Where I Stand

Why I should be pro-government or pro-BN (and why I'm not):

I am a Malay. Technically categorized as bumiputera, but as the label has been used to discriminate against people of other races, I am loathe to be associated with it.

I came to the States to complete my bachelors degree, after 2 1/2 years in an ITM institution, courtesy of JPA. I have to pay back the student loan, which has been heavily discounted, and I admit that I would not have had my experiences at the University of Michigan without the government's pro-bumiputera policies. Some might even say I would not have met my husband nor have the family that I have if it weren't for the government. I believe JPA offered me a path that has led me to my life today. But I also believe there would have been other paths that would have led to me meeting my husband. So, am I grateful to the government? Not particularly. As long as they get their money as outlined by the contract we made, they should expect nothing further from me.

My parents have a strong pro-government background. My mother has worked for the state government for 30 years. She is not a big-shot but she has access to big-shots and many of them have come through the doors of our home, eating meals at Raya celebrations and bearing gifts at Chinese New Year. My father initiated the UMNO branch in our area and served as branch leader for a number of years. Politically, he went as high as no. 2 in the district before fading from the scene. Later, I would learn that money was the deterrent; he found that you had to have a large supply to play the political game, and religious person that he is, he could stomach it no longer.

Why am I now supporting the Opposition?

Once upon a time, I was a Mahathir supporter. In my political science class at ITM, the lecturer asked each of us to name the politician we most admired (in 1995) and I, along with at least 70% of the class, answered Mahathir (the rest said Anwar). Talk about the fruits of government-brainwashing. Then of course, 1999 came along and the injustices inflicted onto Anwar was too despicable for any fair-minded person to ignore. To be fair, Anwar up to that point, was not a squeaky-clean politician. (I now believe that species does not exist in the BN government). But he was brave enough to challenge the status quo, and naive enough to think he could make changes happen from within. So although there are many out there who still distrust Anwar, I am of the opinion that there is no other Malaysian leader more intelligent and articulate than he. Other than academics, which politician can claim they have read the works of Shakespeare, Confucious, and the Bhagavad Gita? He has credibility in the international community; he was even rumored to be one of the candidates for the UN Secretary-General post. He espouses multi-racial policies - no more NEP that has made Malays complacent and expectant of handouts.

Perhaps the main reason I am supporting the Opposition is that the BN government has become too arrogant, too omnipresent, and too powerful for its own good. You can't even call the Malaysian system a democracy anymore - perhaps a pseudo-democracy, or a manipulated democracy, where people are allowed to vote, but the voting system is unfair; where the institutions of legislature, executive, and judiciary exist but are controlled by the few.

Malaysia NEEDS a strong Opposition to keep the BN in check. The government must no longer be allowed to amend the Consitution at will - 600+ times in the past 50 years, compared to 17 in the past 220 years of the American constitution. Nor must judges and the police be tools and toys for the government to play with.

If I could vote, I would certainly vote the Opposition (PKR, DAP... PAS I'm still not sure). But I'm not convinced that their idealistic policies (such as PKR's $1500/month minimum wage proposal) will translate into good governance. I'm willing to overlook the lack of experience and accept that there will be a learning curve (or, like the Malaysian press likes to say, "teething problems") while the policies are put into practice. It will be worth it for the sake of getting the country on the right track.