YOURSAY | ’Johor is always the trendsetter in politics and votes to its advantage.‘
COMMENT | Sombre, sober reflections on Johor election
Nada Villa: The brutal conclusion is that Pakatan Harapan was not defeated by some sudden love affair with BN; it was abandoned by voters it took for granted.
The Malays were never fully convinced, the Chinese are tired of being frightened by PAS, and the Indians have learnt that loyalty earns them little more than speeches.
Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi offered a visible face and a story of delivery; Harapan offered Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, excuses, and recycled warnings.
Perhaps Anwar should simply serve out his full term and retire, because the reformist legacy he once promised is rapidly disappearing.
PAS, meanwhile, may have found the perfect Trojan horse in Umno - riding on its formidable grassroots machinery to consolidate the Malay vote, and eventually dominate the partnership from within.
DAP should be equally terrified: Johor shows its once-safe urban and Chinese base is no longer captive.
Perhaps the majority now rooting for PAS should finally be given exactly what they wish for: a PAS-led Putrajaya.
Let the country then experience what happens when racial and religious politics collide with economic reality, investor confidence, and talent retention.
Maybe only when the consequences reach jobs, businesses, and their own pockets will the true cost be understood.
Some political lessons can only be learnt the hard way. Perhaps that’s just the way the curry puff crumbles.
Quigonbond: I think the silver lining is there is no green wave; the youth didn’t get radicalised with conservative politics; no one really mentioned race during the Johor state election.
If voters ultimately value good leadership and economic stability, then there is still hope for Harapan in central government because that's what they do best, and go back to being fair to non-Malays instead of walking on the 2R eggshells all the time.
But they do need to speak up more on cost of living issues, maybe once again show that they are united - have a news conference after every cabinet meeting.
They may need to start explaining why certain reforms have been slow or can’t happen because of the compromise with BN and other coalition partners - since most people conflate a Harapan prime minister with the false notion that the government is for Harapan to run as they see fit, ignoring the restrictive realities of a unity government.
It is also time to give younger leaders a chance to shine, to fill some of the gap left by Parti Bersama Malaysia co-leader Rafizi Ramli and gang.
Finally, there is no harm in continuing to generate fresh policy ideas. For example, with respect to climate change, wet-bulb events have become more prevalent.
We should have a national consensus on this soon, whether it remains individual DIY, translates into changes to building materials and standards, or town planning should incorporate district cooling principles.
Pink: I am Johorean; all my siblings were campaigning for Umno. They were tasked to look after 40 voters each, categorising them into white, grey and black. They were surprised that night after night the support for BN was overwhelming that they taught there were making mistakes.
1. Nobody here during the election ever raised the issue of Johor for Johoreans.
2. No one talked about cooperation with PAS. UMNO was so confident, did not need PAS help, though PAS wants to take credit for Umno’s victory. PAS had never been strong in Johor; their contribution to Umno’s victory was insignificant.
3. The topic raised most during conversation was how good Onn Hafiz is. His performance as the menteri besar spoke for itself. Few ever said bad things about Anwar.
Johoreans are pragmatic people. The Umno Malays could shift to voting for other parties if they see Umno is not good, as can be seen in the last election. The Chinese would punish DAP, as could be seen in the previous Tanjung Piai by-election.
The Indians returned to MIC when they felt betrayed.
Amid all this, Johoreans still voted for former education minister Maszlee Malik, because he was seen as a useful opposition leader.
Johor is always the trendsetter in politics and votes to its advantage. Throughout the history of Malaysia, Johor and its neighbour Melaka are the only two states that have never been in the opposition at the Federal level.
Gasinggeorge: Bersama might just be PKR 2.0 - once they gain some electoral foothold and a few strongmen politicians are allowed to jump into their midst, the internal politics begin.
While they slowly gain more power, their lofty manifestos will be watered down or discarded altogether.
Instead, Rafizi and company should stand firm and be prepared to remain in opposition for a long time, as long as it takes for the country to truly tire of the old politics; and even as long as it takes for the country to have tried and rejected a PAS-led government experiment.
Only then - from the ashes of our economy - a new dawn can rise. Only then can Bersama and its allies build the New Malaysia.
AB Sulaiman: In our Alice in Wonderland country, the political scenario is getting weirder and weirder.
I say that because we live in a world of artificial intelligence, computers, robots, space travel; we require a new mindset.
Yet the last Johor elections indicate we still talk of untuk agama bangsa dan negara, of the 3Rs.
Malaysiakini columnist P Gunasegaram has pointed out very clearly that as a nation we are walking on thin ice.
It’s about time we pay due attention to his wisdom. - Mkini
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