Think Before You Vote!

Okay, so what's going on in Malaysia now? Hooray it's the general election season - which means a lot of unfinished constructions will be finished by the election start! But when I was on my flight back to Malaysia, I read newspaper full of riots in Malaysia. What's wrong with Malaysian? We want to make Malaysia a better place, but what we are doing now is NOT making Malaysia a better place.

Fundamental Problem in Malaysia
Racial discrimination. Yes, discrimination against minority is practiced by the government since August 31, 1957 when Malaya (or current Malaysia minus Sabah & Sarawak plus Singapore) got its independence from United Kingdom. And we all know this FACT since that day.

Malaysia government claims that the country government structures are federal constitutional elective monarchy & federal parliamentary democracy. But in fact, the Malaysian government is an ethnocracy. The main reason of such government structure is that huge demographic difference in Malaysia. According to U.S. Department of State, 53.3% of the Malaysian population are Malay, 26.0% are Chinese , 11.8% are indigenous, 7.7% are Indian, and 1.2% are other unlisted ethnic groups.

While the population of Malays are increasing, the Malaysian government will be almost impossible to be held in hand of other racial groups. And plus the fact that the discrimination is constitutionalized, the main political coalition in Malaysia, Barisan Nasional (National Front or short-formed as BN) has been Malaysia's federal ruling political party since Malaysian independence.

Split of Malay - Rupture of Sole Political Party in Malaysia
Despite majority of the population are Malays, Malays were divided into several political parties such as United Malays National Organization (UMNO), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). On March 8, 2008, the political scene in Malaysia changed. In the 12th Malaysian general election, although the parliamentary election was eventually won by BN, opposition parties such as PKR, PAS and Democratic Action Party (DAP) held together as Pakatan Rakyat (People's Pact or short-formed as PR) had won 82 seats (out of 222 seats in parliament) or 36.9% of parliamentary seats, while BN only managing to secure the remaining 140 seats or 63.1%. Furthermore, 5 of 13 state legislatures were won by the opposition, compared with only one in the last election.

While the 13th Malaysia General Election is taking place again, PR planned a Walk of Democracy demonstration (a.k.a. Bersih 2.0) in Kuala Lumpur on July 9, 2011, as a follow-up to 2007 Bersih rally. The main purpose of this rally is to call for free and fair elections in Malaysia. The question is will this rally serve its main purpose - to call for free and fair elections in Malaysia? Or will this rally serve as another political game by PR to take out BN? But before we even ask this question, we should ask since when elections in Malaysia have been restricted and unfair? If Malaysia elections have been unfair, how the hell can BN lost 36.9% of parliamentary seats? Bersih 2.0 for a fair election? Think about it again.

Revolutions in Middle East
In my opinion, Malaysia, as a Muslim and oil producing country, is very comparable to countries in Middle East, despite the climate differences. The revolutionary demonstrations and protests in Middle East, a.k.a. Arab Spring is much more extreme than the situation in Malaysia. However, Malaysian citizens should learn a few lessons from them.

In Tunisia, protests grew after someone posted a video on Facebook of 26-year-old Tunisian fruit vendor set himself on fire after humiliated by corrupted police in December 2010. As the result, Tunisia's president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced to step down after in the office for 23 years and fled the country on January 14, 2010.


In Egypt, a "Revolution of 25 January" which included a series of demonstrations, marches, acts of civil disobedience and labor strikes happened on January 25, 2011. As the result, former Egyptian Persident Hosni Mubarak was forced to resigned as president on February 11, 2011 after in the office for 30 years and will face charges for premeditate murders and corruptions.

In Libya, a series of peaceful protests which were met with violent responses by the Gaddafi regime on February 15, 2011. Muammar Gaddafi established the Libyan Arab Republic and made himself "king" in Libya since 1969 after he overthrew King Idris in a bloodless coup.The supposedly peaceful demonstration led to a civil war between forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and his regime and those seeking to depose him.

Similar events happened in Syria, Yemen, Algeria, Iraq, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, and Oman in the early 2011 too. The protest/war in these countries was meant to overthrow the dictatorship in these countries, to get freedom for the citizens and to improve economical situation of the citizens.

Although Malaysia has no dictatorship, BN, who has been Malaysia's federal ruling political party since Malaysian independence, acts like a dictator party. Therefore, there is no surprise to see riots and rallies in Malaysia. But beware, the riots and protests in Malaysia may become as extreme as what had happened in Middle East. And when any blood is drawn, there is high possibilities that we'll have civil war in Malaysia - like what's happening in Libya.

