No, Democracy did not die in Malaysia.

by Emir Shafri (05-06-13)

We haven’t lost the elections. At least, not yet.

You must be thinking, “Poor sod probably hasn’t heard yet”. But yes, I did hear, or see, rather. If the profile photos of my fellow country people are anything to go by, it seems that today’s a black day (not to mention, a “blackout” day) for Malaysia. If you strained your ears at exactly 12.54am today, you could hear the collective face palms of disappointed Malaysians everywhere, as the incumbent Barisan Nasional alliance attained a simple majority of 112 votes, allowing them to retain control of the federal government.

The groans of Malaysians who were on the laggy Malaysiakini (which was throttled down, allegedly) were heard about 7 minutes later. But while the Barisan Nasional government has won the elections, they have not won where it matters the most: the hearts and minds of the rakyat.

The road to that victory would be a long and punishing one. For one, it requires them to stay, instead of stray from their election platform: janji ditepati (promise kept). Their promises to unite, not divide the people; their promises to stand up for every single Malaysian, regardless of race, creed or social standing, must be ditepati.

Secondly, they’ll need to be good “children” of the people and go clean their rooms. They’ll need to put a little elbow grease into scrubbing out corruption and cronyism.

Thirdly, they’ll need to be transparent and accountable. Instead of denying allegations, they need to address them, head on. After all, if they did no wrong, the truth should set them free, no? They could start with addressing allegations of gross elections misconduct: the phantom voters, the “foreign reinforcements”, the magically appearing ballot papers.

“But what about the Pakatan Rakyat?” you may ask. “They played by the rules, yet they still lost.”

I for one, don’t think they lost GE13. If anything, they won the most important position in any democratic government: a credible opposition that acts as a diligent check and balance.

Watch the government with an eagle eye. Hold them accountable for the three things I’ve mentioned above. But most importantly, go beyond the ad hominem attacks. From the moment you get sworn into Parliament, show that you have strong alternative positions in every aspect of government, and prove to us that you are indeed a better choice.

Remember what I said a few days ago about this elections being about good old-fashioned parenting? Well, now’s each alliance’s chance to show the rakyat—the “mothers and fathers” of government—that it truly deserves to be our favourite child, in GE 2018.

“What’s the point?” you may lament. “BN will resort to dirty tricks again. Whatever we do, we’ll still lose.” Well, let me tell you when we’ll lose.

The moment we give up on holding the government accountable, that’s when we lose.The moment we decide to just give up on our country (and maybe even contemplate migrating), that’s when we lose.

The moment we grow indifferent and apathetic towards how our nation is governed, that’s when democracy dies. As Plato said (and as shared in an earlier Facebook post), “The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

So no, I refuse to accept that we—the people of Malaysia—have lost. We cannot, and we will not allow it.

So to my fellow Malaysians, hold the government accountable and make sure their janji is ditepati. Remind the Opposition that their job is to act as a check and balance, and to provide a strong alternative viewpoint, not to just attack anything and everything BN does. Stand up and be heard, on whatever platform you choose: a tweet, a Facebook profile photo, a song on YouTube (here’s to you, Namewee), heck, even a speech at school during English Week.

I’ll end this as Alfred, Lord Tennyson did, in Ulysses:

One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

So strive for democracy. Seek democracy. Find democracy. But whatever it is that you do, no matter the amount of blackouts or black eyes we’re handed, do not let democracy yield.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/emir-shafri/no-democracy-did-not-die-in-malaysia/10151694817822577