As the year draws to a close
To claim as some do that we are a democracy because we have regular national elections is dishonestly charming and naïve. Little wonder why the ‘silent majority’ gave a resounding positive response to the Gallup survey, being blissfully oblivious, ignorant and hence remorseless, subsequent to being victims of decades of misinformation.
As the year draws its curtain to a close, one couldn’t help but wonder of what are in stock for this much embattled nation. Judging by what has unfolded on the political scenario of late, one shudders of how this multitude of events may eventually resolve itself. Will we be better off or perhaps worse off? Or will we be the same nation struggling to remain afloat?
I’m not about to be further inciting change and reform after penning “Living in A Time of Awakening”. You got me wrong this time. On the contrary, this piece is meant to reappraise the ‘prognosis’ of change. It’s a kind of looking at the glass from a ‘half-empty’ approach. It doesn’t make me less of a relentless optimist. If I were to continue my two-cent worth of intellectual onslaught on the regime, it serves you and I great satisfaction. Right? Well, right.
But are we the target group of our own political advocacy? It looks like we are. We relish it with such passion and devour it with such vigor. So what is wrong with that? Well, if only we could understand that politics, in the final analysis, is about the game of numbers. One person one vote, no matter how enlightened or illiterate we are. Democracy doesn’t distinguish you. Democracy is sort of blind in this sense. Very unfortunately democracy judges by numbers.
Worse still, in a ‘spectator democracy’, it is the ‘silent majority’ that has time and again reinstated non-performing inept government, albeit through the regime’s unscrupulous and sinister means of ‘manufacturing consent’ via their absolute media control. I will come back to this later as it is the central theme of this piece.
Yes, you and I, are the converted few. The minority in the entire citizenry or electorates, that has rendered about 36% of the popular votes to the opposition in the last General Election (GE). Incidentally it translated disproportionately in the outmoded ‘First-Past-The-Post’ system, to only securing 19 seats in the parliament or a mere 8% of the 219 parliamentary seats. Doubtless, we must increase this support-base and reach-out to broader constituencies soonest.
But am I lamenting or ranting, as this surely will constitute backtracking and contrary to the spirit of an “Awakening” that I earlier advocated? No, not at all and much less to backtrack. But this piece is rather unpleasant to us all. It is simply going to tell us of our blind-spot ie of how change requires us to restrategise, as to do it ‘differently’ so as to achieve a ‘different’ result, over and above what we have achieved or secured thus far! At times, especially in opposition political rallies a.k.a ceramah, one couldn’t help feeling like we are preaching to the converts, nay to the preachers themselves!
True enough, the year 2007 has witnessed intriguing cascade of events that couldn’t be interpreted, except in the positive ways. The plethora of critical yet entertaining writings by many a blogger in the blogospheres and at times investigative journalism of internet-based papers the like of Malaysiakini.com, Malaysia-Today.net, Harakahdaily.net et al, may now be safely regarded as the ‘new emerging media’ for the next GE.
There is certainly no denying the fact that the march of democratization is on its ascendancy. In a rare exhibit of open dissent, the month of November alone witnessed 2 mammoth gatherings of bona-fide dissenters. BERSIH pressing for urgent electoral reforms before the next GE and HINDRAF, expressing grouses for the alleged marginalization and discrimination of their ethnic community.
These two events were historically preceded by the unprecedented “Walk for Justice” by a deluge of disgruntled lawyers of the Bar Council on 26th September. Unequivocally demanding for the establishment of a Royal Commission to handle the rot in the Judiciary, sparked ostensibly by the expose of the now infamous LingamGate video tape, allegedly to have ‘graduated’ to ‘Judge Fixing’ after years of practicing and perfecting the ‘crime’ of ‘Judge Shopping’. The speech of the newly appointed Chief Justice spoke volume of the much-to-be-desired Judiciary in dire strait.
Looking back, this writer took personal satisfaction in writing ‘Patriotism, Anyone?’ and having quoted “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism” from Howard Zinn, an American historian, author and political activist. At the worst times of our history, where every critical institution of the state is severely compromised, it is most heartening to see the spontaneous exhibit of patriotism by patriotic citizens of this nation.
This truly reflects the embodiment of the quotable quote of Edward Abbey, an uncompromising environmentalist (1927-1989) who cogently distilled “A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government”. The threats of being detained, criminalised and locked into oblivion without recourse to an open trial and defense, by the Draconian ISA, posed little inhibition to the gallant show of patriotism on the part of these genuine dissenters. Incidentally, the dichotomy of ‘public order versus freedom of assembly’ expounded by none other than the premier, is fundamentally flawed much as it is contrary to the spirit and letter of the Federal Constitution.
If all the so-called ‘street-rioters’ of BERSIH, HINDRAF and the Bar Council mind you, could be ‘rubbished’ as out to do mischief and smack of political motives, what do they have to say about the dissenting voice of the former Chief Justice, Tan Sri Mohammad Dzaiddin. How about the former Attorney General, Tan Sri Abu Talib and his entire commissioners, who now repeated Suhakam numerous calls for the repeal of the Section 27 of the Police Act whereby police permits are needed before organizers are allowed to hold a political rally. Or perhaps should I also include of the recent opinion of Dr Raja Nazrin when he asserted that “the desire to maintain public order should not be used as an excuse for never allowing peaceful assemblies”.
