BERSIH4 was also a great masturbating experience
UMNO and PAS seem to feel the pulse of the Malays, rightly or wrongly to you. And PAS is not even pro-Najib and yet they were not there. What does that tell you?
Umar Mukhtar
As a means to inform the world that Prime Minister Najib Razak should resign for whatever reason, BERSIH4 seemed a success. Now we know that at least all of 100,000 Malaysians think so. Then what? It was only an exercise in a democratic form of expression, not a democratic measure of choice.
All that trouble and risk just to demand what is democratically undemandable. The prime ministership is not subject to mob desires. Fair enough, it supposedly identified the elephant in the room that is a pain in their lives according to 100,000 people. So much for its positive results. It is done, let’s look at its negatives.
Quite not directly related to whether you love Najib or otherwise, millions of Malays in Malaysia today are thinking out loud that BERSIH4 must be responded to. And it’s not about whether Najib should resign or not. Rightly or wrongly, that Malays are feeling that they must show their bigger voice.
How did it come to that? The conscious aim of BERSIH4 was never racial. “Was it, really?”, the Malays are asking. To them, if not responded to, certain people will “naik tocang” referring to the Manchu hairstyle of the early sin-kheks, the imported indentured labourers of colonial times. Given face, they say, they would want your head.
And all because of the isolated acts of a few assholes and the general criticalness for a certain race. Perception, perception, perception! Tch, tch, tch, how could you be misunderstood? Is that why the phrase ‘racial sensitives’ was invented? BERSIH4 never meant it to have racial overtones, just social justice.
Just as I never quite understood why I should not use the term ‘keling’ when in fact I had used it all my life, even in front of my Indian friends, in the sea of BERSIH4, the words ‘malai koi’ was easily muttered. After all, whom were you insulting, they couldn’t hear, they are barely here.
It was never expected that BERSIH4 was to be viewed as sectarian. Malays have always supported BERSIH, what more, the master-mobiliser was there and the GHB leadership had assured that their widespread influence could be depended on, especially in the Klang Valley. Malays are against corruption too.
As it turned out, percentage-wise, as few Malays were at BERSIH4 as there were Chinese voters of Barisan Nasional in PRU13, despite MCA/Gerakan wishful assurances. Are some kind of battle-lines being drawn? I hope not. Things are not that clear-cut. Even though simpletons with keyboards love to conclude from the non-attendance that Malays approve of corruption, or that Malays support Najib.
That is why leaders must be careful of the implications of their actions. Refer to people beyond ineffectual intellectual discards. UMNO and PAS seem to feel the pulse of the Malays, rightly or wrongly to you. And PAS is not even pro-Najib and yet they were not there. What does that tell you? Of course if you want the fight against corruption to be seemingly an exclusive Chinese cause, go ahead!
Try harder if you want inter-racial consensus, and not in that self-righteous manner as if to impress someone else. Malays want this country to be liveable, above everything else. Not impressive report-cards. They don’t want to be like those North African refugees who are being turned away by those who had once professed that they care.
Soon there will be a Perhimpunan Rakyat and you will gleefully say that the attendees are being paid. Does it matter that your fight was purer, bla bla bla? More than the reality that polarisation is now acute and national unity is now more elusive than ever? Work at solutions, not some kiasu stance which BERSIH propagates.
Self-actualisation differs from one person to another and it differs collectively too. And that is a loaded statement, sincerely.
