Now, I usually do not post twice in a day, but I figured, since I have some extra time on my hands today, why not.
For the uninitiated, last sunday, the Opposition to Malaysia’s ruling party won by a huge amount, upsetting the ruling party, Barisan Nasional’s 2/3rd majority victory for the first time in fourty years. Reactions have ranged from shock by the BN party leaders, and countless of un-necessary celebration of supporters of the Opposition on the Internet.
The people were, of course, stoked. The Malaysian blogosphere lit up like the House of Parliament, London 1605 - if Guy Fawkes had not been caught - on the news that the Opposition won over 5 states, and denied BN of a 2/3rd majority win. It was power to the people, they say.
Or is it?
It actually depends on what kind of government the people of Malaysia want. To me, this supposed victory is very much like a lose-lose situation. At any outcome, the biggest losers are none other than the people of Malaysia itself. As a result of that, I am not happy.
Yes, I’m having the balls to say, whatever party you voted for, it sucked.
You want to know why? Let me put it to you in a simple manner:
- Barisan Nasional
A coallition between three major racial parties, it is a very racist political party, and has been for the better half of the previous century. Its party ideals are based upon a non-existent notion - that of race. I understand its circumstances when it started - the whole jus soli nonsense, yes I know them very well - a fact that has been repeatedly hammered into my head since I was 10 years old, through means of education. Nonetheless, it has not outgrown the situation that called for its formation. It clung too tightly to an ideal that people are beginning to abandon. UMNO, MCA, and MIC are still fighting for the rights of the ethnicity they stand for, though I must mention that the latter two party are doing a crappy job out of it.
For generations, Barisan Nasional has been implementing very very racist politics, deemed to ‘give a crutch’ to those left behind. The criteria for selection isn’t objective, but rather, it is based on race. If BN were to be in another country, it’d be rapidly stamped out (just like how Pauline Hanson, though she gained popularity, ultimately never made it to the Parliament in Australia)
- Parti KeADILan Rakyat
This party sounds like an ideal party. It stands for centrist (I’m a centrist, but I’m now leaning to be a statist), and social justice. Sounds really nice. But circumstances surrounding its party’s formation and its party’s core members, I’m really uncomfortable with. This is not a party that has spanned many generations. This is a party that is barely a generation old. It was formed as a protest to Anwar Ibrahim’s arrest and blabla, during the Reformasi period. It was formed on the basis of venegence. And that’s one of the points that unsettles me.Another point that unsettles me is that of Anwar Ibrahim. As the de facto leader (his wife is the actual leader of the party), he has some really disturbing history. He defected a political party to join another, for ranks, and has made really racist hate speech in the past, though now all seems to be forgotten. You can claim that people change, and yes, I accept that.
He was once a supporter of Dr. Mahatir’s plans and visions, but soon, he became one of Mahatir’s harshest critics, and I’ve seen him at times, to have made unobjective criticisms. You can argue that his whole ordeal changed his outlook, and yes, I accept that.
However, if you look at what he recently said, he has no semblance of objective leadership skills at all. He is riding on the sentiments of his supporters in almost all of his campaigns (for his wife). His character is suspect to me, and with his jumping to backstabbing so quickly, made things worse. The final nail in the coffin was that he was found guilty of corruption. You could argue that the whole thing was gamed, but I shall naively believe that there was enough evidence to build a case around him in the first place, hence call suspicion to his character. - Parti Islam Se-Malaya (PAS)
As many of you who have talked about Malaysian politics with me know, I am vehemently against PAS and all the ideals they stand for. It is especially their Islamist standpoint that I cannot stand. Not that I have anything against Muslims themselves. I do, however have many bones to pick against all religions, and Islam is one of those which are especially prickly. So far, I have not seen any major positive improvement coming from the Islamic world.
They are a bunch of people who are still very much stuck in the mediaeval ages. Yes, I am using Afghanistan, the rules of Saudi Arabia as a comparison. Don’t give me examples of how advanced Dubai is. PLEASE.
