Stop the Same Old BN Bullshit!
With the former opposition PR coalition in power now in the state of Penang, we are quickly witnessing the use of the same demagogy that we have been accustomed to from the BN all these years.
Dr Kua Kia Soong, SUARAM Adviser
For years now, concerned Malaysian NGOs have been performing a service to the nation by raising concerns or criticising the BN government for projects that are destructive to the environment, socially disruptive or blatantly not in the interests of the people. Often, we have had to put up with the taunts of BN leaders that Malaysian NGOs are either foreign agents or supporters of the opposition. The recent BN harassment of SUARAM for pursuing the Scorpene scandal in France is probably the most thoroughly absurd episode in Malaysian history of NGO bashing.
This line of reasoning – that NGOs are partisan – is clearly “bullshit”, or as I put it in my 1986 publication, “Malaysian Political Myths”, “taurus turdo”. My old friend, the late K. Das in the Foreword to my 1989 title, “445 Days behind the Wire”, called it “bovine excreta”. They all amount to the same malodorous heap of cheap demagoguery intended to appeal to popular prejudice but surprisingly, some people only see one side of the dung heap. Others who live in the middle of it simply can’t see it!
With the former opposition PR coalition in power now in the state of Penang, we are quickly witnessing the use of the same demagogy that we have been accustomed to from the BN all these years. Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has recently accused one of the most consistent and responsible NGOs in Malaysia, namely, the Consumer Association of Penang, of being selective in its criticisms and – worse still – of being aligned to the BN. Lim had called on the people to be wary of “hostile and dangerous NGOs that were now adopting the BN line” to oppose the state’s RM6.3 billion tunnel and four-stage integrated road system.
True NGOs work for the people
Anyone who has followed the investigative journalism of Utusan Konsumer all these years will know that CAP and its sister organisation, Sahabat Alam Malaysia, have been the most tireless and consistent torch bearers of consumer and environment protection in Malaysia for decades now. No other organisation in Malaysia – political party or NGO – can claim that distinction.
With both coalitions competing to see which can attract more foreign investments and mega projects, Malaysian NGOs will have to be even more vigilant to protect the interests of the people, the environment and taxpayers. Whichever coalition is in power in Malaysia, they will be subject to the same level of monitoring by NGOs to ensure that they adhere to the norms of good governance.
You can expect concerned and vigilant Malaysian NGOs to be here for the long haul, ready to point out any let-down by BN or PR.
Real democracy will never be attained merely through periodic general elections and relying on parliament alone. To make democracy work, the people must step up their demands from outside Parliament. NGOs play a crucial role in articulating the interests of the people against the marauding capitalists who are bankrolling both coalitions. Democracy is more than simply voting once in five years for as the saying goes,
“If voting in the general elections ever changed anything, they would have abolished it by now!”
Politicians would be wise to steer clear of demagoguery in their political ambitions by appealing to popular prejudices rather than by using rational argument. Equating the peoples’ opposition to the Penang tunnel and highways projects to “adopting the BN line” is the height of dishonesty and pure bullshit.
