April 12, 2013
| Michelle Ng wants to devote her life to speaking on behalf of those who do not have a voice. She also writes for CEKU at http://www.ceku.org. |
APRIL 12 ― Elections are often the messiest times in a country's history. More so for a first-time voter like myself. There are simply too many articles to read, videos to watch and conversations to have before an informed decision can be reached.
I am careful about using the word "informed" ― it is a given that the voting populace in Malaysia falls either on the Barisan Nasional or the Pakatan Rakyat side, with a smaller number holding no allegiance to one side or the other. Groups who hold allegiances would undeniably have good reason for their decisions, but if I may say so myself, a strong allegiance contributes to a certain blindness, and such blindness can mar our ability to be better informed of the situation at hand.
Being "informed", however, is a spectrum of varying degrees, and we cannot possibly know everything and anything about Malaysian politics. It goes without saying Malaysia is an incredibly complex country.
We profess to be a multi-religious, multicultural, multi-ethnic nation ― and thinking very simply about it, different permutations of these features create many combinations of needs. To paint a clearer picture, Malaysia also comprises people from different economic and education statuses, and to take it one more step further, let us consider the particular distribution of these persons within the different constituencies in the country ― this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Another highly interesting factor with regards to these coming elections is that our country has not seen a different government other than the ruling coalition for the past 56 years. Having the same ruling coalition since Malaysia's independence has placed the country in a comfort-versus-risk type situation.
Fifty-six years is more than enough to measure a government's behaviour and performance, but as comfortable or uncomfortable people are about the current status quo, it is arguably true that the opposition government's performance does not provide us much to measure the ruling government's performance against.
Some may argue that the performance of the Opposition states in the past term would provide some basis for consideration, and while that argument holds merit, I am also inclined to believe that the dynamics of running a country is very different from running a state.
Drawing the above to a close, the aforesaid are just stepping stones in the framework that we call Malaysia ― one can only imagine the work that would have to be done to think about the way that each party's promises would fit into the picture.
The deciding factor?
Having mulled through the mess, I wonder whether it is possible to come up with a yardstick to measure the performance of our political candidates. Although it may be too early to be absolutely conclusive, I can safely say that I have reached a position worth sharing. As a preamble, I acknowledge that my findings may not harmonise with everyone's melody, but I hope that it would at least provide some food for thought.
Preliminarily, it is conceivably important to keep in mind the fact that the presence of today's governmental systems have been refined over many thousands of years to come to where it is today. Governmental credence in most modern democratic societies is derived from the delegated authority of its people.
Consider this as well ― it is a reality of politics that governments will mess up at some point or another. This would be especially true in a young country like Malaysia, which is highly complex and has not seen a different government other than the ruling coalition, as highlighted above. Even a simple analysis of the ruling and opposition coalition's manifestos would reveal huge, gaping holes ― and if there are already such prominent weaknesses on both sides, how is it possible to come to a comfortable decision?
Perhaps the government that Malaysia needs is one that understands the source of its legitimacy, and which will be the foundation that its decisions and reactions would serve.
Malaysia needs a government that is humble enough to be accountable to the people with regards to the choices and mistakes that will come their way. Without this attribute, I believe that Malaysia would not be able to pursue the advancements that she intends to make.
Is that it?
An interesting point about to the situation above is that were a government responsive towards its citizens, then surely the character and mentality of the people would be a persuasive force in its shaping.
Perhaps, Malaysia, our duties as citizens have been far more significant than what we've allowed them to be. It is about time that we got our act together and take full ownership over the future of our country and, more than ever, there is no better time than now to rise up to the occasion.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist
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