There's still hope for public awakening

The Save Malaysia campaign should have caught fire and spread throughout the length and breadth of the country after the Citizens' Declaration was read out and signed.

Thousands, if not millions, should have taken to the streets to scream their heads off for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to give up the reins of power.

But the flame of revolt did not catch on with the masses. The gathering of some eminent politicians and ordinary individuals was confined to just one small room. This bizarre mishmash of ideologies and convictions did not solidify into one common cause that could ignite public outrage and loathing.

All the brouhaha and anticipation died after the curtain came down on the wizened Old Man who had been trying very hard to cobble together a loose coalition of disparate allied forces to face down the most powerful man in the seat of government. It appears the movement had misfired.

A popular uprising cannot be whipped up if the issues raised are too difficult for the common people to understand. People will not sacrifice their lives if they cannot follow a complicated story about the misdeeds of a leader.

The uncovering of the alleged transgressions of Najib is indeed staggering. The sums of money involved is mind-boggling and is enough fodder for a revolt against his regime. Still the Pekan Man is riding high and appears entrenched in his fortress.

Fortress Najib cannot be demolished by a mere flourish of a paper containing a list of demands that concerned citizens had purportedly drawn up for Najib to take note and take flight.

The prime minister and his merry band of cringers and fawners merely poured scorn on this feeble attempt to topple the strongman. They know the tide is not flowing with the ragtag bunch of foes-turned-friends in the room.

Seeds of distrust

To the vast majority of the people, life goes on with clockwork regularity. There is food in their stomachs, there is BR1M in their pockets, there are more people-centric programmes in the pipeline and our ties with the outside world - from wily Uncle Sam to treacherous sheikhs - are splendid. The sins of Najib do not seem to weigh down on the conscience of the people.

What then, can move the people of Malaysia to pour into the streets in their millions to protest the immoral conduct of their leader? Where is that one spark that can light up public anger and bring the house of Najib down in flames?

For now, nothing can push the masses to take up the battle cry for justice, integrity, transparency. No one is willing to face the full force of the law with its many fangs.

The strident call to sink differences and march in unison is lost in the mist of public apathy. The spark is nowhere to be found in the great landmass of the country.

But there is still hope that the people will wake up and make the country clean again without the instigation of politicians. Already the seeds of distrust had been planted firmly in the people's mind about that soiled man in Putrajaya. The dislike of the immoral leader has taken roots in a vast section of the urban society and even in the soil of the rural hinterland.

One day the winds of change will gather momentum and sweep through the corridors of power when people of all races and creeds realise that the time has come to pull the rug from under Najib's feet. That really historic moment will come to pass sooner rather than later.

History is replete with grim stories of despised leaders who had fallen under the fatal blows of popular revolts well before their term in office had ended.

Often times, it was not hunger and hardship that drove people to stare down the barrel of the gun. It was their moral outrage at corruption and injustice that had propelled them to cry 'people power'.

Once the people's voice is heard loud and clear, no unscrupulous leader can finish his term or survive in office for long. He must either step down voluntarily or be hounded out of office - never to return to public life again.

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PHLIP RODRIGUES is a member of the Malaysiakini team. -Mkini