The article mainly talks about Malaysia’s apartheid ways in their governance, and how the people should not define themselves as Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban etc. but simply as Malaysians. Malaysian first, Malay second, the author says.

Why did this article sing for me?

One: It speaks precisely what I believe in but is relayed in a more organized, well backed-up and eloquent manner than I would be able to have done.

Two: It was written by a Malay.

The second point may contradict with the message conveyed by the article – that is, Malay or non-Malay, he is Malaysian and is only writing to fight for a better Malaysia.

But let’s be honest here. He is still a Malay and is or could be enjoying the perks that are granted exclusively to him purely because of his race.

And for him to take a step back and recognize that this exclusive privilege is unfair and discriminatory against all his other peers who were also born in the same country but are denied the benefits that he enjoys due to the difference in race and religion. For him to even acknowledge this fact, let alone speaking up and voicing out his concerns – I truly applaud him. Him and all the other modern Malays that think, feel or act like him.

Because really, at the end of the day not many people can walk away from the benefits that come so easily to them, for the mere sake of doing the right thing.

Human beings are selfish by nature. We like whatever that benefits us. In primitive terms, it is an instinct for survival – why share the cheese when you have sole rights to it?

A recent survey showed that 70 percent of Malay voters in West Malaysia were reluctant to give up their special privileges and rights.

This survey just goes to show that change will be difficult. It is not something new – everyone is aware of that fact. It is just a little dampening to my high spirits of hoping that change would happen within the next few years. Looks like it will take a lot longer than that to radically change the mindsets of Malaysians.

This is why I am still being asked on a daily basis (I AM NOT KIDDING. Am truly keeping track.) the question: “Why did you come back?”

Because these people have been in the country long enough to lose hope and give up on any change for the better.

The new economical plan has just been released. Najib was interviewed by Al Jazeera and failed to give a satisfactory answer when asked if he would claim himself to be Malaysian first or Malay? Read the transcript of the interview here.

I like Al Jazeera. I really like their bold manner and dedicated aim to reveal the truth and to be a voice for the voiceless with their seemingly unintentional yet consistently awkward bluntness during interviews.

Here is the part of the interview I liked best:

FI: Prime Minister you’ve introduced the concept of 1 Malaysia. What is 1 Malaysia to you?

NR: 1 Malaysia is about a sense that we are together as one people, as one nation. And I’ve said that it is based, it’s predicated on a change of mindset. And a very minimum would be tolerance. In other words, you tolerate one another. You know, the differences, racial differences, religious differences, you tolerate. But that is a basic minimum. Then you go on to the next stage which is to accept it. You know, you accept diversity as something good for the country. That’s the next, the next echelon if you like, in terms of value system, in terms of mindset. And ultimately, the final if you like, will be to celebrate diversity. I mean if you celebrate diversity, means you are entirely comfortable with the notion of a multi racial, multi religious society.

FI: But surely sir, after 50 years of independence, Malaysia needs to be thought how to live harmoniously?

NR: Absolutely. The fact…

FI: Why? Why after five decades of independence?

NR: Come on. Come on. Look what happened in Europe. I mean Yugoslavia broke up, okay. You have problems in Northern Ireland. You have extremists even in America. You have modern-day Klu Klux Klan as well in America, okay. There are extremists in any society and including us. And the very fact that there are some extremists in our society means you need 1 Malaysia.

FI: Well, you also lead a party that champions Malay rights, Malay needs, Malay interests. And you’re also trying to push the agenda of a united Malaysia.

NR: It’s not a zero-sum game.

FI: Do you see the irony of it?

NR: It’s not a zero-sum game. It’s not. It’s a reality. It’s not a zero-sum game because if you promote the interest of the Malays, it’s not at the exclusion of the non-Malays. I think there’s enough resources for us to help everyone in this country. And I think, I’m confident in fact, you know with the policies based on the spirit and philosophy of 1 Malaysia, that everyone will have a rightful place under the Malaysian sun.

FI: But you can’t get away from the fact that Malaysia runs on race based politics.

NR: Well that’s history. I mean I can’t change history overnight. I have to take it from where it is or where it was when I took over and slowly get Malaysians to be together in this journey to transform Malaysia.

