To support Barisan Nasional or anyone or anything running against it?

In less than two weeks, Malaysian citizens will be casting their votes in the most exciting general election that has ever hit Malaysia.

In 2008, there was a tsunami of change. The Alliance of PAS, DAP and PR took over Selangor, Perak (briefly) and Penang. Kedah and Kelantan remained in the hands of the Opposition.

Will there be a tsunami of change in Malaysia come 5th May 2013?

We can only hope there will be. 

But this is not my rant today. My rant today is about how supporters of the Opposition demand freedom of choice, the freedom of information, democracy and etc. But then we find them sinking to dirty politics by posting pictures of UMNO leaders having a drink or two, or the PM raising a champagne glass, the ex PM touching the shoulders of a woman at a function, the police running over innocent pedestrians, and so on and so forth.

In all seriousness- what purpose does that serve?

Let us be clear that NONE of these politicians have ever put themselves out as being the epitome of religious piousness. And even if they did, why would Chinese voters find the need to post these pictures of UMNO leaders? Are you trying to influence your Muslim friends to vote for PAS? If so, aren't we all just a bunch of hypocrites? Weren't we the ones who yelled the loudest when they wanted to ban alcohol in 7-11? Or the sale of alcohol anywhere in Selangor? Didn't we get our panties in a bunch when women were disallowed from serving male customers in the hair salon in Kedah/Kelantan? What are we doing now advocating religious piousness and influencing Muslim voters to vote for PAS?

What the hell indeed are we trying to achieve from posting these pictures? I can tell you for sure we will be the FIRST to be yelling at the top of our lungs if PAS were indeed to come into power and remove all the rights we ever have to freedom of religion and to live by rules and laws that are not based on religion.

And why the hell are so many people so upset that Michelle Yeoh pledged her support for Barisan Nasional? Ever heard of freedom of choice? Just like you and I are free to support the opposition, she too is free to support the government. Just because she is a celebrity does not mean she owes it to her fans to support whichever party they demand she supports. Let us be clear, the government has done quite a lot for her. They gave her a Datukship, they gave her fiancee a Datukship. They let her fiancee be the Ambassador to Malaysia to promote Malaysia. What is there not to like about what the government has helped her with? Why shouldn't she pledge her support for BN? So you do not agree with her choice, who died and made you the God of Political Parties so that you can call her a sell out?

Just because someone does not support the Opposition does not mean they are a sell out. It means that they made a choice, and that choice is one that is on the opposite side of yours. But guess what? It's her bloody choice. RESPECT it.

Who are we to advocate freedom of choice, democracy, etc etc when we ourselves are FORCING our political ideas down another person's throat? How are we different from say, pro government supporters? Who kick up a fuss when they see you holding an opposition flag? or cause a ruckus when you attend a ceramah to hear what the PKR leaders have to say? or how DBKL insists you remove flags put up as "art installation" at Lucky Gardens?

When you force your ideas down another person's throat, you are EXACTLY the same as the government agencies or pro government supporters.

Gutter politics are gutter politics. It's now 2013. Things have changed. We have access to other outlets besides the pro government print and websites. Things have changed because it should no longer be about dirty politics. It should no longer be about sex tapes. Or sodomy.

If you hate dirty politics, then you should stop perpetuating it. No matter what you call it, its dirty politics and I for one pledge today that I shall not sink to that level.  Let us look BEYOND dirty politics, let us look at a new future for Malaysia. Better education, freedom from corruption at all levels, a safe and clean Malaysia. For ourselves today and for our children in the future.

WHO CAN DO THAT FOR US?

Barisan Nasional Or Pakatan Rakyat?

Choose wisely.

"Malaysians are a bunch of idiots."- Government of Malaysia

The two things which have been unearthed by the Bersih rally on the 9th July 2011 is:-

No.1 The Malaysian Government (and the PDRM) IS AS STUPID as we always thought they were.

What is Bersih all about? Calling for free and fair election. It is every citizen's right to ensure their votes are counted. Every citizen's wish to have the election reflect accurately whom they want to lead them in the country. Every LIVING citizen's hope (and greatest fear) that dead people don't wake and vote during the election. So, why the heavy handedness? Why do you find the need to deploy so many policemen to arrest peaceful protesters? The rest of Malaysia went about as usual. People getting killed, robbed and cheated. Why not ask the police to do actual police work?

Why do you say Bersih has ignored the Agong's advice when the Agong told them to do it in the stadium, and the PM goes "sure use the stadium" and then recoil and say Bersih is an illegal organisation and they can't hold it in the stadium? What is up with that?

And clearly to right thinking citizens with even HALF the brain size necessary, understand that if you stop ANY traffic from going INTO the Kuala Lumpur area, everybody will have to go on foot. Unfortunately, when these people go on foot, it immediately became an "illegal gathering" and "street protest". You see, if you allowed traffic to move along as usual, most of them would really have preferred to drive. Really. It rained you know? Would've been nice to drive to Stadium Merdeka. But NO, you MADE them walk. You left them no choice. So they walked. And they walked peacefully. And then you started throwing tear gas at them and spraying chemical laced water.

In between all the chaos created by nobody but the PDRM, they allowed a man to lie on the road, unattended, to die. After all, doing one's job in crushing the so called "anti-government" rally (which really was a citizen's march for free and fair elections) is more important than being humane. How can you stand there saying you want to uphold justice and fairness in your blue PDRM uniform when you don't even have an inch of compassion and humanity to help a man suffering a heart attack??

