"Bagi mereka yang masih
dibelengu ideologi terhutang budi dan membalas jasa, good luck. Kerana
anda selamanya tidak akan merdeka."
This is a Facebook status of a friend, and once I read it, it stuck in my head like a glue. Because I can't agree more.
Malaysia has been governed by the same winning party since 55 years ago. Political groups in a democracy-base country like Malaysia - just like in other countries - made up of 'government' and 'opposition' parties. And it happened that the same party which had first governed the country after successfully obtained independence from the British Queen, still (until now) continuously dominate the parliament after such a long period had passing by.
Throughout the ruling of this party, many changes had graced the period. Various parties representing multiracial community in Malaysia, has collaborated to form an alliance - a stronger front-line, be it in the government or opposition side. Prime Minister changed from one to another - different approach & controversy had been witnessed by Malaysia for each different leader.
My personal opinion is that, Malaysia is not that bad. Yes, we do not face any major crisis like war, maladies, natural disaster and alike. However, Malaysia is not in a very good state either.
55 years after Merdeka, Malaysia is still far-behind compared to other countries, particularly in education, economy, political health, social-environment, hygiene, poverty index, et cetera. This situation is prolonged years after years, with few changes & improvement, however make worst by political scandal from both government & opposition parties. Eventually in the current days, it creates a huge gap (or even worst term, hatred) between the two groups among the candidates and also extends to the supporters (not all, but most).
Pressing issues, repeated impairment and disappointment among Malaysians has lead to cries of change.
Changes
Talking about change, there's a few points worth pondering. First, what do we define as 'change' or 'reform'? How could we achieve the change? Or even more important, is there a need for 'change' at all?
Fate lies in the hands of God. However we can make better of our current condition, which is through 'efforts'. God Himself has said in the Quran that He will not change the condition of the people if they themselves do nothing to change theirs.
A country could be improved through many ways. Me myself believe that it should starts at individual stage. Changes should begin within an individual, to achieve a collective result throughout the nation. Afterall, this earth God has given us, has life in it. However it is 'human' who has the intellect and power to govern it, to do something good to it, or something bad. I've watched a Korean drama before, and it says, 'someone who has people with him, rules the world.' I can say I am pretty much agree to this statement. A country is made of people, and so this 'people' must, each of them, improve themselves to be a better person in overall. However even 'better' context can be a complicated issue to discuss about. How would we define 'better'?
Taking religion into this discussion, I believe it is not just Islam - but every religion in this world - preach to strive for the highest level of belief (aqidah), good deeds (ibadah), manners (akhlaq) and knowledge (ilm). As human, our basic needs such as meals, shelter, education - are the keys of escapism from worse living to better (it can be vice versa, but I will discuss the positive effect only here). Shallow it might seems, I would like to define these as 'better' from my humble point of view.
What is the 'change' that people talked about? Changes are demanded due to two reasons. One, for the sake of love towards the
country and the nation. Second, for the sake of personal benefit.
Better education, better living condition, better economic status, better political institution, better manners & civilization - those are among the changes they cry for.
These changes benefit the country, and of course, develop the standard
of living and personal character of the citizen to a higher level
(normally this is the case) as well.
From here, we can instantly see the link between the citizen & the government - the government should provide a living condition or environment that could encourage improvement of social status of its citizen.
As mentioned above, changes can start within individual, which is
often neglected. Since governing a country has always been perceived as responsibility of the government, very often people forget that it
is us, people, who made up a government. Politicians are nothing but
human - a mere human - that is. And so, it is very important to develop
fine characters in each citizen to produce much more quality candidates
who will serve their best for the sake of beloved country and the
people.
However from my personal observation, the changes are viewed
differently from different group of people, whom categorized as follows
(following what I think):
1. Those who truly want a change for the sake of country's betterment
2. Those who want a change of ruling government just for party's benefit
3. Those who want the change but refuse to take any risk
4. Those who think there's no need for change at all
5. Those who don't know what to do or what to think
6. Those who simply don't give a damn
The People
The 1st group usually sincerely love their country and persuade for awareness at individual level. Ideal it might seems, one has to be realistic - not all citizens in the country shared the same value.
Since 'people responsibility' is often overlooked, people prefer to focus on government. It comes to this conclusion:
1. Betterment can be achieved by improvement of current ruling government, OR
2. Betterment can be achieved by betting on new government & political revolution, which means overthrowing current ruling party
2nd group I mentioned above, would struggle for the 1st or 2nd conclusion, depending on which party they are supporting. The government supporters will backed the government, pushing for improvement; or if improvement is to no avail - will defend any action imposed by the government. For the opposition side, they will push forward the very best aspect of the opposition party, reveal mistakes made by the government & usually will opposed government's idea, ideology or any attempt to win their votes.
Of course, this is rather a general - or I will admit - a shameless blatant statement. Not all of the followers behave as such, however I personally feel that maybe up to 70% from a party's followers will support their party regardless of what happened, and were unable to differentiate between right & wrong. Blind loyalty is what I called it. I personally feel that the politicians did a good job in brainwashing their followers, where they will simply labelled anything related to the opposite party as 'bad' or 'wrong', unable to see their own weakness, blaming the whole party for a person's mistake, and will never acknowledge any good thing coming from the other side.
I have no intention to generalize people. However I believe, those who truly support their party's cause for a good reason will understand what I'm saying. Not all of the followers are blind; some choose to support their chosen party out of a very concrete & sound reason. However (for example), I dare to bet; there are very few who truly understand ideology of TGNA and carry the legacy of his dream. Majority are supporting PAS just because of its 'Islamic' image.