FI: How long will it take before Malaysia can be rid of race based politics? Before someone stops seeing someone as a Malay or an Indian or a Chinese and says they are Malaysian first.

NR: It’s an evolution, it’s a change of mindset. You cannot legislate. You cannot make laws. It’s a change in mindset and I think it might take a bit of time but for as long as we live in a peaceful harmonious society, it doesn’t matter. You can be a Malay, a Chinese or an Indian but as long as you believe that you are a Malaysian.

FI: Let me then just ask you, are you a Malay first and a Malaysian second?

NR: Well technically, if we talk about the constitution, I am a Malay but I’m comfortable being a Malay in a Malaysian society. And I want us to work towards becoming a truly One Malaysia society. But I’m proud to be a Malay. I’m proud to be a Muslim. But the fact that I’m proud to be a Malay and a Muslim it doesn’t mean I cannot relate to others.

I think the PM is wrong. Yes it is an evolution. It requires a huge change of mindset. But until the government does something about their double standard laws, mindsets will never be changed. There will still be Malays believing that they rightfully earned that special privilege. There will still be future generations and generations of Malaysian-born children who asks their parents why they are discriminated by their own country.

It is because of these ridiculous laws that prevent the non-Malays to identify themselves as Malaysians. How to be patriotic for a country who doesn’t even recognize you to be on par with the majority of its citizens? Who do we turn to? Obviously, we turn to our Chinese roots. Because that is what we are labeled as. We are the Chinese. They are the Indians. And you are the Malays.

So, having said all that, will I give up as well and jet out of Malaysia the moment I spot an exit? To be honest, I still compare Malaysia to Canada. Kuala Lumpur to Vancouver. I am disgusted at the lack of human rights, labour rights, employment rights, whatever rights that should be present to protect the people. No, the laws in the country instead protect only the wealthy. The ones who don’t need protection. The ones who use this as an advantage to exploit the vulnerable, or the voiceless, so to speak.

Yet, like I have said before, escaping is not a solution. You are merely running away and leaving the mess behind for people who have no choice but to stay. For people who WANT to stay. For people who need every bit of support that they can get to make things better.

So, at this point in time, I can still say, I am Malaysian first, Vancouverite second. What about you?

I was told that the documentary was really good and portrayed endless beautiful aerial images of many places across the globe. This documentary is a non-profit video that is distributed mainly via Youtube to allow for easy access and a wider audience to help spread awareness on the Earth’s current alarming state of destruction.

And it was not overhyped.

The Earth had never looked more beautiful.

Every scene was breathtaking – right from the rapid-moving waterfalls in Argentina, to the reflection of the clouds on the still surface of the water in the Amazon. From the white sheets of snow-covered glaciers with trains of aqua-coloured fresh running water in Antartica, to the vibrant colours of red, yellow and orange sari on the women in India who were digging into the dry, hard land for a hint of water. From the acres and acres of land congested with skyscrapers and other man-made fancy architecture in New York, to the hectares and hectares of palm oil estates cultivated in the state of Borneo.

Every scene was truly beautiful. Which saddened me to see the raw beauty of nature fading away to give in to the evidence of man’s selfish pursuit for wealth, comfort, power and recognition without bearing the consequences.

What touched me the most about this documentary, was how little we were doing to help save this planet – to help save our home.

We complain and talk about global warming so regularly that talking about the weather doesn’t become so awkward anymore. We realize the impact of it – how it affects our weather, from snow blizzards in Europe to burning heat in Malaysia to hail storms that were practically unheard of at this time of the year in Australia.

And is it merely by coincidence or rather the impacts of global-warming that we are only into the third month this year, and already we have seen two major, high-profile earthquakes in different parts of the world? Do bear in mind that even though coverage was not nearly as much, it had been reported that we have had about eight earthquakes so far this year.

So, here I am – doing my little part to help spread awareness on our dying home. Because this is the power of watching this documentary. Learning and watching how it is slowly deteriorating. Just like how a normal human being can overwork himself and age faster, our planet is no different. It is struggling to keep up with man’s growing carelessness and fast-paced technology. As we saw, the 2010 Copenhagen Summit didn’t do much and none of the major players in the world actually came to a solid agreement to work together to save our home.

