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With thanks to Goh Chee
Leong
GE 13
Why
I’m voting for Pakatan Rakyat in 2013
_____________________________________________________
By
Chi
The
author is an academic who has been lecturing at a private university in Kuala
Lumpur for over 10 years, holds a PhD, works with various government agencies
and NGOs to ensure the rights of all communities are protected.
_____________________________________________________
5
Reasons why I’m Voting for Pakatan Rakyat in 2013.
1.
Because it’s time that BN learns to FEAR the citizens
For
56 years BN has never once FEARED losing power.
This
lack of fear has bred a culture of complacency within its ranks, an expectation
that no matter what they do, no matter how many billions and trillions of
ringgit they drain from the country through corruption, no matter how many
human rights violations, no matter how many government projects failed because
some VIP decided to use them as a way to make their relatives rich, no matter
how much injustice has been heaped upon people of every race, gender and
religion, no matter how much wastage of the people’s money…… they feel they can
still get away with it because they will never be voted out.
People
don’t change unless they have to.
For
those of you who say that there are still some good leaders within BN, then
listen to this: we’ll be doing BN a favor by voting them out in these
elections. They will have no choice but to reform itself, and the reformist
leaders will be become more influential within their parties.
2.
Because 12 chances is more than enough
Some
say that we should BN another chance. These people forget that for the past 56
years we have given BN a chance to lead this country.
In
the past 12 elections BN has sung the same tune: “We’ll change. Be patient.
This time will be different.” It reminds me of the wife-beating husband who
after each episode of abuse, begs the wife to stay, because he promises that he
will change this time, only for the same abuse to repeat itself again and
again.
For
those of you in the corporate sector: which company in the world would give the
same leader 12 chances in a row when s/he repeatedly commits fraud, steals the
company money and is incompetent at their work?
3.
Because Malaysia can be far greater than it is today
For
the past 25 years, starting with the Mahathir govt, BN’s election message has
been very simple: “be grateful that Malaysia is not like Indonesia, Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia, The Philippines. We are much richer than them so you should be
grateful to BN”.
To me
this is a nonsensical argument. It shows a lack of understanding of economics
and history. We should not be comparing ourselves to Laos and Vietnam, we
should be comparing ourselves to Singapore, Korea, Taiwan.
When
we gained independence in the 1950’s we were a country blesses with advantages
none of our neighbors were blessed with:
= we
were rich in natural resources (tin, rubber) with an infrastructure already in
place to export them
= we
had a relatively small population
= a
solid education system in place which included English
=
relatively good infrastructure
= we
were not exposed to large scale natural disasters like earthquakes or typhoons
= we
were blessed with everything needed to be the top tourist destination in Asia
with a multicultural population, beautiful town and villages with a rich
history, beautiful beaches, forests and mountains
Yet
all of these advantages have been squandered.
The
success and progress that has been made these last 50 years were due more to
the hard-work and enterprise of the Malaysian people rather than the wisdom of
the government leadership.
We’ve
done okay. But we can do so much better. We can be a truly great nation that
all of us can be proud of.
4.
Because BN’s culture of patronage is making this country mediocre
A
culture of patronage means that to succeed, it’s not what you know, but WHO you
know.
We
see this culture of patronage in all spheres of Malaysian society. In public
service, in awarding contracts, in business practice, in large and small organizations,
in NGOs, in education, in sports……
They
say that culture reflects leadership. I believe that this culture of patronage
has been allowed to blossom, it has been allowed to become the norm because for
57 years under the BN leadership: they have led by example in this regard.
When
young people read every day about how family members and friends of high placed
government officials are awarded contracts, they learn that this is acceptable
practice.
If we
want to achieve excellence in any field; we need to put to death this culture
of patronage and replace it with a culture of meritocracy and accountability.
People need to earn their way in this world.
5.
Because Pakatan Rakyat has shown it is serious about fighting corruption.
WE
all know that corruption is widespread and systemic in this country. Like a
cancer it is not easy to extract it from all levels of government.
I
think many people had unrealistic expectations after the last elections: they
were expecting that the day after Pakatan took over Selangor, Perak, Penang,
that all corrupt practices would be eliminated instantly.
The
reality is that corruption is carried out daily by thousands of officials and
workers at all levels.
However,
Pakatan has done many things in the last 4 years that BN have never seriously
considered over the 50 years they were in power: for example, Pakatan started
open tender processes, they had state reps declare their assets, they
introduced more transparent decision making processes across the board.
Is
their work complete? Of course not. But Pakatan has made more progress in 4
years than BN has made in 50 years.
Just
compare the leaders of the two parties and ask yourself: who is less likely to
be corrupted.
On
one hand we have a Pakatan Chief Minister flying economy class, and on the
other hand we have a BN chief minister being caught with a few million dollars
while flying first class to Australia.
Honestly
speaking: for all the noises BN politicians have made about reformation, do we
really believe that BN leaders are clean?
In conclusion, it’s time for us to bring about CHANGE
in Malaysia. A two party system can only be a reality when both parties have
been given a chance to govern. BN has struck out 12 times. It’s time to give
Pakatan Rakyat a chance.