Some of the revolutions happening in Arab did successfully brought down the corrupted government while some still struggle to succeed. Nonetheless, none of these revolutions provide a vivid image of their future after bringing down the corrupted government. However, the situation in Iraq can provide us some picture of the post-revolution.

Case Study: Post-Saddam Iraq

Iraq was under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein from July 16, 1979 to April 9, 2003 when Saddam Hussein served as the president of Iraq. Saddam was a very aggressive and ambitious leader. From Iran-Iraq War of 1980 through 1988 to invasion of Kuwait in 1990 to Gulf War in 1991 to attack on Israel on several occasions, Saddam has portrayed as the most fearful figure in Arab - perhaps the most fearful figure in the world after Adolf Hitler. However, an invasion from a coalition of countries led by U.S. and U.K.deposed Saddam Hussein. On 30 December 2006, Saddam Hussein was hung death as he was convicted to charges related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites.

An article by Brian Turner, an ex-U.S soldier in Iraq war, described the situation in Baghdad and Iraq after Saddam Hussein. In his article, he was very optimistic of post-Saddam Iraq. He described that Baghdad has become a "more livable, thriving place" although some Iraqis miss the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.

But this is merely a point of view from a visitor outside of the country. In another word, he knows nothing more than anyone else outside of Iraq. And not to forget he was an American soldier - he needs some good reasons to justify the attack by U.S. army. The U.S. army attacked Iraq and brought down Saddam Hussein in the name of bringing democracy to Iraq. But the truth is - as we should know - U.S. army attacked Iraq for its underground oil reserve. Thus, he must believe Baghdad has become a better place after the attack to justify the attack.

My recent encounter with two Iraqis during my one night stay in Istanbul totally contradict with what have been described by Brian Turner. One went to New York after the Gulf War 1991 and works as a truck driver in New York with an American green card and another one has been a professor of physics in University of Baghdad for 20 years. Both of them have a very different lifestyle for the past 20 years but they now certainly miss Saddam leadership.

Although often seen as a brutal leader, Saddam is not only feared by his people but also respected by his people. I remember the mixture of fear and respect on one of the Iraqi face when he mentioned the name of "Saddam". He told me, during the reign of Saddam, Saddam's name was never spoken in the public, in the family and even in his dream. When he was 4 year old, he mentioned the name of Saddam. Immediately, his mother silenced him and told him that in Iraq, the name of Saddam was prohibited. Under the reign of Saddam, anyone could be the spy of Saddam - even your closet family. There was a joke in Iraq, he said, that one shall never dream anything bad of Saddam because he will catch you if you do so.

During the reign of Saddam, Iraq was a very powerful country in Middle East. In 3 hours, Saddam looted Kuwait and it took 1.5 years for the coalition of Western power to liberate Kuwait from Saddam. Iraqis were proud to be Iraqis that time because nobody dared to mess with Saddam. Although many bombings and killings happened in Iraq, Iraqis can always expect food and shelter from the government.

But now after Saddam has gone, Iraqis are now under puppet government of Western power. In addition, the puppet government, that consists of Mafias, kills way more under the reign of Saddam. Iraqis can never depend food and shelter from the government anymore. "People wish we were still under Saddam. At least we knew what to expect."

Although U.S. Army invaded Iraq in the name of bringing democracy, the life of Iraqis did not improve since Saddam left the office. Now Baghdad is walled with 12 foot blast walls to avoid killings and bombings. Now "Baghdad is a huge camp, man. America didn't bring democracy. It brought walls." told by Brian's translator.

Living in a constant warring situation like in Middle East, everyone needs a hero. And Saddam was the Iraqis hero but also their devil because he discriminated Shi'ites and killed many of them. Iraqis were momentarily happy when the Americans brought down Saddam. But soon they realized Americans just remove their hero without replace a new devil. Iraqis now are living in hell without a hero. Very naively, I asked the professor if he would recommend me to travel to Iraq. He told me yes if Saddam were still there. But now Iraq is a more dangerous place than before.

Lesson from Iraq
Firstly, we, Malaysian, should be thankful that we are not living under a situation like Iraq. Yes, the current Malaysian government is corrupted. But if we bring them down the current corrupted government, who knows what next waiting for us? Are we certain that if we bring down the current government, the next government will treat us better? The vote is our hand and we should vote with reasoning. We can't just vote for B because we hate A.

One thing I have noticed is that Malaysians are ever complaining. Many Malaysians tend to compare our country to other more advanced countries like USA or Japan. Some complain about our high oil price, some complain about our expensive imported cars. But we shall not forget the low food price, cheap education and good medical care from the government compared to those advanced countries. If you wanna start complaining about our government, please think how can you serve better if you're the government. Be thankful, at least we don't live like Iraqis!