Here are some of my favourite lines from the documentary:

All living matter is linked. Water, air, soil, trees. The world’s magic is right in front of our eyes.

In the great adventure of life on Earth, every species has a role to play, every species has its place. None is futile or harmful. They all balance out.

And that’s where you, homo sapiens, wise human, enter the story. You benefit from a fabulous 4 billion-year-old legacy bequeathed by the Earth. You are only 200,000 years old, but you have changed the face of the world.

Nothing seems further removed from nature than Dubai, although nothing depends on nature more than Dubai. Dubai is a sort of culmination of the Western model. We haven’t understood we’re depleting what nature provides.

We know that the solutions are there today. We all have the power to change. So what are we waiting for?

Palm Springs [Las Vegas] is another desert city with tropical vegetation and lush golf courses. How long can this mirage continue to prosper?

The Earth cannot keep up. The Colorado river which brings water to these cities, is one of those rivers that no longer reaches the sea.

It’s up to us to write what happens next. Together.

Related links:

• HOME official website
• Get involved with GoodPlanet.org

My reply to her, as usual, was the same – because of my parents. She looked skeptical. And I went on, saying that things could change. Her skepticism continued to stare at me from her unblinking eyes, her only comment was: “Bleak-lah.”

Our conversation went on after I asked if she voted. She said yes, although she didn’t believe that her vote would make any difference.

She shared her insight with me – which was that the Chinese population in the country was reducing at an alarming rate due to the double standards where the Chinese population in Malaysia would need to work thrice as hard to make a decent living. She firmly believes that the government had planned this from the start. (Frankly speaking, I doubt that they were smart enough to come up with such a brilliant scheme that actually works, I think it was more of sheer luck and just the pure stupidity inefficiency of their governance that resulted in this.)

I told her that if that were the case, then we would need to depend on the educated, modern Malays who could see through the government’s conspiracies and unethical ways to help save this country.

Her reply: “Bleak. Bleak. I still think you should go back to Canada.” And then she added: “But don’t tell your parents I told you to do that.”

Lol.

But you know what? I think she may be wrong on this one. I hope she is wrong anyway.

I have faith in the modern Malays – who choose not to be blinded by the perks of the unwritten social contracts in Malaysia, who probably feel screwed over by the government for making it mandatory for all Malays to be Muslim – thus robbing them of a freedom of religion and putting them through a million obstacles if engaging in an interracial relationship.

I have faith.

And honestly, the government’s power lay in the hands of the Malays and some ignorant Chinese and Indian people who think that if the opposition party wins, there would be another May 13 incident. But really, once the Malay support is broken, the government would need to step up about 500 notches, and really do some good for a change. I see that it is already working – they recognize now that people today are less gullible than their forefathers and more informed with the help of technology, and are trying to butter up to the Chinese people by asking them to give them a chance.

Well, we’ll see how things go before the next election comes up.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for the next GE.

“You don’t like Vancouver?” They ask me.

“I love Vancouver,” I reply, genuinely meaning every single word.

“Then, why did you come back??”

My reply was always the same: I came back for my parents. To try working in Asia. That no matter what, this was my home – where I belong.

And even though I spoke the truth, I couldn’t help but secretly wonder if I had made the right decision to return home.

I recently came across an article in Malaysia Today, entitled Don’t Come Home, Son. The article talks about a Malaysian who regrets not heeding his father’s visionary advice to remain in the UK after he graduates but instead chooses to return home – and three decades later, finally realizing the vision through his father’s eyes, he decides to leave the country after all and hopes that his children will not be as short-sighted as he was.

The author’s words plunged into my heart like an anchor, sinking it into a bottomless pit with a sense of dread, fear and uncertainty flooding my emotions. Even though life in Malaysia has been great so far, I am afraid that with time, I would share the author’s mentality – that is, to regret leaving beautiful Vancouver. It doesn’t help that after all this time, this is pretty much what my dad still tells me – don’t come home. Stay in Canada. Or you will regret it.

