If Sleeping Beauty was to awaken today from her slumber since the 80s, she would think Malaysia is trapped in a time warp.
Although we have the same Prime Minister from the 80s, nothing has changed after a new government was voted in.
Instead of focusing on delivering election promises, the Pakatan Harapan government is more interested in increasing its representation in Parliament to two-thirds with a narrative that this is needed to bring about reforms.
This resembles their argument when they were in the opposition i.e. if they can form the government, they will give free education, reduce cost of living, abolish toll, etc.
I guess the rakyat have wised up to PH’s false promises and political antics. By and large, the PH government has been a big disappointment but the people want to hold on to their dreams by giving them more time to deliver.
As time passes by, the “Malaysia Baru” the rakyat dreamed of has been evolving back to the old mould.
Malaysians who voted in the new PH government with high hopes have been greatly disappointed. Some hardcore believers are in denial and hold on to the romantic belief that PH will be on track towards a new Malaysia with new positive ways of more accountability, credibility and integrity in time.
The Malaysian political landscape may have changed tremendously but the political will to bring positive changes is lacking and disappointing.
The PH government seems to have a book of 1,001 excuses to escape from promises, responsibilities and commitments.
They do not have to fulfil election promises, their ministers and menteris besar can have “fake” and unrecognised degrees, and the list goes on.
In new Malaysia, suddenly we are allowed to make mistakes even though those mistakes are costly, avoidable and serial.
In new Malaysia, we can make random and contradictory announcements and even consciously mislead or cheat the public with half-truths or distortions of the truth.
This is because the new government was voted in based on these practices when they were in the opposition. They could then speak without responsibility as they did not have to account to the people since they were not in power.
“Nobody is to be blamed. Not the PH politicians. Not the voters. All these are due to Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and 1MDB” a friend who voted PH sighed in regret and self-consolation.
I recently said at a forum organised by KASI Institute titled “2019 Malaysia Economic and Strategic Outlook” that we truly need a two-party system to empower the people with a choice. Not in the form of the present potpourris of component parties banding together for their political agenda and disregarding the people once they have been voted in.
What happened was the PH government was voted in on the pretext of change, cutting across racial and religious considerations. The new Malaysia that the rakyat wanted is a nation-building agenda based on altruistic and universal values.
Instead, we are returning to race-based politics in different clothing.
The ICERD was rejected outright despite the Prime Minister’s public commitment and undertaking in a United Nations forum. Local council elections were arbitrarily dismissed on fear of Malay insecurity and discomfort despite PH government commitments to the third vote towards good governance and democracy. The UEC’s immediate recognition is again delayed out of consideration for Malay nationalist sentiments.
This is why the rakyat need to be truly empowered with a two-party choice. However, we need the parties to establish and state their policies and the values they represent.
The rakyat do not want ad hoc political lies tailored for vote-baitin.
I had suggested the two-party system to be as follows:
- A combination of components of multiracial parties with less emphasis on race and religion.
- A component of racial parties with emphasis on race and religion outlining the compromises and tolerances they have made.
The people can then choose which component can create a better political racial equilibrium genuinely towards racial harmony in the spirit of Perlembagaan Malaysia as propounded by the Alliance founders.
As for MCA, we are trying to convince Malaysians regardless of ethnicity and background that we are a moderate political party with clear established principles and practices on racial tolerance and compromise (although communal by event), upholding the spirit of the Federal Constitution.
Ours is a party with real outreach, structured with a culture of political responsibility and accountability despite being perceived otherwise.
MCA has the energy and integrity although we lack the popularity to win elections at the moment as a result of the emergence of race-based parties like Bersatu, Amanah and going up against Malay candidates from PKR in Malay populated seats.
MCA also suffered when they had to fight DAP which convincingly blamed MCA for the Chinese political woes in Chinese-dominated areas.
MCA acknowledges that we are walking on a tighter racial tightrope today.
It is our wish and commitment to represent the minority voice whether we are in or outside the government without fear or favour of losing our parliamentary seats.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
