of you, like myself, is filled with anger, sadness, disbelief and deep frustration. For today, our election has been hijacked, our country has been robbed and the future of our next generation has been denied.
Not by Bangla voters, not by voters who had been bought over and not by SPR. Sure, they have a part to play in all these, but the culprit is Najis, and we shall never forget this.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that democracy equals to a win by the opposition parties. But what we must maintain and uphold, is the rights and importance of the clean election of the rakyat, by the rakyat, for the rakyat.
“Remember, remember the fifth of May, of election treason and plot. I know of no reason why the election treason should ever be forgot.”
I know that many of you, just like myself, will be thinking that, what is point of an election anymore, if the votes of the people is not one that matters? What is the point in making the trip back to our hometowns purposely in order to cast our votes, when it is not even sacred? Will we ever be able to see a clean election, without phantom voters and power outage? Or for many who are might be going overseas, to think that is there still any hope left in this country? Or for those who are already overseas, to be thinking what is the point of coming back to this country?
Personal questions aside, the bigger questions that might be lingering in our minds are probably, will Anwar really retire after this? Who will be leading the Pakatan Rakyat? Will we be able to gain such a strong UBAH and UNDI momentum next time round? Will the three parties still be able to form a strong alliance next time round, when most of their senior leaders could be too old to lead another battle? How many more 5 years does Malaysia have? With MCA losing terribly, who will be BN's new lap dog? Will BN be more racist towards the Chinese? What if Muhyiddin takes over as PM?
My first reaction is, democracy is dead. This country is hopeless. Why bother to vote. We can never change. They will always find some dirty methods to ensure that they can stay in power. No difference la. I'm sure many of you can relate to this.
But almost immediately, in the back of my mind, I can visualise the smiling face of Najis, secretly laughing at us all, and saying that, what's the point of you voting, I will still win and be my PM, and continue spreading my 1Kotor campaign. He is probably thinking that, if we are all disheartened and discouraged to vote and to bother anymore, then his power is secured. He will think that he can do whatever he wants and there will be no checks and balances to control him. That he will not be answerable to his crimes when he retires, and he can continue buying huge diamond rings and endless number of designer bags for his Botox wife.
DO NOT GIVE HIM THAT SATISFACTION.
Pushing aside our emotional reaction for a while and just reflect for a moment, and you will realise that the country IS changing, and we still have hope.
If I told you 10 years ago, that DAP will be willing to use PAS's logo for a GE, you would call me crazy.
If I told you 10 years ago, that Malays, Chinese and Indians will no longer see UMNO, MCA and MIC as representing their respective racial group, that we would reject racial politics, and we could call ourselves as Malaysians first, race comes second, you would probably not believe me.
If I told you 10 years ago, that people would fly back from all over the world to cast 1 vote, and voter turn out ratio will be highest of all time and reached 80%, you would think that it doesn't mean anything.
If I told you 10 years ago, that Lim Guan Eng will be the most loved Chief Minister in the whole of Malaysia, you would have touched my forehead and checked for fever symptoms.
If I told you 10 years ago, that people would stand in front of riot police for their righteous cause, and Malays would shield Chinese from tear gas, you would have straight away checked me into a mental hospital.
Yet, looking back at everything that has happened since 308 of 2008, I am sure that you could feel that there is a big change in the society of Malaysia. Then, who are we to say that we will not see the change that we wanted to see, in the next 10 years to come?
Kudos to everyone who came back and showed up to vote. Your vote counts, and YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE IT. It is only by making sure that everyone comes back to vote, that we can avoid seeing BN winning more seats despite winning less votes. We need every single vote from the rural areas and Sarawak.
I am sure you could feel that people care more about politics now, or more rightly put it as, care more about the state of our country in the future. It is only with such a change in the sentiments, that we can affect more people around us to care more, including those who are politically apathy and ignorant.
Think about all those who volunteered to be PACABA, who contributed in many ways of ensuring a cleaner election. Have no doubt, that if without all these volunteers, the election will be dirtier.
Think about the role of social media and citizen journalism, that has cause more well-spread awareness and concern among fellow citizens about what is happenning in other parts of our country, including BERSIH and LYNAS, despite the various effort by BN-controlled mainstream media to deny us the news.
Therefore, I beg you all, fellow Malaysians, don't lose hope as of yet, and please don't think that we will never see the change that we wanted to. If anything, this election should not cause us to lose hope in our country, but to tell ourselves that there is more to be done.
GE13 is not Ini Kalilah, but maybe Lain Kalilah? Don't forget that we ain't even the ones fighting the real war out there. If we give up now, how could we ever face our fellow men and those who stood for us?
Think about Anwar, Lim Kit Siang, Nik Aziz, Lim Guan Eng, V. Sivakumar, Nizar, Wan Azizah, Hadi Awang, Arul and all the family members and supporters who stood behind them through highs and lows.
If they never give up after facing so much obstacles and threats, who are we to be throwing our hands in the air and say, it ain't my business anymore?
This is a test to us all. A test in our faith in democracy and our country. Some will falter and some will fall, and forever be gone. But some will remain and become even stronger.
If we give up now, then we have conceded when the real battle has barely begun.
If we give up now, who will fight for the future of our next generation? Who will remember the death of Teo Beng Hock? Who will bother about money politics and power outage? Who will care to voice out our opinions and concerns?
I believe that we can still win, even when we are playing by their rules. Their dirty rules.
The change has already occured, whether you see it or not. Slowly, but undeniably. Have faith. Such mad hope, but there it is.
I wonder if you all remember a line from Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon, spoken by Seymour Simmons (John Turturro): "Years from now, they're gonna ask us: where were you when they took over the planet? And we'll say: we just stood by and watched..."
Well, if you give up, you are just like a bystander watching aliens taking over Earth, and if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.
Why am I writing this? I just hope that even after you went to bed disappointed yesterday midnight, when you wake up this morning, you would find that the sun still rises, and the world still has something positive to offer you in this brand new day.
I hope to tell you that the country doesn't end at GE13. The world doesn't stop spinning after GE13, even though it feels very much like it. Democracy didn't die in GE13, it just hasn't begun living in Malaysia.
We have doubts and we have fear, but conviction and courage is never about the lack of doubts and fear, but it is about overcoming them.
It is ok and perfectly normal to be disappointed, but it is weak to be defeated by the first obstacle. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
Therefore, I urge you all, not to give up and lose hope in our country. Don't be disheartened, and please believe that there is more things we can do, besides changing our facebook photo to a black display pic.
I hope that when BERSIH 4.0 comes, we will all contribute and join in whatever ways we can.
I hope that come GE14, those who can volunteer to be a PACABA, please continue to provide your services. Don't think that it doesn't make a difference.
I hope that we will continue to spread the message of democracy and people's power. That those who can teach the elderly how to access internet continue to do so, and introduce them to Malaysiakini and Oriental daily, to help them distinguish between news and fiction.
I hope that we would all continue to ask those who did not vote, or did not register as a voter, to vote in the next election.
I hope that those who have seem the world outside Malaysia, will come home and tell your friends and relatives, that MALAYSIA DESERVES BETTER.
So please share and spread the message, encourage one another, and tell each other that we are not alone in this battle for a brighter future. Please hold on to the belief, that one day in the near future, that rakyat will be the true owner of the country.
"The revolution has yet to succeed, comrades there is still work to be done" - Sun Yat Sen.
20130506 0340
······
Photo taken at Dataran Merdeka, KL. Do not forget the Malaysian spirit.