As my father, he is happy that I am back home and he can now permanently enjoy the company of his cheerful, happy, favourite daughter (that’s me) on a daily basis.

Yet at the same time – as a father – he wants only the best for me, which is, in his personal opinion, to build my life in anywhere in the world but Malaysia.

It is really discouraging – to return home and find everyone here disheartened, losing faith, and thinking of leaving – not for the sake of themselves, but for the sake of their children. To have everyone ask me at least once, why I had chosen to come back. One friend even said, and I quote: “I give you two years till you decide that this country isn’t worth it.” Lol, we’ll see about that.

I recently went for a body check-up and the doctor, whom I was meeting for the first time, asked me why I came back and when I provided my reasons, she said this:

“If you choose to come back, the only way to be happy is to live like an expat – which is, not caring about the government or how things are run, and just live your own life. But then again, you can’t help but start caring when you have kids. So, eventually you’re screwed anyway.”

When I asked if she was one of those people who chose to remain ignorant on the country’s politics and if she was happy, her tone and the comments that followed led me to believe that she wasn’t anywhere near the “living like an expat” mentality. Or rather, it appears that the country has inflicted such permanent scars on her youth – given the fact that she was a local graduate – that she continues to be very much bitter about her experience with discrimination that exists when pursuing a degree in Malaysian universities. (But then again, she turned out fine and seems to be doing pretty well.)

And I don’t blame her. It is difficult to ignore the growing concerns in the country – even the most ignorant person in the world would realize that something was not quite right.

Earlier this month, Malaysia’s former Prime Minister made a comment on the double standards imposed by the government in their policies. Below is an excerpt taken from The Malaysian Insider:

Dr Mahathir also defended the social contract, the so-called unwritten agreement between the Malays and the non-Malays during independence, by affirming that without the agreement, Malaysia would not have been formed.

“If there was no social contract, the terms and conditions of allowing citizenship to non-Malays would have not taken place. One million outsiders were given citizenships at the time.”

Click here to read full article.

I was not happy when I read that. The government (although Dr M is technically no longer a part of the government…) continues to talk about the past, how “outsiders” were granted citizenships and how today’s “outsiders” should bow to them in humble gratefulness for granting us that citizenship. Hello. We are in 2010 now. Today’s “outsiders” have every right to their citizenship. 12 million immigrants have crossed the border through Ellis Island into New York City since the 19th century – if it weren’t for them, New York City wouldn’t be the same today. Why is it that these outsiders can eventually be part of the family, whereas we, “outsiders” in Malaysia, continue to be reminded everyday that we are “outsiders”, even though technically, we were born in the country and if we were outcast by even our own country, sad to say, there really isn’t anywhere else for us to identify with. We can’t very well start being homies with Mainland China, can we. Not even Singapore, who is so geographically and socially close to us in every way possible.

So, political instability and bad governance aside, since we are labelled as “outsiders”, and since the policies and law are unfavourable to us because of the fact that we are “outsiders”, it is only natural that we opt to leave the country. But instead, those who leave the country when times are bad are considered traitors.

I was driving one day and stopped at a traffic light which was right smack in the city centre (intersection of Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Ampang where there is a huge crossroad near Ampang Park), and I saw an electronic billboard in full view of the public eye that flashed the following words:

(I don’t quite recall the exact words, but the message delivered is pretty much along these lines.)

“Mereka yang berhijrah tidak mematuhi arahan yang telah ditentukan oleh Allah…. etc” (or something like that)

Translation: Those who immigrate are disobeying God… etc (or something like that).

When I saw the words flashing at me and 200 other cars, my first thought was: Did I misinterpret it?

After realizing the message that was being conveyed, I felt a little disgusted at first, and then sad. Disgusted because whoever that had put those words up was putting the fault on people who were migrating elsewhere because their own country can not provide for them. Sad because the people who blamed others for the migration problem that is rising fast, chose such a negative way to retain people in the country – that instead of reflecting on their mistakes and attempting to correct them, they choose to hold on to their miserable pride for dear life and pushes away valuable talent that the country is fast losing to its neighbouring country, and of course, to the rest of the world as well.