If you look at statistics, Kelantan and Terrenganu, which has been held for a long time under PAS, has among the highest number of rape cases1, incest cases2 per capita et cetera… Kedah, which is a very ‘Islamic’ state (and has been constantly switching parties in the years), accounts for the highest count of rape and incest and other crimes3 per capita. Also, need I mention that the Barisan Nasional PR dept claims that Kelantan has one of the lowest literacy rate, highest poverty rate, lowest state GDP per capita in the whole country4
Clearly Islamic law isn’t going to help you solve your problems. Don’t bloody argue with me that you’re not allowed to implement your Hudud laws. And don’t tell me Islamic law is fair, and I’ve taken it out of context because I didn’t read the Hudud laws with Tazir and Qisas. I’ve read through all of them, and its not going to help in clearing up your problems in those states. Islam is a religion that says war (in the cause of God, which vaguely means anything, as long as the ulama says it is) is acceptable. I’m sorry, but I’ll not accept such an ideology. Nothing against Muslims though - I have very good friends who are Muslims. Keep Islam as a faith, not a political tool - gawd, haven’t you heard of separation of Church and State?
This party is just WRONG. - Democratic Action Party
This party used to be shared with Lee Kwan Yew. And as such, I do think that this party is on the okay side. I share quite a bit of this party’s ideals. Nonetheless, history comes into play, which dissuades me from voting for this party. This party is extremely well known for its short-sightedness. For example, DAP protested the building of the Penang Bridge, and the North South Highway. These developments of infrastructures are necessary, and it seemed that they protest for the sake of protesting.Also, lest we forget, the May 13th incident was triggered by DAP winning big, and then parading down the streets. Shows you how short sighted they can be. No offence to Lim Kit Siang, but as much as I think you’re a charismatic leader, and very charming too, and a technology leader (of sorts), you do not have much foresight.
The thing that makes me most unforgiving about DAP is the fact that they actually won more seats in Perak, but ceded the Menteri Besar (head of state government) seat to a PAS politician. WTF? Or maybe I should blame the way the constitution was written. Bleh.
So, pretty much a run-down of all the political parties in Malaysia and why they suck, or rather, why the whole election was a Sophie’s choice.
It’s my personal belief that all of us who had voted, had made a terrible choice, between a rock and a hard place. If we were smarter though, we’d abandon our current political belongings, and political attachment to all the wrong parties that currently exist. We’d ban them. Barisan Nasional should be banned for being racist, PAS should be banned for being Islamist, and so on and so forth. These parties should not exist. They only exist because we allowed them to.
People power? My foot. Wisdom of the crowds? My arse. More like “stupidity of the crowds”. Crowds are susceptible to groupthink, are susceptible to groupthink, conformity, and informational cascades. Stand up for yourselves Malaysia. Choose the smart people in. Not people who are alarmingly overprotective over their own race, religion. Not people with vengeful agendas, not people without foresight! I dare you, people of Malaysia. Stand up in the next election, rally against the wrong of these parties. If you’re in a political party, stand up against what wrong it stands for. Nobody wants to be a racist, that’s why nobody elected BN this time around. But what of other shortcomings other parties have as well?
Don’t believe what I just wrote? I am a believer that the market is a great aggregator of information. It tells us precisely the truth5. And that’s precisely what happened. The KLSE dropped to such a level a day after polling, that they had to suspend all trades to prevent even more panic selling. Which tells you exactly how much confidence outsiders have about Malaysia’s government. We just elected the shits into parliament, and all we bloggers do is celebrate online.
All is not lost though. Throughout the election, I saw one promising person, guaranteed to be able to change the system in Malaysia if ever elected Prime Minister. He is Tony Pua. And he has the know-how, as well as the foresights. I’ve followed all his blogs, english and mandarin. And he makes very very good points. He’s the person who should be elected. He’s the person who should be leading the country, him and other smarter people out there.
And me giving a thumbs up to Tony Pua doesn’t mean I’m supporting DAP. I’m not going to tell you whom I voted for, but I’ll say I voted for a party with a √ and a 
though. Yes, I scribbled a smiley. Big deal. Tells you what I think of the whole elections anyways.
