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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

BN’s Achilles Heel: The young and Indians

Posted: 14 Nov 2012 05:35 PM PST

NOV 15 — Happy Deepavali!

The Barisan Nasional (BN) government plans to split demographics to seed its electoral victory. So far the two key segments it has targeted have been lukewarm to it, despite BN filling mainstream media with reports of major inroads. They have not.

That's why the discussion now will be about the young and Indians — the demographics to victory.

Both have been falsely stereotyped.

The basic misconceptions of both groups will render much of the ruling coalition's electoral math obsolete, leading to their candidates flattened by walls of indifference long before BN can sniff the finishing post.

Move over, pops!

Debate on whether youth is indeed wasted on the young, but the inseparable fact remains, that voters below 30 are numerous — plus they've upped their value to the game with massive registrations over the last four years. BN operators do say that those are not Pakatan Rakyat's votes, since they've directly registered many of them. Though the statement that BN has registered a large number of the new voters is true, the corollary of them voting in that vein is overly simplistic.

The last 30-year-old was born when pop duo Daryl and Oates were topping the US charts with "Man-eater" and Italy world champions of football.

That does not tell much, but growing up in a decidedly changing Malaysia running from its past and renegotiating its identity, the young feel they are not beholden to anyone. The idea of accepting authority and permanence as a way of life is an aberration to them generally.

The Malaysian government therefore has no more a chokehold over them than their parents, who've done tons more for these new voters. Loyalty is no more a given.

They perhaps are the first generation of Malaysians weighing the government of the day on what they can do for them henceforth, than what they claim to have done for them in the past.

They've bathed in the river of cynicism for far too long.

Unfortunately, observers are often guilty of misreading their silence for acquiescence.

Though these newer voters cannot shake off a degree of suspicion of one or more part of PR not being kosher — whether it is about DAP transplanting Singapore into the national soul, PAS just waiting to end freedoms so they extend their righteousness and PKR's collection of opportunists waiting to fail the economy — they struggle to reject the notion that BN is using them.

They know intuitively when someone is using them. In BN they see the mother of users. Which leads to them re-evaluating BN's previous "information" transmissions. On second thoughts, the DAP blokes seem to love the country OK and have a keen eye for transparency; PAS operators yielding to democracy and the rule of law; and PKR with a rainbow of people and a line of those experienced in administration.

To be fair, they do feel the analysis is not conclusive, there are question marks either way, but they cannot fail to sense that something more important than a government is being decided in this coming general election, they may be deciding how government is allowed to treat voters, and the veracity of that statement will determine if we as a country have long crossed the tipping point.

I say we have.

The young are by definition less averse of risk — there lies ahead a lifetime to fix a mistake, no decision is terminal — and are caught by inspiration.

BN cannot inspire, it can only give. Since it has spent decades giving to buy our collective silence it's completely lost the ability to inspire. It's been comforted that without media, no one can hear the sound of falling trees for a dam construction when everyone is so far away.

Social media has broken that monopoly.

And BN can't find a consultant willing to sell inspiration.

They are sons and daughters

Next Sunday, November 25, is the 5th anniversary of the Hindraf Rally in Kuala Lumpur. From the early hours of the day, calamity reigned and thousands were locked in when they gathered at the temple ground on that day.

The scenes in the temple compound then would have been markedly different from the ones days ago during BN's Deepavali open house there. No one was reminded — I am sure in any of the speeches delivered — that BN-run Selayang Municipal Council passed the controversial condo project threatening the temple's survival 5 days after the rally.

That the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) intends to wash its hands of that past and instead portray itself as a very concerned party in this most egregious of developments, tells you that the party has no decency.

So what of this demographic, the Indians? Understanding the state of mind in the Indian community by large would frame the discussion better.

Up to 2008, Indians felt gratitude is salvation. Its strong hierarchy structure coupled with the feeling that there were not enough voters of that ethnic persuasion to force issues, led Indians to decades of learned-helplessness.

The Indian life is either tolerable or intolerable, there is no Jain temporary nirvana in it. From estate workers to city general workers.

The Indian does not matter, he can only show gratitude, step out of the way, let the educated speak and give his vote to those who know better than them.

It did not change realities like crime, joblessness and poverty. A wrong step can make things worse.

In Malaysia, as I grew up listening to family and community elders say the Indian must circumvent destitution by accepting limitations.

So dead boys by machete, gun or reasons unknown are picked up, cleaned up, families weep before bodies are cremated. Just get along and get ahead. One undocumented woman raising her undocumented daughter hoping that no one would kick them out of the land they were born and raised in.

The rest of us, the luckier ones are reminded this: Don't rue the past, work the present and pray for the future.

It is in this muck of desperation and desolation BN found its votes, and kept mining from election after election.

Something snapped in 2007. Seeing that many unarmed "darkies" on a Sunday in an empty city centre emboldened so many security personnel to "contain" these as they have many before. Though the many Indians who showed up would have struggled to explain why they were protesting, they did not have trouble comprehending the violence directed at them. That's how Malaysia deals with Indians, an Orwellian boot.

In 2008, and since Malaysian political observers are only keen on race stats, the Indians were outright supporters of PR parties. There were increases across all demographics, but it was the colossal swing by Indians which was monumental. It was the game-changer.

So, two things.

One, at a practical level, Indians experienced a more intense reaction to their issues from all. Though the resolution rate to the grievances is not close to "impressive", Indian issues matter now. The community is cognisant of that, to say otherwise is insulting to Indians. They are deeply aware that the vote matters.