Does anyone truly think that it is easy to uproot your life in a place that you’ve known all your life to be home and going to a foreign place to start your life over? Anyone who thinks that migrating to another place is a bed of roses is the dumbest person on earth. The only reason why people are migrating elsewhere in mass volumes is because the country is failing its duty in providing for her people.

More often than not, I would wistfully wish that I wasn’t born in Malaysia. Yes, call me a traitor. Call me a betrayer. Call me whatever you want. But anyone who has been living abroad and is stuck between the two places will agree with me – the calling of the heart to yearn for home, battling the practicality of the mind to choose for a better standard of living as well as to pursue equality and justice for your future generations.

Yes, in my ideal world, I wouldn’t be born in Malaysia. In my ideal world, I would be born in Canada where my family, friends and life would be, where I would know my entire life to be my home, where I didn’t need to have to choose to leave or to stay.

But obviously, life doesn’t work that way. One doesn’t get to choose where he/she is born, or to whom he/she is borne.

So, this is my conclusion – when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

Someone asked me recently, since when was I so into politics?

Truth is, I was never into politics. And I don’t think I will ever be 100% dedicated to politics. But I believe in social science. I believe in people. People make what the world is today. People make what the society is today.

I know that I want to be in Malaysia at this point in my life. So, since I am here, while I am here, why not actively try to make a difference? I may be only one insignificant person in this society – but at least at the end of the day, I can say that I am doing my part. Doing my part to help make a change in the country. Doing my part to help make this world a better place (I am still working on this).

And by doing my part, I am not just doing it for the country, the people, or the world if I want to melodramatic (as always), but I am merely doing it for myself – because at the end of the day, I just want to read the newspapers and feel proud of my country. I just want to feel that I am a part of this one big family that I was born into. Not disappointment, wretched anger, and just constant pangs of hopelessness instilled in me.

And for that to happen (or not happen), I can’t do it alone. I need the help of everyone else in this country to make it happen. I need everyone to share my thoughts and to want to work towards that goal.

Not just to vote.

Like I said, I believe in people. The people are the genetic make-up of a country. To really make a change in this country, not only do we need a two-party system, but we also need to rekindle that humanitarian side of us that seems to be embedded too deep within us that it struggles to surface, that compassion that we have somehow lost somewhere along the way in this realistic society of ours.

We have to start caring – caring for the people around us, caring for the environment, caring for our country, caring for other unfortunate souls who needs our help.

And when we start caring, we might just find that we are a little bit happier. That there is still hope in humanity. That, maybe, miracles do happen if we believe them to exist.

I was told that we are required to register at least SIX MONTHS prior to a General Election. So, it REALLY doesn’t harm to register now. Whenever you are free. Or whenever you have a minute to spare, just head over to a computerized post office. All it requires is just THAT LITTLE BIT OF EFFORT from us. Just that little bit – and it might just help create history.

Read original post here.

Issues and concerns that were long recognized by the people that were carefully camouflaged by the government is now an oversized closet that has burst open, revealing the ugly mess that the country is really in.

I was watching this video on Malaysia Today (courtesy of Aljazeera). It was a little embarrassing watching Yusri Mohamad (Islamic Youths of Malaysia) continuously interrupting Marina Mahathir (social activist), Khalid Samad (PAS) mocking Yusri M. while Yusri M. was speaking, and the three of them bickering on national television. They were debating on the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims.

One part of the video struck me, I wasn’t sure if anyone else noticed. But Yusri M., who was explaining why he thought that the word “Allah” was exclusive to Muslims despite solid evidence indicating that the word “Allah” was used by Malay-speaking Christians in other parts of the world even before the birth of Malaysia, had unconsciously, while speaking in English, used the word “God”. (See video below from 16:06. He uses the word “God” at 16:37.) So it is okay for him to use the word “God” while speaking in English to refer to his Allah, but not okay for Malay-speaking Christians to use the word “Allah” while praying to their God? Again – double standards and hypocrisy.

