Not sure if anyone has noticed this – might or might not be a good thing – but I have upgraded the server hosting this blog. Externally, nothing much has changed but underneath, things have changed quite a bit. I won’t go into the details but there has been some availability problems with the last server, which was choking under any slight load. It also costs less money!
So far, things seem fine and dandy. The migration was seamless.
I just read this post by our non-fugitive blogger, RPK, about how the emerging – “Anything But UMNO” – trend is rather worrying. I couldn’t agree more. Niccolo Machiavelli is largely credited as the person who came up with the notion that the ends justifies the means. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people who believe in that. To me, the means are far more important than the ends, which is a problem in so many ways.
While I think that our country needs a good government, even possibly an alternative government, I do not believe that we need to do whatever necessary to throw BN out. While our BN government has raped Our Country and defiled Our Constitution in so many ways, there are also so many things that we have today, which the BN government should be credited for. As for the opposition, they are a big joke at the moment. I hope that they will be able to get their act together and to put on a positive challenge for the future.
I don’t know about other people, but I do not want to trade one government for another similar one. If there is going to be a change, let there be some real change. After the last GE, I actually believed that the best way to bring about positive change for Malaysia was for the opposition to work with the BN government in a unity government. Let me quote myself:
We have a new beginning in Malaysia. News is also beginning to filter in on the reactions by various parties. I thought that I’d put down what I think are some good ideas for the Opposition 2.0 to try to think about. I’m hoping that the opposition will not disappoint but I have a sinking feeling that they will.
Local Elections
I am hoping that the local councilors in the opposition states will now be elected democratically instead of being appointed. It should not be too difficult to implement a form of local elections for people like the mayor too.Shadow Cabinet
The rakyat have been asking for this for ages. They have no excuses now. The opposition has enough numbers in parliament to form an effective shadow cabinet and create a real check and balance for the ruling government.Real Proposals
Now, the opposition can no longer make random promises as they have to deliver on the promises. If they want to get rid of the NEP, please give a solid proposal on what to replace it with. Meritocracy and fairness are not proposals.Racial Politics
Personally, I find it kind of disappointing that the opposition are playing the same racial game that nobody is interested in anymore. Multi-racial politics is still racial politics. They have a chance of changing the political landscape totally, but they seem to be oblivious of it.Work Together
Instead of cultivating an us vs them mentality, the opposition should invite participation from the ruling government. In fact, the government should do that too, by inviting opposition MPs into the cabinet. People should be selected based on experience/skills, and not who they kowtow to.Let’s all hope that our dreams don’t turn into nightmares. Let’s not fall back into the same rut that we’ve just managed to dig ourselves out of.
Sigh. My dream will not be shattered.
I do not blame Nik Nazmi for being dumb, but this is the problem that we have in our country. People who talk big-picture, do not seem to realise what is the big-picture. My dear Nik Nazmi, the big-picture is not about getting you re-elected nor is it about putting you and your friends into parliament. Dude, you got this so wrong:
If anything’s anything, a third party would simply split the vote of Malaysians who want to see real change. To me therefore (and I may be wrong about this), the only effect a third party would have in Malaysia would be to simply ensure the continuance of Barisan Nasional’s rule.
Or is that the point?
I cannot agree more with Nik Nazmi on this – because any third force will just split PR’s votes. Therefore, the solution is simple. Anwar admitted that PKR had troubles finding good candidates in the last GE. In fact, the same problem is faced by PAS and DAP too. That is where the third force comes in.
In order to avoid splitting the votes, PR should not run, where the third force runs. Simple.
Since PR has problems finding good candidates, if a good independent candidate can be found, PR should just withdraw from competing that seat and let that independent candidate go one-on-one with BN. This means that PR is unlikely to secure 51% of the seats in parliament but it will increase the chances of kicking idiots out of parliament (on both sides).
Honestly, I expected more from you. Are you so blind to even see such a simple and elegant solution?
I just read a blog entry on how a child should deal with bullies at school. It advocates the use of violence against violence – and I concur. This is the lesson that I was taught by my mom and I will pass it on dutifully. My mom’s rationale is simple – in this world, if you do not fight for your own survival, nobody else will.