- Source [↩]
- Source [↩]
- see sources above [↩]
- Source [↩]
- over a period of time, and unless we’re at a bubble, or panic selling [↩]
Cool?
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I heard from somewhere that people would trust leaders slightly smarter than themselves. But any smarter and they get suspicious. Just how smart is Tony Pua?
Though i guess if he so starkly stands out coz the others are all idiots, then the voters have no other choice.
Tony Pua is pretty smart, I’d say. PPE degree ought to say something.
Strange. You still believe that May 13 was triggered by the celebration of the DAP. Perhaps you should review the history again?
Samy Vellu ain’t around no longer. So long SUCKAAAAAA!!!
everybody useless lah.. VOTE ME AS PM!!!! =)
Seems like a lot of hot air to suggest nothing practical to be done about our leadership and governance. Yes, i get that you have a lot of problems with our political parties (who doesnt?), but flaming everyone and then leaving without a satisfactory answer and ending with a vague exhortation to “vote the smart people in”… just who are they anyway? Even if we could pick the best candidates from each party, who’s to say they won’t succumb to the evils of power? How about in constituencies where you have to choose between a racist and a corrupt? No other choice. And then what?
Like i said, solid opinions, but not much help.
~hashie
Weren’t you reading? I singled out one name - Tony Pua.
In constituencies where you have to choose between a racist and a corrupt politician, you can choose a third choice - mass boycott.
“I am vehemently against PAS and all the ideals they stand for.”
Yes, we know that you are an Islamophobe. No need to rub it in into our faces.
“It is especially their Islamist standpoint that I cannot stand.”
So why not admit that this is the real reason that you hate PAS and the Muslims? Its not because of PAS policies, but because YOU have a bone to pick with ISLAM itself. Bah.
“Not that I have anything against Muslims themselves.”
And in the same breath, you choose to contradict the above statement. Since when have PAS members stopped becoming Muslims? Since when, for that matter, has PAS stopped becoming Malaysians? The name of the party speaks for itself: Pan-MALAYSIAN Islamic Party. It is an Islamic party, true…but it is also essentially Malaysian. As for the hilarity of the comment you made here, i.e. “[you] have nothing against Muslim themselves, it speaks of your ignorance. A Muslim is one who profess the Islamic faith and Islam consists of those who are Muslims. This dichotomy of separating Islam from Muslims, i.e., “I hate Islam so much that I wanna destroy it, but I love all Muslims”, bla, bla, bla, is something I find all too common in the psyche of the Islamophobic mind. It is a self-denying excuse that you are an ISLAM-HATER and a MUSLIM-HATER.
“So far, I have not seen any major positive improvement coming from the Islamic world.”
This is not the place to be discussing this, so I should defer this issue to another time. However, what does this have got to do with PAS, in the Malaysian context per se?
“They are a bunch of people who are still very much stuck in the mediaeval ages. Yes, I am using Afghanistan, the rules of Saudi Arabia as a comparison. Don’t give me examples of how advanced Dubai is.”
More bloody nonsense. The team that make up PAS are not only from the ulama, but professionals as well. Take for example Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin, the incoming Menteri Besar for Perak. He has not only got a good religious background, but he is also a professional and an engineer to boot. He is not the only one in PAS to have that too, by the way. What kind of self-serving, disgusting hatred for Islam does one has to bring himself to say that the PAS leadership and its members are in the medieval era?
“PLEASE.”
Indeed. PLEASE don’t try to fool us with your self-serving hatred for ISLAM. I do not think that this BULLSHIT that you have written above has got anything whatsoever to do with the party. Its all about ISLAM, ISLAM and ISLAM, nothing else. You are an Islamophobic retard and that is the true fact of the matter.