Another related video on the subject. Note that Khairul Faiz Morat (Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement) was unable to provide a concrete reason for his stand on the subject when probed by Aljazeera’s presenter. He was merely reading from his stack of notes, almost as if he had memorized his “defence statement” and when attacked with a question he was unprepared for, he was lost for words, going in roundabouts and even requested to be spared from giving an opinion, but was unmercifully put on the spot by the presenter. The presenter, unfazed by the sensitivity of the issue, continues to throw out provoking, controversial questions at different speakers in order to gather a more intimate and unbiased insight on the subject.

See video here:

It is sad that Malaysia has been getting a lot of bad press lately, especially when I frequently encourage foreigners that I meet to visit Malaysia.

Yet at the same time, I am glad that these issues and concerns are being raised and scrutinized by international news reporters – only because of the lack of honest and unbiased reporting within the country and the fact that not everyone reads the news reported by independent websites on the internet.

Hopefully, this will help raise awareness and inspire more young Malaysians to vote for a change within the country. Because like my friend told me once, we, the young Malaysians, are the future. And if we don’t care, who will?

And ta-da, it took only about five to ten minutes for her to register my details into the system.

The only thing that caught me by surprise was when she asked:

“Agama apa? Buddha ke?” (Translated as: What is your religion? Buddhist?)

I was taken aback by her question, and even though I recovered quickly and nodded my head in response, her question continued to haunt me for the rest of the day.

It was, as I have gradually come to realize, the subconscious reminder of the ethnic and religion disintegration in our society that is blatantly present in our everyday lives.

Why am I surprised?

After all, I grew up having to provide details about my ethnicity and religion all the time. Despite my fuzzy memory, I am pretty sure that I had to disclose that I was of Chinese descendant, and maybe (don’t quite remember this one) my religion as well, in any major federal examinations that I sat for (PMR, SPM).

And I never thought much of it. It was just something that I was exposed to the moment I was born. Just something that was cultivated in me throughout my 13 years of being in school (kindergarten, primary, secondary, college). Something that I had accepted, because I thought that was the norm.

It was only since my return four months ago, that I questioned these outright demands for the disclosure of my ethnicity and religion. They were everywhere – job application forms, credit card application forms, bank account application forms, elector registration forms.

Why does it matter what race and religion I am? Isn’t it enough that I am just Malaysian?

In Canada, application forms only ask for information that is really needed. It is very simple – it is always only one of the following categories that you fall into:

• Canadian citizen
• Permanent Resident, or
• Other

And it is at such moments that I would wonder about the concept of perpaduan kaum (racial harmony) that was strongly emphasized in school. Wonder about the Ah Seng, Ali and Murthu who were always best friends and lived in harmony in my textbooks. And I would compare what I was taught, to the realities of what was going on in our society. The inconsistency of what was being preached with what was being implemented.

I recently read an article written by a New York journalist based in Malaysia, who highlighted the discrimination of Chinese-Malaysians towards the Malays. He notes that the resentment of the minority groups (Chinese and Indians) in Malaysia towards the inequality of governmental policies have caused them (Chinese and Indians) to discriminate against the Malays as well, which consequently imposes fear and reluctance on the Malay community to allow for a foreign political party to come into power.

It is definitely a food for thought. You may choose to deny it, or you may choose to openly affirm it – either way, we all know deep down that his unbiased insight was nowhere far from reality. That at some point in our lives, we have seen, heard, or performed a discriminatory act – whether it is conscious or subconscious, whether you are Malay, Chinese, Indian, Caucasian, or African, whether you meant it or not.

So, the question is, which came first – the chicken or the egg?

History books will tell you that it was the Chinese haughtiness and superior front that led the government to believe that they needed to shelter the vulnerable. The Chinese will tell you that the Chinese was just being Chinese, which is to work hard, make money and become rich. Political activists will tell you that it was all part of a scandal created by political leaders at that time to secure their power by winning the loyalty of the Malays.

Whatever it is, the way I see it, what’s done is done. There is nothing we can do to change the past. The only thing that can be done is to learn from history and with that, it is our responsibility to correct the past mistakes that were made.

By “our”, I mean you and me. Whoever that is reading this. And whoever that you choose to preach to. Because if we don’t take the initiative to be aware of what’s going on in our own country, then who will?

And how do we do it? For starters, we vote for a change.

