hope

well. away. has it been two years already? damn. well since the last post, many things have happened: i got stuck, repeated, ohyeah i went to bangkok before that, then many other tourneys. even handled one. then the parties came. god was peer pressure great. grass was abundant, ditto for al co hol. i 'changed'. well folks, barack obama took it from me and put a positive spin to it.

then i worked. worked, saved, went really thrifty and stingy but hey its the way to go. i got an ejucation to go through, still. hehe. met more people, got lucky (won more tix and free stuff la, you fickle-minded person!) and freelancing for some important people.

fastforward to now. what happened to moi? well, i just went ayee. care to explain? soon enough. but the developments in the last two years really got my head spinning.

we had this 'atmosphere'. calm, coolness, relative peace and quiet. then i discovered a documentary. sepuluh tahun sebelum merdeka by fahmi redza, a local struggling filmmaker. tells of the story of the struggle of the people: labour unions, women's groups, small sociopolitical organizations that were sick of our occupiers, after the Japanese left. the picture painted as if the people who claims responsibility (they still do) for our great, 'peaceful, bloodless' independence are the good guys, but forthwith i understood otherwise. for the occupiers want to keep their interests here in our great country safe from being shared and enjoyed by all, so they played the race card (cliched i know) with the hereditary kings put on the forefront and the people proclaiming a certain race's supremacy to hold massive media and propaganda power. until the independence proper, the united, large front of the people were defeated by the occupiers and their buttkissing racist party puppets.

given heroes' welcomes, the newly-formed coalition bonded into a powersharing agreement, the only coalition in the world who heads into any democratic process bound by a 'social contract', which by now the definition is so played up and politicised it is just a quagmire of things: a compromise, for the majority race to be respected and given affirmative action over the other peoples brought into this country after this race. or, it could be the rights of the 'indigineous', enshrined in the constitution. or, the agreement whereby the parties of this coalition would share power and give concessions based on the demographics of this great nation.

whatever it is, this documentary has opened up many a possibility for me. and thoughts, ideas, conspiracy theories brewing in my noggin like never before. after a few trips to Central Market, the Malaysian Bar Council, and internet for research, i came to the conclusion that we have escaped the knowledge, the history that makes us and shapes us into who we are, what this country has become. and the entire of malaysia now sit on the sidelines, looking at all the people in the brouhaha which is the malaysian political crisis. yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is a crisis. we have taken the political system for granted. we have said 'we are not ready' to everything: to english in science and maths, to meritocracy, to race quotas, to desubsidizing proton, to rural development (oh yes we havent, KL-ites), to equality, to respect for the law, respect for the real powerholders in a democratic society, to morality, to change.

the police are left with lots of crime, as a result of this economic hardship people start to rob others. yet they are still bickering. i dont care who is right or wrong, educate us, appreciate us, give us the chance to live and earn a living, to learn to live in harmony despite our differences, to love the peoples of this great nation, to become malaysian.

the small, annoying stuff gets politicised, every day we see one guy going 'dont play the race card', we see people making excuses, people standing tall, smiling even, in court waiting to be charged for corruption. we see people desperately trying to grab power and to hold on to it, we see people shamelessly having a go at others' personality, qualifications; ridiculing their input while copycatting their brilliant ideas, then going all 'hey i came up with that' all over the frontpage.

i am sick and tired of all this. frogs, rape, corruption. when will it all end? i'll tell you when. have you noticed all the programs, projects and works have rarely benefited the people? have you noticed money is spent on mindless kenduris and vote-me campaigns and little else? have you seen the twists and watering-down of policies originally formulated for, my God finally, the good of the nation?

we have to think, investigate, participate. think of what's best for us, all of us, all malaysians. investigate ways of solving current, backdated troubles. investigate the true nature of malaysian politics and the inner core of political intelligentsia. who are they working for? who do they answer to? investigate what they stand for, what are their principles? any values worth noting? any particular line they take great pains to fight for? or just the same ol mindless powerlusting? then finally participate in the process. power and respect should be earned and we have to give them power if we respect them. some people think it is pointless to participate as the system is not accommodating. well tough, unless you can find a way to make the politicians turn their backs on power, you go up on the podium then! it is time for the people to determine their fate. who says true-blue independents are worthless? give it a go, be honest, god willing, victory will be yours.

in the world over, people in their own political parties dont always agree with each other. each and every personality have their own beliefs; their own stand on stuff that matters. corruption may still be there, but some people actually have principles and steely resolve to support what they believe in, that can also mean they have no tolerance for corruption whatsoever. malaysia? you know the answer.

it may be a long way away from the next democratic process. but i urge you to soak up on knowledge, history from all angles and viewpoints, so you can make learned decisions. who can make our democracy mature? only you can. who can make our nation ready for all the things we are not ready before? only you can. who can actually make our country work? yes, only we can.

believe in our great country.