INIKALILAH!

with thanks to : Cheowhee Lee

Each of us can recall the excitement and eagerly waited coming of festivals - Hari Raya for the Malays, CNY for the Chinese, Thaispusam for the Hindus, the Gawai Dayak Festivals in Sarawak, Harvest festivals for the Kadazans, Christmas and all the other times when we give thanks and celebrate our religious beliefs and cultural heritage. Being a multi cultural society we are all involved in each others festivalities but more than the day itself, it is the days leading up to the festivals that we look forward to as much as the festival itself! The preparation and the arrangements to be made as the day draw ever closer makes for much excitement and trepidation but we know that somehow all will be well on the day of the festival!

Do you not have that same feel for this 13^th general election?

Yes the stakes are higher, the tension almost at breaking point. Everyone is on edge and no one can really predict what will really happen when the fat lady sings. The closest election ever has got us all in a fever…but we know that somehow when the 13^th general election is over and done with, this is the GE that Malaysia had to have. This is our coming of age politically for politics will never be the same again. No longer will it be in the hands of just the politicians – politics will also be our responsibility!

The ‘feel good’ vibe is everywhere. If like me, the first thing you do on waking up or at breakfast you power your PC to see what comes up…you will get your first whiff of that ‘feel good’ vibe as you surf the net and see the names of candidates vying for your votes in the coming days.

Zul Nordin for Shah Alam? Hmmm…now UMNO officially acknowledges Perkasa’s role in their bid to get back Selangor. An inspired choice or does UMNO really think that the Malays will vote them in with Zul?

An attempt to draft Azizah as a candidate? Doomed to failure? And you ask yourself the role Azmin has really played in that decision…but you let it flow…Nurrul’s ability to keep Lembah Panatai is a more worrying.

DAP not able to use their ROCKET symbol? Yes another devious plot by Najib and his goons but in the end it will work to Pakatan’s and DAPs advantage. The sympathy it has generated should bring on board enough supporters to decide between success or failures in marginal constituencies.

A change is underway in Malaysia. We feel the change we see the change and we know what is changing…and in these changes, however small, we are slowly but surely taking back from UMNO and BN our beloved Malaysia back for ourselves

No longer can these damm UMNO politicians expect DBKL, the police and all other government agencies to do their bidding with impunity. Much questions will be asked if they do.

Yes Mahathir can place his son to contest a state seat in Kedah. That he can make Najib do because Najib still owes Mahathir favors. What Mahathir cannot do is to expect the people to accept that decision because we know what is behind that decision. We know why and we know that it is a tit for tat exchange between Najib and Mahathir in return for favors exchanged.

What is different this time around is this. This time around Mahathir and Najib are being loudly told by the Rakyat that this is something that we do not want, we will not tolerate and we will work against. And we are shouting this loud enough for them to hear and be uncomfortable. Yes they have thick skins but surely in their quiet moments they are bound to ponder if the Rakyat refusal to accept Mahathir’s son choice will affect his chances of victory in that state seat?

Each time we do this the seeds of self doubt is planted in the brains of these UMNO politicians. And if enough self doubt is created then they will be more careful of any decision and deeds that they now intend to make.

These self doubts will make them start to think what our reactions will be to everything that they do – and like it or not, they will be force to do a rethink on any decisions that will upset us.

We can be sure that we will not see another May 13^th as the one we saw in 1969 simply because the moment anything remotely similar threatens to happen social media will tell the world every detail from start to finish – who killed who, how many were killed and how they were killed, what the police are doing, what the soldiers were doing… any moves by the BN or PR will be played out in real time, every harm done to any of our people will be known sooner or later…and do you think any politicians will be brave enough to face the wrath of world opinion and that of the Rakyat if they intend to take advantage of the situation? Not Najib not even Mahathir.

We can be sure that we will never see again what happened on October 27, 1987 when we saw the arrest of 106 persons under the ISA. Today even the arrest of one person who is arrested for his political views will make news not only locally but also globally. There is Amnesty, there are many NGOs who are prepared and willing to take on any government if the see these kind of wrongful arrests happening.

Times have changed for the better but there are still many things that need to happen if we are to have good governance.

Everything has change in Malaysia and yet if we do not change this insidious BN government, all this change will be lost and we will have back the corrupt, arrogant and despicable BN government! We will have back their politicians who plunder and pillage our nations wealth in the belief that that is their entitlement. We will have back that sad old man – Mahathir-  who thinks himself GOD’s gift to UMNO. We will have back Najib, Muhyiddin, Nazri, Hishamuddin, Taib Mahmud and all the same gang of thieves and brigands that has made our wretched country what it is today.      

We stand on the cusp of history. Together  we can make the change. Get up and do it!