The newspaper reports on the 10th November rally were all but fair and honest. What was written in the newspapers depict a situation whereby those who involved in the rally were wasting their time, disrupting the country’s peace, and downright irresponsible. I could put up with that, since that’s what the people in power have always been doing since forever. What really “motivated” me to write this blog entry is a clip of Zainuddin Maidin’s television interview with Al-Jazeera. It’s really a jaw-dropping interview. Watch the clip and hear it yourself:
Oh, just in case some of you don’t know who Zainuddin Maidin is; he’s the Information Minister of Malaysia. I repeat, HE IS THE INFORMATION MINISTER OF MALAYSIA. So, it was a real shock to hear that an Information Minister of this country couldn’t handle an interview professionally; and honestly, to me, he made Malaysia look even worse than it already is. As if the video clip alone was not enough to show how bad Malaysia can be. The people took to the streets to rally as a means to show their protests to certain things that they do not approve of; specifically, they are demanding for a free and fair election. These people are fully aware of their rights to gather peacefully, and the rights to have their voices heard. If their voices were really heard by the government and real actions were taken, these people would not take to the streets. They did so, simply because they had to.
People in Malaysia have just grown bored and disgusted on how things are being done in Malaysia. The government has taken steps that are somewhat similar to what the powerhouses of the world (i.e. America) has done in order to deceive the people by shaping the general perception according to what they want the people to perceive, and thus hiding the truth from the people. Abdulhay Y. Zallouw wrote in his book, Painting Islam as The New Enemy: “An artful blending of money power, media power and marketing power resulted in the potential of mass brain-washing in which one version, and one version only is presented.” The government controls nearly all financial resources and all the mainstream media. Worse than that, the government even tempers with the electoral system which, in theory, is meant to be free and independent. Voices calling for justice, transparency, and integrity was never published in mainstream media, especially when the voices come from the opposition parties. The media is so tightly under control to such an extent that nothing that would tarnish the ‘good and clean’ image of the people in power in the government can be published. Instead, they would normally write up hoax stories to make the people in power look good or to degrade their political enemies. The electoral system is also unfair. The system has always been revised and changed in order to give the advantage to the ruling party; which is one of the reasons why there has only been one ruling party in Malaysia since the start of indepence.
I am not trying to be political or declaring my support for any political party. I am just trying to voice out some thoughts on the current socio-political situation in Malaysia. Politics is, after all, an important part of our lives. I would like to congrulate those who spent their time joining ranks with the other citizens of Malaysia on 10th November and making the people’s gathering a success. What’s important now is to not stop, but to keep the momentum going. We must all spread awareness in the society on their rights and give the society the true picture of what is going on in the country. Do whatever we can to try and inflict change. Let’s take our protests to the ballot boxes and vote!
All posts in this blog are my own personal views (unless explicitly mentioned otherwise) and are not to be associated with any organization or institution related to me.
benar katamu Umairah, kita tak boleh mengasingkan diri daripada politik. cuma persoalannya, adakah kita semua memahami apa itu 'politik'? seterusnya, memang benar negara Islam tidak terbina tanpa politik. tetapi kita harus ingat bahawa pembentukan negara Islam bukan matlamat utama kita. pembentukan negara Islam itu matlamat yang besar dan penting, tetapi bukan matlamat utama. juga, pembentukan negara Islam tidak akan mampu dicapai kalau hanya bergantung kepada politik semata-mata. politik hanya salah satu alat untuk membentuk negara Islam. ada banyak lagi alat-alat lain yang penting untuk memastikan sebuah negara Islam itu benar-benar dapat ditegakkan. fikir-fikirkan...
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Sampai bila kita mahu elakkan diri daripada politik, sedangkan politik itu sebahagian dari Islam?Negara Islam tak terbina tanpa politik.
Replybenar katamu Umairah, kita tak boleh mengasingkan diri daripada politik. cuma persoalannya, adakah kita semua memahami apa itu 'politik'? seterusnya, memang benar negara Islam tidak terbina tanpa politik. tetapi kita harus ingat bahawa pembentukan negara Islam bukan matlamat utama kita. pembentukan negara Islam itu matlamat yang besar dan penting, tetapi bukan matlamat utama. juga, pembentukan negara Islam tidak akan mampu dicapai kalau hanya bergantung kepada politik semata-mata. politik hanya salah satu alat untuk membentuk negara Islam. ada banyak lagi alat-alat lain yang penting untuk memastikan sebuah negara Islam itu benar-benar dapat ditegakkan. fikir-fikirkan...
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