How do you expect the rakyat to wake up on the 10th July 2011 and think that the police are here to protect us when they were to quick to do all necessary, on demand by the government? It is NOT the government who is paying you. It is NOT the government who you have sworn to protect. It is the RAKYAT whom you have pledged to protect and it is exactly the rakyat whom you have let down.

No.2 The government thinks that us Malaysians are a bunch of idiots.

They say "No physical contact between the police and protesters"
And we see:

They say "the police were really professional"
And we see:
Yeah sure. Because not only are we idiots, apparently the we are blind too.

They say:- Only 6000 people turned up
When even a small boy of 4 years old who can count will tell you at least 10k to 20k people turned up.

They say:- Police didn't fire tear gas into the hospital.
And when showed videos and photos of police doing just that
They say: It was done to protect the patients in side.
And when challenged that that must be one of the stupidest statement to have come out of a mouth of any minister (and there are quite a lot of those)
They say: The videos and photos are NOT true.

Because us Malaysians are idiots. We cannot believe what we see, what we hear and what we feel (for those who were present on that day) but we MUST believe what the Governments tells us to see, hear and feel.

So my dear friends, why would you trust a government who LIES to you? Why would allow your government to treat you like an imbecile? Why would you support a government who cannot admit its own mistakes? Why would you think highly of a leader who would say anything just to remain in power? Why would you trust you safety and your life and liberty in the hands of those who have wronged so many of our fellow citizens on the orders of the government? WHY?

If anything, in another 6 months, Bersih may no longer be on anybody's lips. But the fact that the government has LIED to and ABUSED its citizens should forever be etched in our minds.

Only YOU can effect change. Do not sit there and think "it's not my problem."

When you neighbour's house gets broken into and his whole family killed, it isn't your problem either. That is until the perpetrator whom has stayed free (because its not your problem and you shouldn't bother to bring him to justice) comes back and do exactly that to your home and your family. Then it is TOO LATE to do anything about it.

Think. That is all Bersih is asking you to do.

THINK of your future and what you want from it and what you want for your kids to get from it.

Make a choice.

The Bersih rally has come and gone.

I am no supporter of street demonstrations for I am of the opinion that it does nothing to prove one's believes or one's stand on something. But while I may not agree to participate in the street protests, I do not disagree to others choosing to participate in it. If you think marching the streets will be your way of telling the Government "ups yours!", by all means, don your yellow shirts and march the hell out of the streets.

Many of us have woken up on the 9th July 2011 groaning that we probably can't do our usual visit to the malls in Kuala Lumpur due to the massive traffic jams and road closures. We whine in protest that the LRT will not take us to where we want to go due to the station closures. We roll our eyes in resignation when we hear of the inconveniences that the Bersih supporters have caused us.

But truly, what is it that Bersih stands for? Bersih in the shortest summary possible, stands for free and fair elections. Is that such an objectionable idea? Why then do so many people of intellect reject this notion? Why do our countries top politicians deny the demands of Bersih? Who in their right mind would say NO to free and fair elections?

Clearly, one who have played dirty politics all these while.

The PM tells us, if we "tweaked" the election process, the opposition would not have won Selangor. If we meddled with the election results, PAS would not have retained Kelantan for so many years. But the truth is that these victories were landslide victories. It would be hard to switch a tick next to DAP/PAS/PKR to one for BN on a thousand or a hundred thousand balloting papers. But it would not be impossible to switch on a few hundred. After all, we only need ONE vote to separate the winner from the loser.

How many of us have flipped through newspapers during the elections and saw nothing but government propaganda. How many of us have only seen the faces of those campaigning under the BN flag? How many of us have been victims of unfair and biased reporting by our major dailies? Bersih demands that there should be equal opportunities for all parties to campaign. Information should be disseminated to the public fairly. We should be inundated with the BN campaign and the BN campaign alone.

But you know what? These words mean nothing to the the poor man trying to eke out a living, or the yuppie who has just received a scholarship from the government to further her studies, or the professional who has a great job in a GLC. It means nothing to be "anti government". After all, life could be worse off in other countries. We are peaceful, we have opportunities, we have everything we could ask for. So why rock the boat?

Simply because, I do not want to wake up in the morning and see that another one of our fellow citizen has fallen to his death at the foot of the MACC building- and nobody wants to take responsibility for it.

I hate to wake up and be told (again!) that our petrol prices have increased because the government can no longer afford to subsidize us. A country who can among others, spend RM1billion on the new palatial Palace for the Agong, RM17million for the PM (and his wife) to travel around the world (and take the opportunity to attend their daughter's graduation and wedding while out on "official visits"), build a worthless 100 storey building, and buy Rm100m jet engines which somehow goes missing.

I hate to wake up and be told that because I posted something which insulted our PM I would now be detained under the ISA and be held indefinitely without trial.

I would hate to bring up my children in a country where you know the judiciary can be made to follow the will of the party in power.

I would hate to live in a country where religion is thrown in your face to ensure political power is maintained.

You do not have to support Bersih and what it stands for. But you should support your right as a citizen of Malaysia to not have to answer to a corrupt and racist government. Choose to wake up to a Malaysia where you can be any race and religion that you want and live as an equal citizen. Choose to wake up to a Malaysia where your hard earned money goes to projects which will benefit you as a citizen, and not to the pockets of the politicians.

Screw 1Malaysia and its false propaganda.

I choose my government, and I want to be able to choose it freely and fairly.