The 9th May 2018 Malaysian Revolution: the ballot rather than the bullet
And that was also how the Malays ‘revolted’ on 9th May 2018. They chose the ballot, not the bullet. And even though the ‘revolution’ did not quite change matters much, just like the story of Animal Farm, the Malays are quite patient. They would most likely still allow Pakatan Harapan to continue for maybe another few general elections.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
All countries go through a revolution some time in its history. For Malaysia, probably the closest thing, so far, we have to a revolution would be the 14th General Election of 9th May 2018. Yes, Malaysia’s ‘revolution’ was merely a general election and not an armed insurrection with blood flowing on the streets like many other countries.
It appears that Malaysians in general and Malays in particular prefer the ballot to the bullet. And this is basically because Malays, by nature, are docile and subservient and do not openly defy or challenge authority. In fact, even the definition of ‘Malay’ is subjective and open to interpretation and is sometimes debated (such as are the Malays really the Bumiputeras of Malaysia or actually pendatang just like all the other races).
Malays have accepted domination for more than a thousand years and the peninsular has been colonised by one power after another through the ages. When Hindus came the Malays became Hindus. When the Buddhists came the Malays became Buddhists. When the Muslims came the Malays became Muslims.
European colonisation was not purely for economic reasons
If not because of the strict Islamic or Shariah law on apostasy (which carries the death sentence), the Malays would have become Christians long ago when the Portuguese first came to colonise the land, followed by the Dutch and British (whose mission was to convert the local population to Christianity).
Anyway, as I said, probably the closest thing, so far, we have to a revolution would be the 14th General Election of 9th May 2018. That was the day Malaysians of all creeds, races and cultures stood up to kick out the government and change to the ‘promised land’, the land of milk and honey that Pakatan Harapan had promised the people.
It was a situation almost of Animal Farm proportions. In Animal Farm, the farm animals united and rose up to kick out the evil humans just to have the pigs take over as their new masters and who exploited the other animals worse than the humans ever did.
In Animal Farm they got rid of the humans and the pigs took over
But that is normally how revolutions go. In 1765, the Americans united to kick out King George III only to replace one dictator 3,662 miles away with 3,662 dictators one mile away. Yes, thousands of capitalists replaced one capitalist in London and now America is owned by the banks and big businesses while the rakyat are exploited and are reduced to economic slaves.
The French Revolution of 1789 also involved getting rid of one tyrant just to replace him with thousands of other tyrants who did more damage than King Louis XVI ever did. What followed was an estimated 3.5 million-6.5 million deaths (they still do not know the real figure of the Napoleonic Wars but it was in the millions) plus a Second French Revolution and more chaos.
In Russia, the same thing happened. They got rid of one tyrant and the tyranny that followed was worse and lasted generations. In Germany, the got rid of the ‘evil’ monarchy to create a republic and 60 million people died in the war that followed. In Iran, chaos and turmoil followed the transformation of the country from a monarchy to a republic in what is now known as the Iranian Islamic Revolution.
Changes are not always for the better
Yes, the study of revolutions is a study of chaos. And the study of revolutions is the study of bloodshed. The same goes for the study of the fight for independence, which starts with blood.
But Malaysia’s ‘fight’ for independence never involved bloodshed. It merely involved the elite of Malay society sitting around a table sipping their brandy as they discussed with the British colonial masters how to peacefully transfer power from the ‘white’ English to the brown-skinned ‘Englishmen’.
Yes, that is how Malays settle matters. They eat, drink and talk (food and drinks are compulsory for any Malay meeting). Malays do not explode bombs, burn down buildings or put a bullet in your head. It may have taken 11 years of eating, drinking and talking (and many crates of brandy), but finally Merdeka was achieved without a single drop of blood.
Merdeka was achieved through 11 years of ‘friendly talks’ and no bloodshed because this is how Malays do things
And that was also how the Malays ‘revolted’ on 9th May 2018. They chose the ballot, not the bullet. And even though the ‘revolution’ did not quite change matters much, just like the story of Animal Farm, the Malays are quite patient. They would most likely still allow Pakatan Harapan to continue for maybe another few general elections.
After all, they gave Umno 60 years, so what’s wrong with giving PPBM another 60 years as well? Or maybe they will give PPBM just 30 years. Whatever it may be, even if it is 30 years, I will be long dead by the next ‘revolution’ unless I live to be 98, which I doubt. And that is why the Malays are still the best neighbours to have. It has to take something really massive to make the Malays turn violent. If not, you can leave them alone and they will happily sleep.