Second, to turn to your key support group and disparage them by insinuating they will hand over votes for token benefits from BN, ignores the gravity of the decision to abandon BN in 2008. Every general election this country has ever known was built on presupposing Indian support, and rightfully so.

It took a long time and a smash of an iron fist in its face for Indians to move their votes, to suggest an opposite swing for cosmetic reasons overlooks the cultural make-up of Indians.

Loyalty is not a commodity, it represents the worth of a person.

The continuous drone of so many writers reducing Indians to a single sheet of paper worth of debate misses the point.

It does cruelly highlight the subconscious condescension many Malaysians have of Indians based on how we look and what we earn.

Change the player, not the darts

That is why — admittedly I am in the minority — the seat counts by BN and PR are flawed. BN plays up both its appeal to the young and the return of them poor Indians.

PR agrees too easily that the young are divided and concedes that the Indians may have made that trek back to their old masters.

This is November. There will be no elections this year. All the talk, all the posturing but no election. I think I might have more than a few insiders in the BN ranks agreeing with my assessment.

Chickens have come home to roost. Or as my friend always says, and claims is a Tamil proverb: "Friends you meet in jail are similar to the ones you cross paths in a railway station". I have no idea what he means, but I am eager to buy the train ticket for BN. And maybe some trains are like jails.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Dr Mohamed Mursi iktiraf Israel, gerakan Islam hilang maruah

Posted: 14 Nov 2012 05:25 PM PST

15 NOV ― Dr Mohamed Mursi yang disorak dengan gilang gemilang oleh gerakan Islam seluruh dunia apabila terpilih menjadi presiden Mesir akhirnya tunduk kepada tekanan hegemoni Amerika Syarikat dan skutunya Israel.

Pada 17 Oktober 2012 lalu, Atef Mohamed Salem Sayed Elahl ke Tel Aviv untuk meneruskan hubungan diplomatik diantara Mesir dan Israel.

Mohamed Mursi berasal dari gerakan Ikhwanul Muslimin atau "Muslim Brotherhood" yang menjadi rujukan kepada majoriti gerakan Islam seluruh dunia termasuklah Parti Islam Se Malaysia (PAS), Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM), Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) dan banyak lagi.

Pengiktirafan Mohamed Mursi terhadap negara haram Israel, merendahkan maruah gerakan Islam kepada penentang-penentang kekuasaan hegemoni Amerika-Israel lain seperti Hugo Chavez dari Venezuela dan Fidel Castro dari Cuba.

Walaupun Chavez dan Castro bukanlah peganut agama Islam yang dijanjikan Syurga jikalau mati Syahid dalam melawan kezaliman, namun untuk tunduk kepada polis dunia tersebut tidak sama sekali.

Imbas kembali sejarah, perjanjian Camp David yang ditandatangani oleh Presiden Mesir Anwar Sadat dan Perdana Menteri Israel Menachem Begin pada 17 September 1978, ekoran rundingan sulit selama 12 hari di Kem David dibantah oleh gerakan Islam seluruh dunia.

Dua perjanjian telah ditandatangani di Rumah Putih, dan telah disaksikan oleh Presiden Amerika Syarikat Jimmy Carter.

Perjanjian ini membawa kepada Perjanjian Damai Israel-Mesir 1979.

Setelah itu, Sadat dan Begin berkongsi menerima Hadiah Keamanan Antarabangsa (Nobel Peace Prize).

Kemarahan terhadap perjanjian Camp David membawa kepada pembunuhan Anwar Sadat oleh Khalid Islambouli pada 6 Oktober 1981.

Khalid kemudiannya dihukum bunuh oleh pemerintah Mesir pada 15 April 1982 dan hampir kesemua pemimpin gerakan Islam ketika itu mengiktiraf Khalid Islambouli sebagai mati Syahid.

Hari ini, apabila Mursi mengiktiraf Israel, gerakan Islam membisu, mungkin masing-masing sudah mula merancang untuk memulakan hubungan diplomatik dengan Israel.

Perdana menteri (PM) pertama Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj yang dikatakan mempunyai kehidupan liberal sewaktu mempimpin Malaysia dahulu jelas mempunyai pendirian untuk tidak mengiktiraf Israel.

Walaupun Tunku sendiri pernah mengatakan Malaysia adalah sebuah negara sekular, untuk tunduk mengiktiraf negara haram Isreal tidak sama sekali.

Sehingga hari ini, secara rasminya, Malaysia masih belum mempunyai hubungan diplomatik dengan Israel.

Dimanakah demonstrasi pertubuhan dan NGO Islam Malaysia menentang pengiktirafan Mursi terhadap negara haram Israel?

Apakah pengiktirafan terhadap Isreal itu halal jika dilakukan seorang pemimpin itu berasal dari gerakan Ikhwanul Muslimin dan haram bagi pihak lain?

Dimata dunia, Ikhwanul Muslimin dilihat turut mengiktiraf Israel walaupun ada yang mengatakan Mohamed Mursi hanya berasal dari organisasi tersebut dan bukannya mewakili organisasi tersebut.

Habis tercalar gerakan Islam seluruh dunia dengan tindakan yang dilakukan oleh Mursi itu.

Orang seperti Tunku walaupun dikutuk kehidupan peribadinya oleh sesetengah pihak kerana dikatakan tidak Islamik seorang yang lebih berprinsip.

Chaves dan Castro yang tidak beriman kepada Al-Quran dan Muhammad S.A.W seharipun tidak pernah menghalalkan penjajahan yang dilakukan Isreal terhadap bumi Palestin apalagi menghantar duta ke negara penjajah tersebut.

Apa lagi yang boleh dibanggakan dengan gerakan Islam?

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Khamis, 15 November 2012

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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