The 2 towering personalities of the Judiciary (there may not be anymore after this), now openly defy the wrong doings of the government. True to what was once preached by Voltaire, “When the Government Is Wrong, It Is Dangerous to be Right”. These salient individuals have now come out to categorically challenge the wrong doings of the government. As the legal fraternity aptly opined, “When Injustices become Law, Resistance is a Duty”.
Visibly disappointed, Tan Sri Dzaiddin, who was the Chairman of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police, said the proposed Special Complaints Commission (SCC) now being formed by an act of .parliament, was "something entirely different from what we recommended”. The government, “in its wisdom, did not accept the core recommendation of an independent oversight body… a complete departure" from their 125 recommendations submitted in January 2006.
"It was supposed to receive and investigate complaints of misconduct by the police and to prevent, detect and investigate corruption and other serious misconduct. It was also supposed to propose measures to the minister of Internal Security to improve police integrity, reduce misconduct and increase public confidence in the police.".
"There appears to be no mention of corruption in the SCC Act," he said. Incidentally Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, a former President of Transparency International Malaysia and having served on the Royal Commission, visibly agitated by the ‘mutated and perverted’ bill calls it a mockery and an insult to the parliament, the rakyat and himself.
While all these events are very positive and consoling to the democratization efforts of all the well-wishers of genuine democracy, may we be reminded that there exist the ‘silent majority’, in whose name and interest, the premier has acted in ‘good-faith’ to secure national stability, security and peace –whatever that terms mean to anyone now.
They constituted 64% of the electorates that have given this government the disproportionate 92% of the seats in the parliament in the last GE. With that support this ruling regime has committed gross excesses with great impunity, not the least in the way they bulldozed literally everything in the bicameral legislative assemblies and lately of the strong-arm of the AG.
We may ‘rubbish’ and call it absolute absurdity to have found 74% of Malaysians saying that the elections are free and fair, while 88% of Malaysians polled, were satisfied with the state of democracy in the country, according to a Gallup International survey. But that’s their findings. We must not be in denial. These are the ‘silent majority’ that should be now the targets of our democratic campaign. Call them what you may, it doesn’t change anything in the least.
I may have to recap my last piece’s assertion. Electorates in an electoral process, be whatever electoral systems have you, must decide base upon an informed decision. Access to information is so critical and cardinal to democracy. Voters’ access to information must not be stifled much as candidates need to have a fair and equitable access to media as to enable them to communicate their policies and conviction to a wider cross section of the electorates.
A truly free and fair press in a democracy informs the public, holds leaders accountable, engenders integrity, stifles corruption and amply provides for a forum to debate on issues of local, national or global concerns by both the government and their critiques or detractors. This, to this writer, is the key to reviving a vibrant functional democracy.
However when voters and the rakyat are continuous victims of a massive program of misinformation round the clock, what hope do you have to change perceptions, much less mindset and values. This brings me back to the core issue of this piece.
Watching our media, inevitably reminds us of Paul Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda. Goebbels has been accurately called Hitler’s PR man. His wartime diaries have been published in paperback, and they make fascinating reading. The Nazis, mind you, came to power legally and upheld the forms of ‘legality’ throughout their regime.
Even before the war, Goebbels articulated the principles by which the Nazi party would control the government and obtain the ‘consent of the people’ to their program.
Here are some excerpts. “A big lie is as believable as a small one, just declare something long enough in an environment where alternative views are not heard and it becomes true by belief. Tell people what they want to hear; give them simple solutions to complex problems, enemies on whom they can blame their discontents, promises to satisfy their narrow aspirations, spectacles and ceremonies to stir the emotions and suppress critical thinking, manufactured news and contrived reports that support the party line”. That really does sound very familiar. S Paranjothy, the Gerakan Youth Vice-Chief chooses to cross party (reads Umno) line and now under siege.
To claim as some do that we are a democracy because we have regular national elections is dishonestly charming and naïve. Little wonder why the ‘silent majority’ gave a resounding positive response to the Gallup survey, being blissfully oblivious, ignorant and hence remorseless, subsequent to being victims of decades of misinformation.
There is much more to democracy than the holding of elections. What is important is to ask, "What happens in between elections?" What is even more important to ask ourselves is, “Who do you think the majority of Malaysians are listening to right now and why?”
The onus is on all well-wishers of democracy, the genuine dissenters, the truly patriotic; be they partisan parties and non-partisan civil society, former elites of the military, police, judiciary, academics and bureaucrats, to now join the chorus for genuine change and reform. Let their voice be heard by all. Barring the die-hards Umno/BN supporters, the ‘silent majority’ are all still amenable to change, provided we are able to reach out, be heard and be understood.
If the government thinks these dissenters have a compulsive penchant for the street, then they are awfully wrong. They are only there and insist on being there solely for the reason that they are denied of a better place ie in the mainstream media. They are certainly no rogues and scoundrels. They are indeed His Majesty’s loyal opposition! They deserve some respect for their painstakingly efforts in assuming the arduous task of ‘check-and-balance’ in a ‘pseudo or quasi-democracy ala Malaysia’ (William Case, 2004, Zakaria Hj Ahmad, 1989).
Perchance the ‘silent majority’ may hear and take heed.
With All The Best Wishes for Democracy in the New Year!
Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, PAS Research Centre
A Member of BERSIH Steering Committee
