Letter to RPK
Kuo Yong Kooi
Dear RPK,
I am neither your supporter or your admirer but I do read a lot of your writings for many years to keep me up to date with things. You have done great service on areas of accountability and transparency in contemporary Malaysian politics.
You might not care how you will be remembered when you are six feet under, but what you write might affect the future of millions of Malaysians. I believe in transparency and accountability in all governments, whether its a Pakatan or BN lead government. I also believe there is a timing for all of this.
I remember being excited at the time when Obama elected as the President of United States of America. I do know that the change he promised will not be as great as his speech claimed to be, but nevertheless, I happily went along with that because it took America over two hundred years to come to this point in history where they can elect a non-white president.
If I were a influential writer in America, I would not write to criticize Obama of his weakness before the Presidential election because we are not sure whether he will get in or not. I do think that the Noble Peace prize awarded to him was premature because he had not even started to perform yet. After he approved the drone attacks at Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I think the Noble Peace prize should be withdrawn from him.
This is the same predicament in Malaysia. What Malaysia desperately needs is a change of government to kickstart the full democratic process in the country. At this moment we do not know how the transition will go if the opposition wins a slight majority.
The public service departments in Malaysia need to go through this process especially the judiciary, police and the military. They need to learn to accept the will of the people through the ballot box. At this moment it clearly indicates that the public service departments are on BN’s side. The attitude and cultural change will not happen if there is no change of government. There are no signs indicating that the opposition will win a landslide election, hence what you are writing virtually means that you are not giving any chance for this process to happen in Malaysia.
At the end of the day, you have every right to write what you think, after all you are one of the most successful and influential figures in the new media. It is well acknowledged that your writings had contributed to the political tsunami in the last election. Your writing recently on the opposition will no doubt affect the fence sitters and unfortunately might well be indirectly putting a nail in the coffin of a possibility of a shift in the attitude and cultural change of the people in the public service.
Please note that this does not mean the the opposition cannot be criticized, it’s just the timing of it. It is almost like you have a baby and the baby has just started to learn to walk, you are a little bit excited about it, but you want the baby to start to carry a bag so that the baby can start to shoulder responsibilities. Chill out Mr RPK, just enjoy watching the baby run around first, teach the baby morality and responsibility lessons when they start to talk.
It is clear that YB Anwar Ibrahim has used you in his chess game, but if we are willing participants in the political activist game, we are either using people or being used by people. That is the unfortunate consequence of the game.
I am sure there are many volunteers in FMT that are working under you wish for a change in government. I have already gone bold wishing for the change in government. If it is not happening in GE 13, then hopefully it will happen when the country goes bankrupt. I think it is probably safer when the country is bankrupted. At that point in time the public servants are not being paid their due wages, then there is a possible safe transition of government without any fear of military or police interventions.
Time will wither out those in opposition who still practices the same political culture that Umno practices. We all can see there is a new crop of capable politicians who will hopefully take our country to the right path. I think the change in government is the first step. By the sound of what you have written you want a clean government running the country no matter what. If you are not free from nepotism and corruption, then it’s best that the opposition do not run Putrajaya. We all know that BN has got all the money and machinery at it’s disposal against an opposition that has just started to learn to walk. If the opposition is not fit to run the country, then who else except BN?
Please list me which or how many government in this world is free from nepotism and corruption? In many Western countries the public service like the police will probably do not take money from you when you are caught speeding or drink driving, but some of them are also involved in drugs and other big crimes. They are not interested in kopi money my friend.
Are the politicians in the Western democracies free from influences from big multinationals, pharmaceutical, mining and other lobby groups? Is there any country in this world that you see fit your standard of good governance? Do these countries that you have satisfactorily defined as a successful democracy with transparency and good governance have to go through the first hurdle of the “ease of change in government” at the ballot box?