Hence for some (or maybe most) of the supporters, they see the only way to bring peace & changes to the country is through voting system & supporting the party which they believe will carry out their demands. Such conviction (most of the times) led to bias judgment when dealing with the opposite party, which is make worst by bias media channel & misleading information distribution.
Fear
Sometimes, people can see that changes & improvement are essential, however since the country has been under the same governance & administration for so long without major crisis when compared to other develop countries, people are skeptical or I think the more suitable word for this mentality is, 'fear'. People are afraid of making changes and taking such a major turn-around for things with unknown result. The end result is in the future - the uncertainty instill 'fear' in the heart of these 3rd group, who feel that the current situation is already comfortable enough for them. Fearing that change might make situation become worst instead of better, they oppose revolution & reformation. Staying in comfort zone is what they want than any uncertain struggle.
The concept such people usually use to justify this mindset is 'bersyukur dan membalas jasa'. This is something that I can't never comprehend.
First of all, we are thankful. I think most of us will agree with me that regardless of what our political stand might be, we are thankful for what we have. Our children can go to school, public transportation is improving, clinics & hospitals are accessible, etc. However the golden question is, 'what is this has to do with a country's improvement?'
Being thankful doesn't mean a country doesn't need a change. Demanding for a change doesn't mean one is being ungrateful for what he has! Hence I seriously didn't understand where is this concept comes from, how relevant it is and how in the world could it provide any paradigm shifts.
If one is thankful for what he or she has, it that means one is no longer entitle for improvement? Is staying at the same situation, same level & condition without change or revolution while we know we need to improve, is a way of showing gratitude? No it's not. Pardon me but I personally feel that it is stupid to think as so. How will the country ever developed if no efforts being made for the sake of 'gratitude'?
Revolution & reformation can be done in many ways. Talking specifically about 'political parties', changes mentioned here is either improvement of current government or giving a chance to opposition to show what they're made of. We think and we choose, which will provide the means to achieve betterment. Voting system is valid, campaign is valid, demonstration is valid. These are all methods that been practiced around the world, regardless of what issue they're being used for.
Hence such statement as, 'apehal la yg korang sibuk sangat nak ubah pentadbiran yg ada sekarang... kan kita aman skarang? Ada makan, ada kerja.... tak bersyukur ke dengan apa yang ada?'
Such statement might be valid from that person point of view, or maybe from my own point of view. However, my friend, have we ever stop & think, and consider about homeless people with no food & education? What about them? What about those with no proper meals, no clean water supply, schools 20 km away from home and no transportation? What about them? And what has been done to help them?
Comfort Zone
While we are talking about 'being thankful for what we have', it is easy for us to say so since we are in the comfort zone. It is US who are in the comfort zone. Not them. And so it is easy for us to feel that maybe, there is no change needed at all. Now is fine. Everything is fine just the way it is like this. But how about other people? And most importantly, how about the whole country in overall?
We keep talking about how civilized or high-tech are the Japanese, Korean, or even Americans. And yet, we feel that there are no changes needed in our country, and we should be thankful and hence no need to strive for changes, revolution and whatnot, while conveniently forget about those who suffer at the outskirt of the city. How selfish can we be? Has our comfort block our sense of duty & logic?
Looking at Malaysia now, changes are needed. Improvement is crucial. Betterment is essential. Whoever said that we are already OK, we are already fine now, is blind. Yes, I am thankful for being Malaysian; for I was born during the time of peace, with no wars or starvation. But Malaysia need to improve. WE need to improve.
Membalas jasa? This is another concept I can't fathom about. Again, what does it means? Membalas jasa to whom?
The way the country works is the same as appraisal in a company. Appraisal, leader, are chosen based on performance. We evaluate the performance, we trust them, we give them a chance & responsibility, and we see how it goes. If they continue to perform the best, then we can consider to remain them at the same position, or even promote them to a higher position. If the performance is bad, or getting worse, we might give them another chance, or we might consider other candidates available. As simple as that.
It is the government's job & responsibility to serve the country & the citizen. It is their job to do so. They HAVE to do so. Hence if they do well, we support them. If they don't, we have all the rights in the world to re-think our decision. Why in the world should the citizen 'repay the government'? Votes are cast on performance-based, that's it. No such concept as 'membalas jasa' is relevant. Because serving the citizen is not a favour or an act of kindness, it is a DUTY that a government must fulfill. That's it. Crystal clear.
Ignorance
Confusion due to multiple 'version' of information feed. This group will usually stand in the middle, don't know which is which and what is what. They try to find the answer, but the result and attitude displayed to them is frustrating. And hence, they choose to stay on the fence, while trying to figure out just what is going on actually.
The last group, I personally feel sorry for them. To live as ignorant, who don't give a shit about anything else other than themselves, is pitiful.
As mentioned in the Quran, those who live only for themselves without even caring about the duty as 'khalifah' of this earth, God has called them to be the same level as 'al-an-'am' or 'binatang ternakan.'
For those people, I believe they may have the reason of doing so, or the environment, culture or situation has influenced or forced them to be as such or to do as so. However it is never too late, and I pray so we will all try our best to be the best among the people on Earth.
Finally, I would like to wish
'Selamat Hari Merdeka' to all!
Happy Merdeka! ^^
Posts
