Farouk Gulsara's Blog

Everything has a price; body, soul an... We are all programmed?

We did it our way - Malaysian Tsunami!

Probably the most iconic picture of the times. The hands that were to protect the people are used to prevent the rights of the member of the public to exercise his democratic rights. Dr Streram Sinnasamy being prevented from submitting his nomination papers for failing to display the commission's identity tag (which was not given to him in the first place). This image and many like this must have evoked emotions so compelling to move 61 years of a single rule party. Credit: Free Malaysia A commonly uttered colloquial Tamil proverb goes, "you cannot hide a whole wax gourd under your serving of rice!" Once you start eating your rice, your deliciously spiced gourd will undoubtedly reveal itself. A lie cannot be hidden from public knowledge forever. Eventually, the truth will tell itself, sooner or later.

When the whole world was hurling abuses and accusations against the leaders of the country, the people stayed quiet. When nations ridiculed us, they kept mum. When day to day living became difficult, they persevered. When new taxes stared their ugly head under the pretext of saving the nation, they sacrificed. When the taxmen came knocking and demanding, they relented. When the stories were spun again and again to make them look like fools, they must have wised up. But they had a funny of showing it or rather hiding it.

Or maybe, the party which claims to have received the Decree of Independence on a silver platter were using their colonial master's tactic of 'divide and rule'. Instigating hatred and fear amongst each other, everyone was left to their own devices in their safe cocoons.

The heat and the long wait are just moments in time.
The results, the future of generation next, are history
in the making. © FGWhen the standard response in any part of the world where public opinion meant something would be the widespread demonstrations of displeasure and violence, they did not go along that line. The ghost of racial riots in their infancy of independence remained vivid in their minds. They knew unrest did not augur well for businesses and they knew money moved mountains.
On the outside, the general public appeared aloof. A few incidents here and there showed the might of the ruling power. Perhaps, they were afraid. Maybe they did not care. Hyenas surviving on kills of the guardians of the lion's share came out on a prowl. The whole might of the executive, judiciary and legislative forces were mobilised to protect these vermins.
They also say 'still water runs deep' or 'don't expect the calm waters not to have crocodiles' and 'the potato grows in spite of the silence'. Beneath the surface, in homes, in cyberspace, despite the propaganda that the powers that be spruced, resentment actually ran deep. Social media lit with visuals of the tyranny of injustice and spoke volumes of literature of wrongdoings.

Not the middle finger © FGThe sleeping giant of the silent public finally awoke from its seeming slumber of impassivity. In drones, they swarmed, from near and far, to their polling stations on that historic day 9th of May 2018.
Malaysians finally spoke. They rejected injustice. In a bittersweet moment, it seemed that public had forgiven the 'dictator' who could be blamed for mending the rules and starting the rot in the first place to re-elect the same 93-year-young ex-PM as their new premier. The 93-year-young had earlier made his peace with his enemies and the people whom he had witch hunted during his tenure, and vice-versa the victims, for the common cause of saving a nation.

Back in 2015 during an international marathon meet in Chiengmai, an Indonesian participant asked my friend, upon discovering that he is a Malaysian. "What is wrong with you people? Putting up with a kleptocratic authoritarian. In Indonesia, we would have just shot him!"
Now, I know the answer. We in Malaysia know the supreme power of the people. We believe in the democratic system. We did it our way, no bloodshed, no anarchy, no storming into palaces or the use of vigilantes. We used the ballot box. We are not apathetic to our surroundings after all. We are Malaysians.