I have been an ardent admirer of Anwar Ibrahim and a strong supporter of the Pakatan Government. But that is all being severely tested with what is now happening in the Bukit Selambau by-elections.
Let it be first known that I have no personal interest in the Selambau by-elections at all nor am I writing because the grapes are sour. I am totally on the side of the people, on the side of truth and on the side of justice and I will not stand for treachery wherever it comes from
In the first place, the by elections is occurring under murky circumstances in which the former rep resigned – rumor has it that, that former rep was under a variety of pressures. Rumor also has it that he had almost gone over to the other side, to be saved in the nick of time by some tricky intervention by some member or members of the Keadilan party.
Then when the replacement for him was sought, again divine intervention in the form of an Anwar chrony, one Dato Ravi, pulls out a political novice and a relatively unkown figure and lo and behold , all the wisdom of the Senior members of the party does not matter anymore. Rumour has it that this happened inspite of misgivings from Syed Husin Ali, Sivarasa ,Tian Chua, Xavier Jeyakumar, Manickavasagam and Latifah Koyah about the choice.
This has some very serious implications for all of us. Let me try and explain.
First, what this really amounts to, is chronyism, UMNO style chronyism. During Mahathir’s time Daim Zainudin and Tajudin Ramli ruled the day, during Badawi’s time it was Khairy who called the shots. But we can pass all that off as UMNO stuff, which we all are trying to get rid of anyway. But we see that happening now in the very movement we are all part of to change all that. The assimilation by the enemy (though in an oblique way) of our budding democracy movement and the dissipation of the idealism is beginning. History is filled with instances of how the old finally consumes the new.. This is very serious and unless we all awaken to it and nip it in the bud, the inevitable will happen – status quo is what we will have after some very hopeful years albeit in the name of a new party.
What does democracy mean if the people’s wishes are not to be considered. What seems to matter is the wish of the elite or the leader and a group of his chronies They can just strut in and make the decisions with impunity, totally insensitive to the wishes of the representatives of the people. Is not this, what we all accuse UMNO of doing. What is the difference?. If this is is happening at this early stage, I shudder at the thought of what could happen when the Pakatan takes over the reins of government, when Keadilan can move unfettered. So will we really have more democracy when Pakatan takes over? We are all banking on that. But will we?
The second point is equally significant. One of the charges leveled against the UMNO government is the way they have used the Mandore system to keep the poor Indians in their utterly depressed and marginalised state. By this I mean, a system where a group of subservient Indians in the form of the MIC are thrown some crumbs so they may keep the Indians in a state of ignorance, poverty and deprivation. They used the likes of Samy Vellu and a bunch of his sycophants to achieve this. Strong leaders were not allowed to emerge from within the Indian community – not that there were not any, but they were all totally blocked, by the system. Look at the Indians, who are in leadership positions in industry in the private sector, there are so many and they are extremely capable as leaders, but look at MIC, zero!! This is the design from the last fifty years – thanks to UMNO.
Now look at what our dear friend Anwar is trying to create in Keadilan. We have some Dato Ravi, (the new Samy Vellu) and then we have the meek Indians that they are trying to put together in Keadilan as Indian reps. Anwar does not seem to want strong Indian leaders, something that the Indian community so badly needs, so what we have is a ditto of the past fifty years trying to emerge for the next fifty years – old wine in a new bottle. If I am wrong, can someone please explain the rationale for the political novice and a totally unknown to be selected for the Selambau state seat, inspite of the fact that there were 5 very good alternative candidates offered to choose from. Compare this with the choice for Bukit Gantang. And this decision to go with someone so unnatural as a choice was made on the strong recommendations by this Dato Ravi. If I am wrong, let some senior Keadilan Leader come out and refute what I am saying.
I want for the old ways to change. But that change must not be in rhetoric only, the change must be in the substance and the processes of our society and government The change has to be real.
First, Anwar himself has got to get real . He cannot delude himself into thinking he is invincible. He cannot get intoxicated with his popularity. What I am saying can snowball into a total schism between Anwar and the Indian community if he continues with these insensitive ways. This may cause a swing back to the enemy of the enemy (as they say). They are just waiting around the corner. The UMNO elections are now over and there is a lot of talk of change within UMNO and the new leadership is a crafty one. Just as they in their wisdom caused the marginalization, they may now get equally wise to make up for it. Do not hand it to them dear Anwar.
All the Indians are seeking is a fair and just system where they are not blocked by the system. Do not block them, Anwar. Do not commit the mistakes of your nemesis of being insensitive to the needs of the people. If the 25th of Nov 2007 happened, it happened because of a seething anger that accumulated over many instances like this. As what Tok Guru recently said, when the UMNO government banned Harakkah, it will only cause the people to “benci” the government.
The implications are very clear to all of us. Ugly old tendencies are trying to re-emerge in new forms, to corrupt and to kill off the positive new tendencies in our society. We, the people should not allow this to happen. I am writing about this now, so it may be nipped in the bud. I do not fear that what I am saying may be taken by the UMNO - MIC combine during the upcoming by-elections to win votes. Principles are more important than influence at critical moments.
Viva la Makkal
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