Thursday, January 19, 2012

Why I will support Pakatan Rakyat for the next General Election


With the general elections looming around the corner, both sides of the divide are trying to convince the rakyat with their reforms and/or their transformations. Some of the rakyat are already decided like me and some are of course the fence sitters who are the deciding factor. So the job of the political parties is to convince these people therefore, their agenda needs to be concrete and not just hot air.

Pakatan is a coalition of 3 main parties namely PKR, DAP and PAS. PKR and DAP are multiracial and they seem more keen on reforms and not recycled policies. They seem to be heading in the right direction where they advocate equality for all walks of life. Isn’t that a reason good enough to be voting them in, in the next general elections?

Of course there are people out there claiming look, no one is helping the Malays, no one is helping the Chinese and no one is helping the Indians but my argument is why keep looking at these subsets instead of a single entity that encompasses all our citizens regardless of race? Why not look at the issue of poverty, education and welfare from a holistic point of view? That is what Pakatan is trying to do. The Indian groups in the likes of HINDRAF are fighting for the Indians and true enough I did support their movement and even witnessed the November rally of 2007 which was a blow to BN and showed actual people power which was what I believe to be the precursor to the 2008 GE tsunami. But ever since that incident, I personally feel that the push for political parties to assist only Indians, Chinese or Malays individually should be changed. I think HINDRAF should start looking at other people’s welfare as well and join Pakatan in doing so and just call themselves PRAF (People's Rights Action Force)!

Let me make myself very clear as well that what Pakatan is talking about is mere talk only for this moment and we have to face a possibility that once they are in power there may even be corruption. I do have a very pessimistic view but I cannot be blamed for that because I have seen blatant corruption and  I have experienced oppression so I am nothing but careful. So what happens if Pakatan goes corrupt or if they do not deliver? THEN, WE VOTE THEM OUT. And what happens next once we vote them out? We will be caught between a rock and a hard place because we have both the coalitions that are either corrupt or incompetent. I believe this is when we opt for a third force and that third force is us. We demand for our rights and if Pakatan is the incumbent government at that time, then, they have to listen because they are the ones who are advocating kuasa rakyat/makkal sakthi/people power! Kita kasi hantam sama diaorang kalau cakap tak serupa bikin!

What I have said above is of course if they do not deliver. But for the time being, I believe if you are still deciding who to show your support to, then in my honest opinion please let us see a change of government, vote the opposition (Pakatan). Let’s start working as one nation and one people, as Bangsa Malaysia and not Melayu, Cina or India and have a voice as the rakyat to make sure the government listens to the people and not the other way around.

Salam.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't expect Pakatan to be totally clean but I do believe that the top leaders are not going to be anywhere as corrupt as the present BN/UMNO leaders.

Azmin and his gang are my prime suspects among others but I am confident enough that the leakage would not be more than 15-20 of the current.

The civil service will be more accountable too.

Then, make Petronas report to Parliament, subject Petronas to external audit.

As for the EPF, nominees on the investment board shall be more balance and be accopuntable to Parliament too.

The amount of savings from lower corruption and cronyism will run into many billions.

Coupled with savings from wastage, I believe the Pakatan Government can deliver a balance budget within 2 years and by the 3rd year, stay paring down our national debts.

Vixstarr said...

That was very insightful indeed, mate. Let's hope for the best if Pakatan wins this GE. It would be refreshing to see their reforms.

Jins M'tara said...

UMNO/BN is going to the dogs. Rakyat has to vote out UMNO. No harm giving chance to PR to prove that they are also capable. So far, they have proven quite convincing. So, GE 13 will be the right time for a great change.

NanoNano said...

You know which parties are going to be the check and balance against corruption in PR? It will be DAP and PAS.

sang kancil said...

I am very confident that the Pakatan Rakyat will be a much CLEANER and EFFICIENT government. I will vote for them 100%.

Starmandala said...

ABU! is the current battlecry and for those who keep saying unintelligent and unoriginal things like: "Why bother voting lah? All politicians are the same!" ... well, the answer is staring us in the face. Malaysia has ever known ONE ruling party since 1957 (even if Mahathir's Umno Baru registered in 1988 may be said to be a degenerate and criminal offshoot of the original Umno founded in 1946).

In other words, nobody has ever experienced what it's like to have conscientious voices like Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang, Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng, Nik Aziz, Hadi Awang, Mat Sabu, Elizabeth Wong, Sivarasa Rasiah, Fuziah Salleh, Rafizi Ramli, Husam Musa, Nizar Jamaluddin, and so on, holding the reins of power. Almost every one of them has tasted the cruel iron fist of tyranny and injustice. Many have been detained without trial more than once, and have faced low-grade harassment and dirty tricks orchestrated by BN. Surely these politicians (many of whom I can claim to have known personally for nearly 20 years) will be keen to restore a measure of decency and integrity and openness to Malaysia? We the rakyat must do our part to get them in power - and then hold them to their promise to abolish all oppressive laws asap. The first thing they must be prepared to do is sack the IGP, DIGP and at least 500 senior police officers. To do so Pakatan Rakyat needs to work quietly with middle-ranking officers within PDRM who still have pride in their profession in order to compile a list of suitable candidates for these posts. Once the PDRM has been purged of the criminal element, we stand a chance of a peaceful transition. The first to go, after the IGP and DIGP, would be the heads of the Special Branch. We don't want any secret police in this country. On this we must stand firm!

Vixstarr said...

Thank you all for the comments! Wry insightful and Antares, I agree that those who do not bother to vote are losing out. On my blog, that is what I am trying to do. I would like to urge all Malaysians to vote for a change. It is of course not only about ABU but for people to voice their grouses. That is what a democracy is all about.

For those of you who are thinking to vote or not, please do! Otherwise, please don't complain because it like (for those who gamble) saying, I don't take lottery because I know I won't win but the truth is if you do not take a lottery, how would you know?

Vixstarr said...

Please excuse my typos! For some odd reason, I cannot correct them through my phone :(