Happy 58th, Malaysia.

7:50 PM

Yesterday, my country turned 58 years old. It feels different this year. The dawn of the new era of technology and internet has made things more transparent and everything has to be disclosed to the public. Younger generations are said to be more patriotic compared to the older generations and at least right now, many of them are participating in the nationwide rally, Bersih 4.0. On a side note here, I have never understood politics well. I'm not someone that reads the newspapers a lot or care about Malaysian politics a lot. Sure, I know who's the Prime Minister, and yeah, I know my state's Chief Minister, but really, that's about it. There's too much going on in Malaysian politics for me to care. Besides, I've always been a fiction book reader. Times have changed, though, when I took up Anthropology and Sociology as my major. I had to read up on a lot of these general knowledge, or else I'd be lost in class.


To be honest, I'm not sure what Malaysia's up to. There has been news that says Malaysia is ruled by a dictator rather than democracy. I kinda agree with that. Yes, the law says that we are a democratic country and it's the rule of the people. Our constitution states that we have freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Yet, the people are restricted in many ways, now more than ever. At times, I feel that Malaysian news had a comedic side to it. The things they do, sometimes, really cracks me up, that's how ridiculous it is. As part of the younger generation, it really disappoints me as to how our leaders are doing their job. I'm not sure they even have the interests of the people at heart. Is this how future leadership is going to be like? Each race for its own? Human nature is dominated by greed, but what about empathy? Selflessness?  Unity? Maybe those words carry no meaning anymore. Lest they be forgotten, that it was unity that brought our nation together.

Bersih 4.0 was a desperate cry from the people for a better nation, in which they demand for four things :

  1. Clean elections.
  2. Clean governments.
  3. Save our economy.
  4. Right to dissent.
This has never happened in Malaysia; the biggest rally ever regardless of skin, sex, age, status, everybody just comes together peacefully to make their stand. Why can't our leaders hear our voices?For the past years, the Bersih rally has focused on electoral reforms, but this year, the people has specifically called for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib bin Razak. Regardless of the persistent bans and illegal accusations, tens of thousands turned up at Dataran Merdeka for the peaceful protests. Those who could not make it back home, had their own rally in their respective countries and it showed, it really showed how much the people want a change. 
So, Malaysia, are you ready for GE14?

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