Why do we want to change the most successful political entity in our country’s history? Umno has never failed itself!
Like him, hate him; whatever you may think of Anwar Ibrahim, you cannot ignore him. His presence is overwhelming.
For his detractors, he is the very personification of the excesses of
Umno during his time as deputy prime minister and yet for those that
have given up on Umno, he is the rising phoenix.
And having risen from the ashes, he now soars like an eagle above
everything else and waits to land. When and where will that eagle land?
For those of you who are now in doubt about what good your vote can
do in the millions to be cast during the 13th general election, I ask
that you think again.
How do you think Anwar was able to keep his sanity and the fire
burning within him to bring much- needed change to the way our
government works throughout his solitary confinement in Sungai Buloh?
You and I have not reached the heights of office that he has, so we
would never know what really went through his mind through the years of
incarceration, but this much I know: he would have had enough time to
reflect on the future – his and ours.
His future and ours will be determined by that vote you will cast
among the millions on polling day. If you have persuaded yourself that
you want our government to do things differently, then you can be rest
assured that there will be others of similar mind.
If enough of us are persuaded thus, there we have it, our ability to make change happen.
Umno won’t change
But what do we want to change? Umno? Why do we want to change the
most successful political entity in our country’s history? Umno has
never failed itself.
Every political pundit, every analyst worth talking to, every
authority worth his salt and every expert on the future of Malaysia,
most of them confidently say that the time for Umno’s demise is nigh.
Are any of them aware that Umno has won all of the last 12 general elections?
At every twist and political turn, Umno has emerged victorious. How
can you say Umno has failed itself when it has been the only government
in Malaysia since independence? Every prime minister has been from Umno.
What has Umno set out to do, it has done.
Make every Umno president, their families, relatives, cronies, peers and sahabats wealthy beyond their wildest dreams? Done!
Make Ketuanan Melayu its cornerstone for political survival? Done!
Ensure that ethnicity – namely the Malays – will numerically
outnumber the others through dedicated “pendatang asing” policies that
welcome these immigrants and grant them citizenship – and in this way –
ensures that the Malays now make up 60% of Malaysia’s population? Done!
Cement this numerical superiority by propagating a race-based
“Ketuanan Melayu” policy that gives priority, economic advantage and
“first among equals” advantage to the Malays in education, work
opportunities and in all things Malaysian? Done!
Ensure that all government departments and agencies, MACC, EPF,
police, Rela and the armed forces are at the beck and call of their
political masters? Done!
Institutionalised money politics and endemic corruption into every
nook and cranny of politics and into every facet of government
functions? Done!
Power of our vote
It would be hard to persuade Umno and those that support Umno that we
need to change the Umno-led Barisan Nasional government because it has
been very successful in doing what it has wanted to do for itself.
And there are many millions that think that there is no need to change this BN government.
So the question we must ask ourselves today is this: are there enough
of us out there who want change the way our government works? Are there
enough of us to ensure that this happens?
And we want change not through an armed insurrection, not through the
winds of change that the Arab Spring blew violently across the Middle
East, no, not through any other way but through the ballot box – our
votes – if we are allowed to cast it freely at this 13th general
election.
That is why every one of your votes counts.
That is why we want to change this Umno that has never failed itself
but has certainly failed the people of Malaysia too many times in too
many ways and for too long a time.
