Who is Sovereign? The Rakyat or UMNO?

By batsman

The nature of power is such that if one has no guts and no balls, then it (power) will not come anywhere near. However even if it comes near to those with guts and balls, it will not stick if there is no reason to. So the rakyat have to have balls and be driven by reason and ideals if they want to be sovereign.

On July 9th 2011, 50,000 or more people showed that they are sovereign. They gave warning to UMNO that its power is slipping away because it no longer has access to reason and decency. Democracy means that power lies with the rakyat and that the rakyat are sovereign, but democracy has to be hard won and hard kept. There is no other way. Democracy is not an automatic right. It is a hard won and hard kept luxury.

Take the Wikileaks exposure posted in MT (WIKILEAKS: 9th Malaysia Plan), the report in it is denigrating not only of the Malaysian government but also of Malaysians, especially those employed as economists…

“Non-government economists support these goals publicly but deplore them in private.”

Try and get inside the minds of these people and what do you see? I see self-hating “small people” that the DAP likes to talk about. They have been trained at great expense to be professionals. They have a chance to influence public economic policy, but they are cowed. They dare not be the professionals of integrity and the people of character that they were meant to be. They have betrayed their profession, they have betrayed themselves and they have betrayed God. So it is no accident that although they may still be well paid, they are looked down upon and denigrated in secret reports.

Quite a few Malaysians are also like these economists. OK, so life is difficult and your livelihood has to be protected. Never mind if UMNO is stealing other people’s rights and livelihood, so long as mine is not affected in any way…… BUT even if it is affected somewhat, hopefully it won’t be affected in a large way…. BUT even if it is affected in a large way, hopefully me and my family will be safe, never mind if the police are not competent enough to stop burglars and robbers from entering my neighbour’s house… so long as the robbers do not enter my house…. BUT even if they enter my house hopefully they will not rape my wife and daughters, but just rape the Indonesian maid……. So it goes on and on.

People are turned into small minded selfish individuals isolated and isolating themselves in their small little worlds, inflicting loneliness, fear and delusion upon themselves. Such people cannot be sovereign. They have no means to be sovereign. However, UMNO likes such people, so these are the people that UMNO courts as it supporters and voters. UMNO will even offer goodies and extend protection to such people as much as they can.

In many ways, UMNO treats the country like its personal private family business. As much as possible, business and private lives are kept separate. This is the professional thing to do. Unfortunately as the boss becomes richer and more powerful and has cultivated close contacts with crooked auditors, crooked policemen and crooked judges, there is a great potential for his private life to intrude into his business. This great potential can even turn into a guaranteed real life thing if the boss has a roving eye and lusty disposition, if his needs and desires are greater than what he currently enjoys. Those employees who have no choice but try and keep their jobs whatever the boss does to them or however he uses them will the ones most exploited and/or most hated as well (think MCA, or even certain international models).

Even then I suppose there will be excuses e.g. “we suffer anyway, whether we are bullied and abused by the boss or if we get the sack (think seedless durians)”. Such people do not have the means to be sovereign because in their minds, they hate themselves and see themselves as inferior and indecent.

At a certain time, decent people will have to stand up for their rights. On 9th July 2001, 50,000 or more people stood up for their democratic rights and counted themselves as sovereign citizens of Malaysia.

What of the others? Many wanted to attend but could not make it. Many others still, wanted to attend but could not afford the expense or could not take leave. Many others still, preferred to fight in other ways. Many others still supported and sympathized with the democratic struggle of Bersih 2.0 but were not prepared to go to the extent of attending dangerous rallies. All these are good enough reasons as long as you vote against BN in the coming elections. Make you sympathies and your feelings count.

If your feelings are strong enough, you might even consider making donations to worthwhile causes as well as to those who have fallen, who are incarcerated or who have been maimed. It is important to have enough funds and enough support. Even General Washington had to beg the US Congress for funds to keep his half-starved men in the field during such a significant world shaking event as the American War of Independence. Not everything is automatic and runs on its own.

What is not a good enough reason is to think that you are too small to make a difference and that UMNO is all powerful. That way, you make UMNO sovereign and surrender power as well as your democratic rights to liars, cheats and crooks to rule the country.

Use your votes to create a healthy 2 party political system with adequate checks and balances. Say “NO!” to intimidation, victimization and discrimination. Say “NO!” to government by abuse, dirty tricks and having the right influential contacts.

But even if you feel you are too small and too weak to be sovereign, or that the rakyat is not perfect and too easily manipulated and influenced by evil people, the last thing is to do is surrender sovereignty to UMNO, the government of the sinful. At the very least, surrender sovereignty to God, never to UMNO. Make decency and righteousness part and parcel of Malaysian daily life. Say “NO!” to sin, corruption and injustice.