- MENJ
[...] Well, the person in question is no doubt someone who has an intense hatred for Islam and that is not new. However I felt that I should reply to some of the statements he has made about PAS in general. Here is the replies that I have made in the comments section of his blog post in question. “I am vehemently against PAS and all the ideals they stand for.” [...]
yes chewxy is a muslim/islam/religion-in-general hater. But what has that got to do with anything else he has to say? Chewxy, like you, are plainly irrational beings trying to make sense of the world. And such beings can surprisingly sometimes bring up valid points! Now isnt that amazing? Let’s salvage whatever rationality we can here. Just STFU about religion please…
(this is not to say religious policies that affect the secular lives of secular ppl are irrelevant. But there is no use discussing the validity of such policies within a religious framework unless you are a theologician. The question to ask is “do i want such and such a policy? ignoring the fact that the policy is religious in origin)
Menj,
There’s nothing wrong with becoming an Islam Hater. It’s legal and valid. (I’ll explain why later) You yourself is a well known unlicensed Christian Hater (which is still the biggest religion in the world by population and popularity and it’s a threat to your religion), so don’t pull that bullshit holier than thou farce which doesn’t fit you.
You can do a pointless attempt to correct people whom you think has this misconception about islam, but realize this, try as you might it is defaulted within your system of believe to fail by itself without even the need to try. It is your fanatic brothers who contributed and enhance that flawed side of your religion that gave rise to the hatred, It is people like you who in their fervent religious Jihad attempt, gave rise to the hatred in your system. See nobody who is sane would want to have anything to do with a system whose god is a god of war, sanction killing, threats women like they’re some kind of property and approve a contradictory heaven that only appease the Male hormones. (yes the wines, 72 virgins and all the fappping license you can do) It’s only a wild fantasy cooked up by the devil which only stupid people like you would fall for it.
So before correcting anybody, look back at the other 4 fingers pointing back at your religion.
BTW your religion is still secondary in this world. So suck it up and accept it. LoL, I’m so gay hearing this, Secondary…….
Menj, Chewyx,
Both of you SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!! You’re both FUCKING WRONG!!!! Stop this FUCKING RELIGIOUS CRAP RIGHT THE FUCK NOW OR I’LL RIP BOTH YOUR FUCKING HEADS OFF AND SHIT DOWN BOTH YOUR COLLECTIVE FUCKING THROATS!!!!! Chewyx, you are a FUCKING MORON , you know why? For making the statement that you are against Islam. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT ALL ABOUT? WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU VOTE FOR IN THE 12TH FUCKING GENERAL ELECTIONS, ASSHOLE!!! OR DID YOU EVEN BOTHER TO VOTE?? I can tell you what the rest of Malaysia didn’t vote for, and that IS NOT FOR FUCKING ASSHOLES LIKE YOU TO SPEW YOUR LOPSIDED BIGOTTED POINT OF VIEW!!WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU GOT AGAINST THE RELIGION OF OTHERS? IS THAT WHAT THEY TEACH YOU IN CHURCH? TO HATE AND TO STRIKE OTHERS WHO DON’T SHARE YOUR RELIGIOUS VIEWS?
There is only one thing I shall say: I have no regrets opening this can of worms. I’ve got people psychoanalyzing my words (Menj), I’ve got people whom I agree with, calling me irrational (Zcer), and I’ve got people who fight for the sake of fighting (UW), and I’ve got people from Singapore who don’t even bother to read, and jump to conclusions (George S. Patton).
I love humanity.
And now, to reply seriously, firstly to Menj:
I challenge you to prove that statement. Before anything even happens, you’ve got that impression already. Tsk tsk. Accusations are not helpful in an argument at all.
Ah. I don’t see myself picking up a portable C4 to blow up mosques yet. Hate, my dear, is perhaps a word a tad too strong to use. I do have a bone to pick with Islam, as well as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and I’m slowly vetting through all of them. All in good time. Perhaps when I am screwing the other religions, I will ask you, a well known and well documented anti-nonmuslim, to join me in my quest!
And just as an interesting point, it is possible to separate a person from the religion he or she professes. Just as you are a person, doesn’t matter if you’re Christian (oh my, god forbid!!) or Muslim, you’re still made of proteins, and DNA. You still (hopefully) posses a rational mind of thought.
