A wake-up call to Malaysian voters ahead of GE13

Hadi, Anwar, Kit Siang

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

A day has passed since the terrible disappointment of losing the Galas and the Batu Sapi by-elections and while the wounds are still painful, rationality has returned and the will to fight on is reviving. Lawan Tetap Lawan!

Questions have bounced around in the past 24 hours – the same old questions that keep cropping up each Pakatan loses.

Corruption and bribery are the traditional tools of the BN, if in 2008, Pak Lah was taken by surprise – in the next general election Najib will be waiting within billions to make sure he doesn’t lose. What is Pakatan going to do about it?

Voters have to choose wisely

Ironically, the answer lies not with the Pakatan leaders but with their supporters and the Malaysian people as whole. The most basic answer - don’t take the cash handouts or listen to the sweet promises Najib will make, as Pak Lah and Mahathir before him did.

After all, did they change the country? Has the social and educational equality improved since 1957, what about the economy? Can we trust our judges and courts? Are the Indians still being marginalized? Has the number of poor people stopped growing in Malaysia?

What has the BN done? If nothing, then why are some Malaysian voters still taking their goodies and believing in their promises. And then shifting the heat to the Pakatan – where are its new policies, what can it do to change the country, how is it going to prove it can manage Malaysia better?

Yet, without previous experience, Pakatan has managed Penang and Selangor way better than any of the other BN states. And Perak was also a role model before it was snatched away. Yes, Kedah and Kelantan are plodding still, but nowhere in these two states will you encounter the shocking embezzlement and corruption as in the BN ones.

By and large, Pakatan has delivered. It has been accused of infighting, political gamesmanship, conflicting ideologies, and though it can clamp down on bad publicity and has done so in the past, it can never castrate its partners the way Umno has spayed Soi Lek, Tsu Koon and Samy.

Fear that Pakatan is always wracked by internal power struggles should not be a reason for rejecting it at the ballot boxes. It is a mere excuse not just for the BN but for internal saboteurs within Pakatan itself. Are there no conflicts in Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC? Who went through two disastrous EGMs, which Umno president is trying to broker a peace deal with his now high-flying deputy not to challenge him in 2011?

At the end of the day, if a voter were to offer such an excuse for voting BN, then that voter is either a BN supporter or prefers BN for reasons better known to him or herself. At the end of the day, voters are responsible for who they vote for and why!

More than ever, the agenda for change needs to be supported

The Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections have been decided by the constituents there and their decision against the Pakatan must be respected. This is the democracy that Pakatan is fighting for, and therefore, must always uphold.

But a new watershed since the March 8, 2008 political tsunami has been reached. It is now time for Pakatan supporters and Malaysians to ask themselves the really tough questions, and answer these as honestly as they can.

No doubt, the romance of the Reformasi call has faded but change has not really come to all of Malaysia yet. So for the school of thought that change is no longer the flavor of the day, implementation and execution are, the litmus tests are : Are Malaysians satisfied with what they have now? Are they happy with their police, the courts, the corruption levels in their government?

Before critics rush to condemn these as national issues that ordinary rakyat who earn RM500 or less cannot be blamed for being indifferent to - in the first place, why should anyone be earning RM500? Isn’t that below poverty level?

Then why are the poverty-stricken supporting BN? Was it Pakatan who came to power in 2008 that is responsible for making them poor? Or is it the RM250 'ang-pows' and pieces of free zinc to re-roof their dilapidated huts that made the difference?

Social evolution takes long, long years. Until Malaysia gets there, it is incumbent on voters who are better educated and financially more secure to recognize this and lend a hand to protect their poorer brothers and sisters. They must continue to relentlessly push the other way so that change can really come to Malaysia. Otherwise, it won't.

There is much that Pakatan can do but it cannot do it without the support of the people. It remains committed to fighting within the ideals and the parameters it has promised to put in place for a new Malaysia. It cannot backtrack. Otherwise, what change can it be talking about?

In Penang and Selangor, despite naysayers, change has already arrived and infiltrated the lives of many. Two years have passed and the difference has even been noticed by the Auditor-General.

Why haven't other Malaysians and Pakatan supporters noticed then? Or is that an assumption – one that BN and armchair pundits are only too happy to push?

Change in Malaysia must continue to take place. It must continue to be fought for. Ferociously and without fear.