ON the night of March 8, 2008, after the results of the 12th general election were announced, a retiree in Ijok, Kuala Selangor was dumbfounded when he was told that the Ijok state seat had been won by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.
The retiree was even more crushed upon learning that his beloved state of Selangor had been taken over by the Opposition.
A wave of regret took over. For as long as he had been exercising his voting right, he never once voted for any other party besides the scale-symbol Barisan Nasional (BN), until that year.
The man reasoned that he only voted for the Opposition this time because he wanted to send a message to the BN. He just didn't think it was possible for the BN to lose control of the state altogether.
The retiree is only one example of the thousands of Selangorians who, at the time, chose to not cast their vote or voted for the Opposition as a sign of protest towards the government.
The consequence: Abdul Khalid, who was unknown to the people of Ijok, manage to secure a victory over his BN opponent Datuk Mohamad Sayuti Said, a former local religious teacher, with a majority of 1,920 votes.
As for the Kuala Selangor parliamentary, an 'outsider' candidate from Negeri Sembilan, PAS' Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad succeeded in becoming the MP of the constituency after he triumphed over local Umno leader Jahaya Ibrahim with a majority of only 860 votes.
It wasn't a large number if one was to compare with the 47,203 total overall voters at the time. But if one placed the figures next to the 2004 election results, the massive erosion in the support for BN was glaring. Some 14,500 people had gave up their traditional BN votes and opted for the Opposition instead.
In the 2004 election, BN had continued its traditional two-thirds majority within the parliamentary. That year's landslide victory was deemed as BN's greatest achievement in history, thus creating a positive perception towards the government among people such as the retiree.
But due to the political arrogance of several key leaders in Selangor at the time, one even going to the extent of awarding brooms to his subordinates for a poor job done, had caused much displeasure not just among civil servants like the retiree but the millions of rakyat across Malaysia.
The increase of petrol price, every day goods and the deteriorating services rendered had complicated the situation more till it created a phenomenon where the state government was seen as not being empathetic towards the people.
Sentiments began to change. The rakyat was set on 'punishing' the government. The high cost of living within the Klang Valley also helped their cause.
The rakyat translated their unhappiness into their votes in the 2008 election, and BN only managed to secure 140 seats in the Dewan Rakyat that year compared to the 198 they won in 2004. BN had in fact missed out on too many state seats till they lost control over Selangor, Kedah, Penang and Perak besides not being able to wrest Kelantan.
For the rakyat who voted in protest, the change they got was not what they had expected.
The Pakatan Rakyat Selangor Government steered by PKR failed to provide a satisfactory level of service to the hopeful rakyat who were hungry for inprovement.
It wasn't just the fact that many election promises were not fulfilled but even the community's basic problems such as garbage collection were also not properly cared for, in addition to rising social ills.
In the Kuala Selangor parliamentary, for example, the mushrooming of massage parlors has 'colored' the historic town. More unfortunate, the dodgy parlors are all located nearby the office of the MP who was purportedly representing a party that supposedly champions Islam.
These social ills were never on a large scale during the BN's administration of the area. The political landscape in Selangor now has transformed due to the amounting current issues that engulfed the state under Abdul Khalid's leadership. And the state leaders know this; Abdul Khalid himself realized the risk that he would have to endure if he chose to defend his Ijok seat. This had caused the PKR top leadership to field him in the Port Klang state seat for GE13 instead.
The retiree, together with millions of other Selangorians like him, has since repented, so to speak. They've realized that life under the Opposition rule is no walk in the park. The Opposition's machinery was not as solid as how they had hoped for.
The rakyat has realized how loud their protest votes can speak. They have seen very clearly the effect when the power of Umno and the Malays fall. Many Malay leaders have been forced to succumb to being puppets, with the holy verses of the Qur'an being used as campaign ammo and the 'kalimah Allah' being ridiculed by some quarters.
The people of Selangor have learned much these last five years and GE13 would be the time for them to right the wrongs.
- mD
The man reasoned that he only voted for the Opposition this time because he wanted to send a message to the BN. He just didn't think it was possible for the BN to lose control of the state altogether.
The retiree is only one example of the thousands of Selangorians who, at the time, chose to not cast their vote or voted for the Opposition as a sign of protest towards the government.
The consequence: Abdul Khalid, who was unknown to the people of Ijok, manage to secure a victory over his BN opponent Datuk Mohamad Sayuti Said, a former local religious teacher, with a majority of 1,920 votes.
As for the Kuala Selangor parliamentary, an 'outsider' candidate from Negeri Sembilan, PAS' Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad succeeded in becoming the MP of the constituency after he triumphed over local Umno leader Jahaya Ibrahim with a majority of only 860 votes.
It wasn't a large number if one was to compare with the 47,203 total overall voters at the time. But if one placed the figures next to the 2004 election results, the massive erosion in the support for BN was glaring. Some 14,500 people had gave up their traditional BN votes and opted for the Opposition instead.
In the 2004 election, BN had continued its traditional two-thirds majority within the parliamentary. That year's landslide victory was deemed as BN's greatest achievement in history, thus creating a positive perception towards the government among people such as the retiree.
But due to the political arrogance of several key leaders in Selangor at the time, one even going to the extent of awarding brooms to his subordinates for a poor job done, had caused much displeasure not just among civil servants like the retiree but the millions of rakyat across Malaysia.
The increase of petrol price, every day goods and the deteriorating services rendered had complicated the situation more till it created a phenomenon where the state government was seen as not being empathetic towards the people.
Sentiments began to change. The rakyat was set on 'punishing' the government. The high cost of living within the Klang Valley also helped their cause.
The rakyat translated their unhappiness into their votes in the 2008 election, and BN only managed to secure 140 seats in the Dewan Rakyat that year compared to the 198 they won in 2004. BN had in fact missed out on too many state seats till they lost control over Selangor, Kedah, Penang and Perak besides not being able to wrest Kelantan.
For the rakyat who voted in protest, the change they got was not what they had expected.
The Pakatan Rakyat Selangor Government steered by PKR failed to provide a satisfactory level of service to the hopeful rakyat who were hungry for inprovement.
It wasn't just the fact that many election promises were not fulfilled but even the community's basic problems such as garbage collection were also not properly cared for, in addition to rising social ills.
In the Kuala Selangor parliamentary, for example, the mushrooming of massage parlors has 'colored' the historic town. More unfortunate, the dodgy parlors are all located nearby the office of the MP who was purportedly representing a party that supposedly champions Islam.
These social ills were never on a large scale during the BN's administration of the area. The political landscape in Selangor now has transformed due to the amounting current issues that engulfed the state under Abdul Khalid's leadership. And the state leaders know this; Abdul Khalid himself realized the risk that he would have to endure if he chose to defend his Ijok seat. This had caused the PKR top leadership to field him in the Port Klang state seat for GE13 instead.
The retiree, together with millions of other Selangorians like him, has since repented, so to speak. They've realized that life under the Opposition rule is no walk in the park. The Opposition's machinery was not as solid as how they had hoped for.
The rakyat has realized how loud their protest votes can speak. They have seen very clearly the effect when the power of Umno and the Malays fall. Many Malay leaders have been forced to succumb to being puppets, with the holy verses of the Qur'an being used as campaign ammo and the 'kalimah Allah' being ridiculed by some quarters.
The people of Selangor have learned much these last five years and GE13 would be the time for them to right the wrongs.
- mD
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