About Time for Question Time?

The election fever is finally coming to an end and things are settling down slowly and thats nice, to finally have some sense of normality. Except it ain't that normal anymore, we are now in a totally new political landscape where race based politics seem to be getting irrelevant and the opposition is not as feeble as it used to be, it has 5 states at its hands now, and BN has to learn to live with the fact that if they continue at their current rate they are in real danger of being voted out the next elections in 5 years time or maybe less.

But then all doesn't seem well for BN... UMNO seems divided despite their show of unity and loyalty towards Abdullah Badawi. Samy Vellu still refuses to give up his MIC presidency, when its obvious that he is not wanted anymore. Tengku Razaleigh has made no bones about his presidential aspirations in UMNO, and I'm sure he has some covert support. The last time Tengku Razaleigh went for the job, he lost by 43 votes and split the party into 2. It remains to be seen how this piece of development will eventually play out.

As for the opposition, the Perak debacle has finally come to an end and the new Mentri Besar has finally taken office, and all seems well for now. The way the 5 oppo states are administered will be closely watched, and the new state government can afford no cock ups whatsoever of they wish to be reelected the next time. Post 8th of March, nothing can be taken for granted anymore.

Theres been talk of a shadow cabinet, that idea to me is brilliant and it makes opposition in parliament more organized and effective. It gives the opposition a good platform to present alternative policies and keep each ministry in check. Via a shadow cabinet, the public will be better able to judge the oppositions policies and solutions and decide if their a better bet than what we already have at the moment. When each minister has a shadow they will tend to perform better and they'll be kept in check as they will want to out perform their opposite number.

The abolishment of the post Parliamentary Secretary is also I believe a positive development, ministers will now have to be present themselves at parliament and be subjected to scrutiny and be made more accountable to for their actions. But I think its about time we have the Prime Minister's Question Time like the ones in UK and Australia, make the PM come to parliament and face questions regarding the affairs of the federation. Lim Kit Siang says twice a week, but I say lets be reasonable and make it once a week. If the PM can't attend then the DPM can stand in for him. It will keep the PM on his toes and answerable personally on the way he does his job. Let the people be the judge if he is indeed doing his job properly. If he is, then theres nothing for him to be afraid of. After the elections its quite clear that the Malaysian people are quite mature enough to see for themselves how the country is being run, unlike what some politicians from BN like to say. We voted these buggers in and its about time they became more answerable to us.

The Aftermath

Its been a week already since last weekends shocker, and the drama is only just unfolding. There are already calls for the PM to quit and take full responsibility for BN's poor outing and all doesn't seem well for UMNO. They are putting up a united front in public but then I'm sure theres more to it behind closed doors. Its been made public today that Mukhriz Mahathir , UMNO Youth's number 2 has written a letter to the PM asking him to resign. I'm sure it will be very interesting to watch how this unravels. When an entity suffers a bad fall such as in the case of BN it must pick itself up very fast in order to minimize damage and get back on track, it must consolidate its position and support base and get back on the game. In this case however that doesn't seem to be the case, theres still no genuine willingness to change and to accept the realities down from the grassroot levels. And on top of that they are acting like sore losers, especially with todays demonstration in Georgetown and yesterdays press conference by Penang UMNO calling upon all mega projects in the state be canceled. These actions accomplish nothing but to imply that they are out for revenge against the people who voted them out of office, to intimidate their opponents and just create further ill will among the different communities in the state.

The BN government has always made it clear it does not condone street protests, but then why the double standards? why weren't anyone arrested? and how come the mainstream media i.e. TV3 gave it prominent coverage in its news bulletins? This to me just implies that this gathering was given its blessings by the higher ups in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. The people were chalenged to voice their unhappiness through the ballot, which they did and now their being intimidated and called traitors for it.... amazing eh? But a squabling UMNO in the short run may not be good for the country but in the long run plus with last weekends shocker to boot will only weaken it and further tarnish its reputation among the electorate and that I believe is good news for those who would like to see a new government at Putrajaya in 5 years time.

As for the opposition parties who have finally come to a consensus on a new Perak state government, the near fallout of this matter was avoidable and it could have been handled better. Yeah they may have won, but they must have and win the peoples confidence when their forming a new government... but in this case theres nothing to be proud of and their antics weren't exactly inspiring to the people they are about to govern. But nonetheless these are a group of people who didn't even expect to be in this position a week ago, and clearly their having trouble adjusting to their new circumstances. I only hope that this is just teething pains and in time it will be overcome. The fact of the matter is that the opposition have a golden chance to prove to the country that they are a credible government in waiting, and the way the 5 states are run will be closely watched by all and as such they can afford no cock ups at this stage of the game. Now its time to change the rhetoric into action, you miss your chance don't expect to get it back again anytime soon. Off course the likes of Lim Kit Siang should also learn the subtleties of diplomacy instead of just calling for boycotts and creating a PR nightmare for all the concerned parties. Now that they're in government now they should learn that there are better ways of doing things instead of shooting oneself on the foot.

Both parties have lots of growing up to do, come next elections its either the opposition thats cast into oblivion or the BN, and its now a fight for survival and I see it will be tough and full of drama till the bitter end. The opposition front can afford no cock ups now and the BN must now reinvent itself to appeal to the current electorate..both are tall orders and we'll just have to wait and see.