On a more personal level, we must consciously try to refrain from discriminating against others – someone from another race, a handicapped individual, someone who is fat or ugly… or fat and ugly. Try to put ourselves in their shoes. If we want others to respect us, then we must first, respect others. You might not mean what you say, it could be a joke, but what you say or do may impact others.

I can think of many things that I have done in the past which I wish I can retract, but of course, life is all but a bed of roses. Once it is out there, there is no taking back what you said or did.

It is truly a simple theory – so simple yet so difficult to follow.

“The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.” – Ralph W. Sockman

As I was abroad when I turned 21 (eligible age in Malaysia to vote) and have since been living abroad, thus missing the GEs held while I was away, I have never voted in any of the GEs before. Being one who felt hopeless about the Malaysian political scene, I chose to be ignorant towards anything related to politics, believing that nothing I did would change anything in the country.

In addition to that, I have never been guided through the process of voting. I was not told that I had to register, or that I should register, just in case. It never even came up in any of my conversations at all, until recently when I started indicating an interest towards Malaysian politics.

I wonder if there are many people out there like myself, young Malaysians who choose to be oblivious to everything going on around them. I wonder how many of my peers have voted before, or actually intends to vote in the next GE. It is really something that I should ask in a casual conversation perhaps, just out of curiosity.

So, like I said, I am preparing myself for the next GE. First, most importantly, I will register myself as an elector. Next, I will keep myself informed about the political scene, and the political parties out there – so that I can cast my vote with confidence and belief.

I tried googling on how to register as an elector. If you haven’t registered, this website might be helpful. (Main Services -> Registration of Electors -> Elector Registration)

If you currently reside in Malaysia, you will be registering yourself as a Normal Elector. Visit the website on instructions on how to register.

If you are currently living abroad, you will be registering yourself as an Absent Voter – Overseas Elector, and you would need to visit the Malaysian Embassy in your country of residence to register. Website also instructs you on how to register.

You may not intend to vote, or believe that your postal vote won’t make a change, if not make things worse, but there’s no harm in getting yourself registered. Just in case if you change your mind and decide to cast that vote of yours. Because I remember that there is a time frame for you to register yourself before being eligible to vote – maybe register yourself three months before the election or something? I can’t seem to find that information on the website. Please correct me if I am wrong.

But yes, first, are you registered to vote yet? If not, maybe it’s time to consider registering yourself. Just in case.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

*Edit*

I was told that we are required to register at least SIX MONTHS prior to a General Election. So, it REALLY doesn’t harm to register now. Whenever you are free. Or whenever you have a minute to spare, just head over to a computerized post office. All it requires is just THAT LITTLE BIT OF EFFORT from us. Just that little bit – and it might just help create history.

It’s only been eight days into the New Year, and already the drama in Malaysia is overwhelming. What is it with Malaysia and its never-ending dramas?

As I was reading the comments on the article regarding the bombing of the churches in Malaysiakini, I couldn’t help but feel a deep sorrow within me – sorrow because of the intensified strain on the tension that already exists within the Malaysian society.

Naturally, the nation is shocked about the bombing of the three churches – possibly one of the first terrorist attacks that has happened in the country – and also at how the government has responded to the protests made outside the mosques. After the initial shock has passed, either one of the two emotions will follow: fury or sadness.

Many are outraged and are making harsh comments and quick assumptions as to who are to be blamed, how it was handled by the leaders of the country, what could’ve been done to prevent this, and the direction that this country is heading towards – that is, away from the modern Islamic country that Malaysia positions itself as.

Likewise, the nation is sad because of the same reasons. That the political turmoil in this country is casting a shadow on its nation – a shadow of fear, of doubt, of uncertainty.

I was sad to see the comments that were made, especially the ones that were racist in nature, which consequently sparked more heated debates over the freedom and differences in religion.

At times like this, it is always so easy and so convenient to simply transfer our anger and grief by making bold, hurtful comments and pointing the finger at the most apparent suspect – which in this case, is the entire Muslim population and the Islamic religion in general.