If everyone goes pacifist except the bad people, eventually one bad person with no conscience winds up ruling. No. It doesn’t work. Teach your kids to fight back, fight smart, defend and assert themselves, and protect others in trouble. There’s legitimately bad people in the world, barely above animals, and strength is the only thing they respect. Assert yourself.
The blog brought back lots of memories of my childhood. I can still remember the first fight that I got into at school. I was 8 and was picked on by a guy 3 years older and at that age, there is a significant size difference between the two of us. All he had to do was hold my head at an arm’s length and I was not able to reach him. I don’t know any martial arts, nor am I very strong physically but I never let those details stop me. Our fight was very public as it happened in the school canteen during our break. Obviously, I lost that fight but he never bothered me anymore after that, neither did any other person I got into a fight with after that.
This entry is not all about violence. I also helped people who needed it in school. Since no bully wanted to mess with me, I gained a sort of shield that I extended to others. Someone whom I once helped, invited my mom for his wedding and told her that he still remembers me because I once helped him out when he was confronted by a gang in school. The incident is all fuzzy to me now but I am just glad that things turned out alright in the end.
I totally agree with what that blog says, and so does my mom.
If you do not fight for your own survival in this world, nobody else will.
Funny that they have ONE common fear!
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I love it when someone with a small mind claims that someone else is missing the big picture. In a letter to MalaysiaKini recently, someone named Meng Yee claimed that Zaid’s recent outburst and backlash are character flaws. While I am not a supporter of Zaid Ibrahim, nor am I one of his fanboys, all I care about is what is good for Malaysia, our nation.
The big picture, is to fix the ails of our nation and not to put PR into power.
While some people may think that sending PR to PutraJaya is essential in fixing our problems, I am ambivalent about it simply because the creatures in PR are cut from the same cloth as the ones from BN. I would not be surprised if some of them fight each other during office hours and play golf together over the weekend.
What I want, as a Malaysian, and I think that I share the same objectives as most Malaysians – is to fix the problems of our country. I do not care which monkey is in charge as long as it is able to pluck the coconut from the palm tree. That is the big picture that I am working towards and will support.
In this sense, I truly believe that we need a third force as a balancer.
Update: Ship up or ship out, Pakatan!
The news sources and blogs are abuzz with the withdrawal of PKR deputy president hopeful, Zaid Ibrahim, from all his party posts and the deputy president elections. There are plenty of people calling him all kinds of names and lots of conspiracy theories are in the spinning. Personally, I think that we need more people like him – disruptive!
I was offered to join this party under the belief that I could promote enlightened and progressive politics; nurture and develop principled political values and culture that I consider indispensable to the development of democracy and good governance in this country. I was mistaken.
Regardless of what we may think of the man, I think that his track record speaks for itself. He was instrumental in weaving the disparate parties of the opposition together and drafting a framework for their cooperation. He was the only cabinet minister who ever quit his job, in recent history, on grounds of principle. He is a maverick.
In business, we refer to disruptive technology as “an innovation that creates a new (and unexpected) market by applying a different set of values.” If we apply this term to Malaysian politics, it means playing the game with a different set of rules than everyone else. In business, this is the strategy to unseat a dominant player – by playing to different rules.
Maverick is exactly what we want. Disruption is exactly what we need in the country.
I had a short conversation the other day, where someone senior mentioned that our government has lost the younger generation. If things on the ground are to be believed, this is most certainly the case. However, the opposition does not present a credible alternative as they are cut from the same cloth and play the game by the same rules.
What we need in Malaysia, is to change the rules of the game. For that, we need players who are able to disrupt the market and change the entire playing field. We need to move away from desktops and laptops onto pads and phones. We need to move away from cassettes and CDs onto MP3s and live casts.
I hope that Zaid Ibrahim will take this opportunity to quit PKR entirely, and to form a new credible alternative to our country’s politics – the Third Force. We need a cadre of high calibre and principled people to fix our country’s woes. Let’s kick some arse.
PS: Please drag people like Izzah along. That will send the right message to the PKR supremo!
Disclaimer: I am a disruptive person by nature. It has often been said that I am a difficult person to work with. I guess that Zaid Ibrahim is difficult too.
Sybreon Ones Nought 