The Morning After

Its been an euphoric night as far as I'm concerned, the final results have not tallied yet but the scale of it is already apparent. We have won 5 states and denied BN its 2/3rds majority, the peaople have spoken and they have done it loud and clear. Perhaps BN's saving grace were Sabah and Sarawak where it performed as expected.

Change is always possible and after yesterday, anything is possible. No one ever thought that this could happen..but it has and it feels damn good. Its a golden chance for the opposition parties now to do a good job and walk the talk, make themselves look credible to take over the federal government in 5 years time. Off course for an upset of this scale its apparent all 3 major races in these country has swung its vote towards the opposition, and this just shows that race politics is not relevant anymore and should be put an end to pronto. In the end the fact that we're all Malaysians should be enough to unite us, keep that in mind and BN will die a slow and painful death.

The People have Spoken

What a night its turning out to be....I started the day very apprehensive and uncertain, I have stated before that we Malaysians are a very forgiving lot, how wrong I have turned out to be. I spent the evening in an opposition operations room in the Klang Valley, the mood was initially tense but as results from each stream started trickling in a victory seemed certain and everyone was ecstatic and just screaming their lungs out. Then it became apparent that certain big guns like Samy Vellu were well on their way out the crowd just went bonkers. The crowd was swelling by the minute and no one was in the mood to go home anytime soon. We only dispersed when the candidate had left to get the official results at the main polling centre and rumours were going about concerning some scuffles breaking about in certain areas.

Penang and Kedah have fallen, Kelantan is still under PAS and Perak and Selangor are potentially falling into opposition hands, to me thats awesome news and the tide is finally turning against the dastardly BN regime. We have made great gains this time around and maybe next time we'll be in a better position to form the next federal government.

Time for Change, Vote for Opposition

Its finally the wee hours of election day, come 8 o'clock people will start lining up outside schools, halls and other voting stations throughout the country to have a say in Malaysia's future. Its the right and responsibility of every eligible citizen to go out and vote, its a responsibility that must be taken seriously and it ultimately impacts the way this country will be governed the next 5 years.

I just can't help how MCA, MIC and Gerakan leaders go about pleading the electorate for votes, "you don't vote us there'll be no Chinese or Indian representation in government" .... to me thats the problem in todays Malaysia..race based politics.. UMNO for the Malays, MCA for the Chinese and MIC for the Indians it then becomes a coalition of convenience in which no one really has a say in anything except UMNO. Off course MIC and MCA MP's don't get to speak up on issues effecting their constituents for fear of UMNO's wrath.

We can put a stop to their shenanigans and mismanagement by voting opposition come voting time and if we're lucky we'll have a strong opposition or if miracles indeed happens we'll be looking at a new ruling coalition come sunday morning. Well impossible can be conquered, it has been done before why not here in Malaysia instead for a change? We can precisely do that by voting opposition instead it doesn't matter who it could be... the moon, the double moon or the rocket just as long as its not the dacing. As I like to tell people these days "undi dacing dapat cacing". We should vote for parties who represent all Malaysians and take into heart the interest of all Malaysians in their agenda. Parties who go about keris waving, scare monggering, who tolerate corrupt practices, tolerate gender discrimination i'e the bocor saga, racism in parliament i.e the bugger from Jerai.... should be voted out and never let back in...and one fine day when we finally have a 2/3rds majority we can may be legislate the outlawing of race based political parties, to me that will be wonderful.

As for now, just go out and vote, show these buggers who really is the boss.Every vote counts and its secret.. ballot papers have serial numbers no more and you are not liable to anyone else on your choice except your own conscience.

And Justice for All

Its been awhile since i posted here, i had become bored with blogging. I initially found it to be the best outlet to vent out my thoughts and opinions on issues and the world surrounding me. After awhile i didn't see the point of it anymore and just got bored. But the now a lot is happening around us and I have just realized that this may be my best outlet after all.

I have always felt strongly about politics and current affairs, and these election season for some reason or another seemed exciting to me and hence i decided to volunteer in a campaign. I chose to volunteer for an opposition party here in the Klang Valley thru the reccomendation of Pusat Komas a local human rights NGO , and have since been going to their operations room regularly to help out in whatever way I can. The main reason i volunteered is for the simple reason that just yacking away in the coffee shop ain't gonna change the world, why not get involved for a change? the idea made sense to me and I just signed up, it just seemed to me the right thing to do.

Now that I have signed up, have I any regrets? NO!... yeah I didn't really know what to expect from it all . I show up for a few hours a day whenever I can, and just do whatever is required to be done at that given day or moment. Leafleting and canvasing is fun albeit tiring, and the best part of it is that I got to meet lots of like minded people and personalities who are totally committed to a just and democratic Malaysia. Its truly refreshing indeed. But most importantly i feel that I am a part of something important, and that is a bloody good feeling. Yeah BN will almost certainly win the elections, but at least I can say to myself " I did what I could".

This saturday I will vote for the first time in my life, and I'm really looking forward to it as its my chance to say NO! to a system I despise. Its off course upsetting to hear that the Election Commission will not be using indelible ink this time around due to reasons of "national security" and off course to uphold the constitutional right to cheat by the incumbent. But then think about it, all is not lost. Every registered voter still has his or her vote, and that to me counts for something. It means that everyone still has the right to vote for change, and if the vast majority of people actually decide to do so then no amount of cheating will be ever able to stop that. That is to you my friends " People Power". We owe no one nothing, and its our right to be served by a clean and fair government who is accountable for every action it carries out.