The right to freedom is guaranteed to all who live within the bounds of society. But that right ends where another persons rights begins. When we demands greater freedom, more rights to expression and protest, is our society (not the individual) now mature enough to handle that freedom without destroying ourselves? Mature nations often observe nationwide moments of silence whenever a tragedy occurs i.e. Madrid train bombings or 9/11.... For a few minutes, every single person in the country lays down the thing they are doing, bows their head in silence in respect and honour of the deceased. If you ask me, the day this nation is mature enough to do that, would be the day thousands of people can rally on the streets without the police needing to worry.
The ability to recognize goodness and fairness is in each and every one of us. We know when something is broken, we know when something is wrong. We are good at finding faults in others, but often blind towards our own. Have we learned how to give credit where it’s due? Do we remember how to seek out the good after instinctively find all the bad? The Electoral system in Malaysia isn’t perfect. There is room for improvement. Yet this same ‘flawed’ election system won 5 states for the opposition in the last election. A call for transparent and clean electoral voting is universal to all democracies. Any government serious about retaining credibility will ensure elections are conducted with integrity.
You print your eight demands on yellow T-shirts and press like on every Facebook post with a yellow profile picture. But for the past four years, you forget to write or meet your local state assemblyman or MP, pressuring them to submit a petition or Bill to Parliament on electoral reforms. You fail to exercise every means and avenue available to you in this Parliamentary democracy to make your voice heard through your elected representative. Then you decide you have the right to go take to the streets, disrupt law and order and make it seem like it was entirely their fault.
Many of you are happy about what happened today in KL. You nod in approval. You make martyrs out of the five thousand who showed up that day. You glorify the leaders that got arrested in the struggle. You antagonize the police and armed forces, the very people you expect to protect you. Then you mock the ministers at every chance and condemn the ruling government at ever chance. You walk side by side along political opposition party members, who chant their party names, you march with an Opposition leader clearly with an agenda of his own, then you say you this has nothing to do with politics. Is that true?
A few centuries back, selling and acquiring slaves was the norm in this world. To Imperial colonist like the British Empire, slave trade was crucial to their economy; hard working, manageable labour and completely free. Slaves were considered lesser people with lesser rights.
But all of that changed when a young man, barely out from college and the life of parties and drinks, decided to make a change… to commit his life to a cause – abolishing the slave trade and freeing all people forced into slavery. Elected into Parliament at the age of 21, he was one of the earliest elected MP to champion the emancipation of slaves in the British Parliament. His cause was far from popular. The country was highly dependent on the slave trade, and the use of slaves to keep its economy running. To free all the slaves in the world would be tantamount to shooting themselves in the foot. But he relented, along with many others. This man would go on to spend the next 50 years of his life submitting petitions, lobbying for support, calling for reforms. Over fifty years of struggles and rejection. But three days before he died, the Slave Abolition Act of 1833 was passed. Slavery was outlawed throughout all the British Empire in the world. That man’s name was William Wilberforce.
True and lasting change comes from relentless, sincere, sustained, level headed, holistic action. Sometimes, these causes take a lifetime to fight, as in the case of the Slave trade and William Wilberforce. As a society, are we wise enough to differentiate between what is a genuine struggle for society and what is instead a personal agenda disguised as something else? Was there anyone wearing a yellow shirt that was a William Wilberforce, willing to champion Electoral reforms to its very end? Among the yellow shirts, my feelings tell me it was the normal citizens who were more like Mr. Wilberforce than the its leaders.
The Bersih leaders proudly declared that the rally was a success despite not being able to submit their referendum to the king. Strange, considering none of their eight points have been achieved. Has the battle been won already? If Electoral reforms were truly sought, the referendum should have headed to Parliament, not Istana Negara. Makes you wonder doesn't it?
Congratulations Bersih. You have gotten the publicity you wanted. You think you have managed to demonstrate how authoritarian this ‘evil’ government is to the world. How the people have finally found their voice. But really, all you’ve done is shown then world how little the people have progressed as a nation. How like spoilt teens rebelling against their parents with great angst, but poor judgement, we have allowed our emotions to get the better of us.
If we want a better government, maybe it’s a good idea to start by being a better Rakyat.
