The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 20 May 2013 05:13 PM PDT UPDATED @ 08:47:25 AM 21-05-2013
21 MEI — Satu tinjauan di lamat web yang direspon oleh beberapa belas ribu orang bersetuju supaya Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim berundur dari pimpinan utama Pakatan Rakyat dan ketua pembangkang di Parlimen. Itulah kira-kira sebagai reaksi setelah Pakatan tidak dapat kerusi selalyaknya bagi memenangi PRU 5 Mei lalu. Respon itu sesuai dengan kenyataan yang pernah Anwar buat bahawa dia akan berundur sekiranya Putrajaya tidak dapat ditawan. Maka itulah dituntut oleh responden. Responden bersetuju dia berundur kira-kira 80 peratus. Ia tinggi tetapi belum sampai 15,000 orang. Jika seluruh anggota Perkasa mengambil bahagian mungkin yang mahu dia berundur naik 100,000. Sekalipun Pakatan belum berjaya menguasai Putrajaya tetapi yang mengundinya di seluruh negara yang direkodkan oleh SPR hampir 51 peratus atau 5.5 juta tidak termasuk yang lesap, sedang BN yang diisytihar menang itu diundi oleh 5.2 juta saja. Perlembagaan tidak mengiktiraf undi popular sebagai pemenang, tetapi Pakatan telah menang dari segi demokrasi. Maka ada justifikasi Anwar tidak perlu berundur. Pakatan mengikut kekeliruan pengiraan undi tidak dapat kerusi secukupnya, sedang ia menang undi popular. Pakatan bukan tidak menang, cuma ia tidak dapat berkuasa. Keputusan muktamat sekarang menunggu apa mahkamah kata apabila sekitar 30 petisyen pilihan raya akan dikemukakan selepas ia diwartakan. Jika Anwar dalam situasi yang ada mengubah fikiran tidak berunsur tidak dikira dia tidak berpegang kepada janji. Janjinya kiranya Pakatan kalah serba serbi. Sekarang Pakatan tidak kalah serba serbi. Katakan Pakatan kalah serba serbi, Anwar seorang tidak boleh menentukan dia patut berundur atau mesti menerus usaha menawan Putrajaya. Anwar boleh menawarkan diri berundur tetapi pimpinan Pakatan dari segi moral berkuasa untuk bersetuju atau tidak bersetuju. Kalau Anwar mahu menjadi ketua atau calon Perdana Menteri, dia memerlukan persetujuan konsenses Pakatan. Kalau pimpinan Pakatan tidak setuju, maka dia tidak boleh jadi pemimpin. Dan apabila dia hendak berundur pula, dia tidak juga boleh buat keputusan sendiri. Dia kena dengar apa pimpinan PAS dan DAP kata. Apa jua keputusan yang Anwar hendak buat, dia mesti berunding dulu dengan pimpinan PAS dan Pakatan. Setakat ini kedudukan yang ada di tangan Pakatan Rakyat ialah Ketua Pembangkang di Parlimen. Jika mengikut parti mana yang banyak kerusi ia DAP. Anwar sendiri pun tidak boleh berkeras terus menjadi Ketua Pembangkang. Dia pun tahu Lim Kit Siang perlu ditanya dulu. Dia sudah menyatakan kesediaan untuk memberi kepada pihak yang lebih berhak. Tetapi Lim Kit Siang sudah menyatakan supaya Anwar wajar meneruskan kedudukan itu. Tiada di kalangan keluarga PR membantah Anwar meneruskan kempen menawan Putrajaya. Dengan Anwar dikehendaki mendengar apa kerabat Pakatan kata, bukan apa tinjauan laman web kata. Keupayaan Pakatan Selangor mencapai keputusan yang lebih baik dari PRU 2008 adalah bukti Pakatan dan pimpinan tiga serangkainya — Anwar, Abdul Hadi Awang dan Lim Kit Siang — adalah isyarat Pakatan belum ditolak dan mereka mesti meneruskan kempen yang belum selesai. * Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis. | |
| Posted: 20 May 2013 04:57 PM PDT
MAY 21 — Once again, racism has reared its ugly head. The racist comments that came post-elections were not surprising. In fact it was to be expected; race has always been used as a divisive tool in Malaysian politics and as such, phrases like "Chinese tsunami" should not be surprising. However, what was shocking and, frankly, a little disturbing, is the display of racism veiled by the notion of Malaysian pride. The dirty tactics used to secure votes, such as buying Bangladeshi, Nepalese and Myanmar workers to vote for the government — if true — is nothing short of despicable. But the reaction of Malaysians on Polling Day was equally bad. It was disheartening to see how, in an effort to curb foreigners from voting, some Malaysians were overly suspicious and provocative towards people who "looked" foreign. There are stories about how foreigners were beaten, or verbally abused. There are stories of how fear and suspicion turned Malaysians against each other. Have we lost our minds? Have Malaysians allowed fear to get the better of us? Have the dark realities from dystopian novels been realised in our society? By lashing out and making statements that justify hurling abuse at foreign workers, we are no different from the racism we receive. Firstly, it is a problem that foreign workers who have no idea what the political situation is in Malaysia were given the opportunity to vote during GE13. But before we tell them to balik to wherever they came from, understand that they are in our country because the prospects here are better than what they are at home. It is no fault of theirs that they are seeking opportunities to better their own lives. But let us turn the table on you: say you were offered British citizenship on the condition that you must vote for the Labour party, would you do it? This is your chance for a better life. How many of us would claw at an opportunity like this? As if we need any reminders that like them, we are pendatang too — many of our ancestors migrated here because of poor economic conditions in their home countries. Hence, it is inappropriate to tell them to balik. Secondly, lashing out at foreign workers does not get at the root of the problem. Even if you think that they need to be taught a lesson for meddling with affairs that they do not understand, the fact remains that these are not the people who deserve your anger. The real bandits are the people issuing ICs and citizenships, not the people desperate for a better chance at life. Why is this important? It is clear that we have been baited into this. In our hope and desperation for change, we have been detracted from the real arsenal that BN uses to stay in power, i.e. gerrymandering. Race is such an easy card to pull because it affects us on an emotional level. Sure, to a certain extent, the way we react in a public sphere is driven by emotions (to this I say emotions are important). But when emotions start clouding rational thought, this becomes a problem. In the case of our reaction towards foreign workers, our reactions show that we stopped thinking rationally. We have allowed ourselves to be consumed by fear. Despite our small victories this elections, this is one part that has left me deeply disturbed about our society. How are we expecting our government to rid itself of racism, when our immediate go-to reaction when we feel threatened is based on racism as well? * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
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