I don’t deny that I dislike the concept of religion, and that Islam is not unique, because it still is a religion that people religiously follow, to the word, and even up to blowing up famous trade centres. But please, I’d rather you do not put words into my mouth. I wouldn’t want to destroy a faith.
Perhaps when I have more time, I shall compile some statistics and work on them. Maybe it’ll show you the improvements that the Islamic world had contributed to planet Earth in recent years. And Algebra doesn’t count.
I don’t see what does the MB of PAS being an engineer got to do with what I am saying. I am saying that PAS’ policies are themselves religionist, because PAS’ policies are not separate from Islamic law. And Islamic law is not separate from politics, which is why I noted that the party is WRONG. It literally is.
And truly enough, you speak truth. Because of all the 6 billion people in the world, there is only one that speaks the truth, and nothing but the truth (perhaps instigated by God?), and that is you, Menj. Thank you for enlightening the whole world on that fact.
You know, Menj, since you psychoanalyzed my words, perhaps I shall now psychoanalyze yours. Are you afraid that people hate Islam? Is your religion so weak, that you actually have to defend it, and it cannot stand on its own? Perhaps you are reading your own hatred of Islam into my relatively mild words? Why is it you chose to ignore the actual topic we’re on, which is the election itself, and choose to focus yourself on a tiny ego-bruising niche?
I wonder…
zcer:
I’m discussing this in an impassioned off-hand manner, because I’m actually quite unfree right now.
you know well that I’m not discussing this from within a religious framework.
And yes, please, let us salvage whatever rationality we have left here. This place is insanely irrational. (or from the point of view of economics, it’s rationally irrational - I’ve apparently hit on somethings that are precious to someone, so they’re rationally fighting back in to try to save it)
UW:
No, my dear, Christianity is also a backlogged religion, don’t be too happy.
George S Patton:
Please, for goodness sake, read before you post. You quite quickly jump into conclusions.
As for whom I voted, read above. I did mention who I voted, and it was quite clear too.
I strike every religion down. Not just one. I strike every belief system down, including my own.
LOL this blog post is just another flame bait from chewxy. Funny how many people jump onto it.
Chewxy, having an opinion is okay. But next time, do check your facts. Your political understanding is still naive at best.
Looks like you have to change the title of this topic to
“The Storm has just begun”
Here’s why. Everyone is welcome to open their mouth and spew crap. Those who ask others to STFU, I’ll just ask you to GTFO if you don’t like it.
Yes that means you, you Indian Singaporean.
Menj responded:
–> Hello Menj, why do you directly equate Islam to PAS?
Are you saying that those who do not agree with PAS automatically do not agree with PAS?
DOes this mean that those who do not vote for PAS are infidels? including the malay muslims? dont make the mistake for using religion for your political mileage. If u think that by just putting the word Islam in a political party’s name makes it ISLAMIC, then you do have alot to learn about life mr MENJ.
If i formed a party, whos members consist of alcoholics, rapist, and thiefs and called it Malaysian Quranic Islamic PArty, does that make my party a representation of Islam?
how about those muslims in keadilan? are they less islamic? Ignorance is blissful isnt it MENJ?
Are you saying that those who do not agree with PAS automatically do not agree with PAS?
i meant : - Are you saying that those who do not agree with PAS automatically do not agree with ISLAM?
This has gotten particularly amusing.
New players went into the football field.Groups of supporters who don’t even know the rules of the game and have never kick a ball before in their lives, started arguing and killing each other over imaginary “ideal” players and conducts. It is better to take a look deep inside ourselves instead of wasting time and energies to try to measure others and create animosities all around.
Whoa…and i thought 22 comments was cool until i stumbled upon menj.
Dude, you’re a bigot and we all know it. Wasn’t it you9and the other person, i forgot who) that “joked” about branding kafir on non-muslims foreheads and then retracted the statement stating it was a joke? Tsk tsk… damage already done.
I voted for Zainuddin Maidin and all I got was epic lulz.
Makes me wish i was around to vote. Well, you did get BN again for your Soviet Sarawak. Motherland for LULZ?