For example, the 9/11 incident, which caused a number of Middle Easterners and Indian people (Indian people because their appearance resemble Middle Easterners, or Westerners just can’t tell the difference) to be verbally and physically abused in the States. These victims consisted of American citizens or immigrants who were either born and raised there or were fairly Westernized. Another example is the Virginia Tech massacre incident by a Korean student, which also sparked several reports of discrimination against the Korean community.

One often has to be reminded that while these incidents portray terrorism shown by certain extremists who happen to be Muslim, this does not mean that it represents the behaviour and mentality of the rest of the Muslim population. No matter how each religion varies in their teaching, they ultimately all preach the same thing – that is, peace, love, compassion and kindness. Definitely not violence, and it is only unfortunate that these extremists that we see in our time stemmed from Islamic teachings – most probably due to a varied interpretation of the religion.

The most disappointing of all were the double standards evidently shown by the leaders of the country – promoting peace, “preserving and enhancing unity in diversity” on one hand, while implementing policies and taking actions that are inconsistent with their message on the other.

Well, I am glad that more and more people are being informed about what’s happening, especially with the aid of independent news resources such as Malaysiakini and Malaysiatoday (the websites’ traffic was extremely busy and it took especially long to access the articles, what more with the slow capacity of the Malaysian internet), as well as international networks that aim to give voices to the voiceless such as Al Jazeera.

Hopefully this will bring upon the change that many hope and wish for to happen. Change – not for the sake of winning a racial battle as some may misunderstand, but for the future of Malaysia and her people on a whole.

Related articles:

Full story of the attacks, if you are not a subscriber of Malaysiakini

Religious tensions rise in One Malaysia

Misuse of negativity could spark tension

Kelantan 1977 revisited

Some of you may already know, but I recently submitted an article to Malaysiakini. What made me write it, I get asked a lot. I don’t know, I guess it was a mixture of a sudden outburst of idealism and pent-up frustration. It was… sent without much thought of the consequences – the consequences being putting my friendships on the line, the unexpected spotlight from strangers and people around me, and as warned by those who cared, my safety if my article had provoked the wrong people.

I am happy that the article reached out to those who felt inspired. I really appreciated the words of encouragement and support by the comments, and also from friends and my dad, who was really proud of me.

But if I were to do the whole thing again, I would have wisely used a pseudonym. That is my regret in this whole affair. I would have not put my friends in a bad spot, giving them no room at all to defend themselves. If you think you know who they are, please do not jump to conclusions. It is not what or who you think.

My friends were amazing about it – extremely rational, understanding, uncannily kind to the undeserving me. (Actually, when I had confessed apologetically to one of my friends that I had wrote about him in an article to Malaysiakini, his first question was: Are we famous now?)

We are all still the best of friends, and they both clarified that they do not support corruption but thinks that sometimes, you have no choice but to indulge in it. And one of them corrected me that she had never bribed anyone in her entire life – she had cried her way out of the only time she was ever stopped by a cop.

And no, I should clarify that this is not going to be one of those political blogs. I am not going to go into politics and write political articles for several reasons:

1) My mom would kill me. She was already furiously upset that I had written about sensitive issues and submitted it to be published.

2) I don’t think anyone would take me seriously as a politician or political activist anyway. I mean, even my name is a joke, and ice-breaker that my real best friend uses when she meets new people. (Thank you, best friend.)

3) As much as I want change to happen, there is a paranoid side to me that pushed back the radical in me. Honestly, after being warned by several people to be more careful with what I write, for a whole entire day I was afraid to step out of the house, fearing that I would be detained or mysteriously murdered. (A fortune teller once said that I would have a short life, and I thought that maybe, just maybe, this was it and my time was up, as he had predicted.) Luckily, my dad consoled my fears by assuring me that he felt my article would not warrant such unwanted attention and that he was really proud of me and what I had wrote. But still, better to be safe than sorry, which is why I have removed any direct pictures of myself from the Internet, and any personal information that may reveal my identity. Haha! (I am still the same Candy Tay.)

For now, I will be carefully filtering my past blog posts, only publishing those that I feel comfortable sharing. This may take awhile, but it will be a matter of time where this blog will be up and running like normal.

What a way to start 2010. It will be a good year, I hope.