UNDI DACING DAPAT CACING!*
That's what I'd call an inspired campaign slogan against the Embarisan Nazional party that has enjoyed 50 years of arrogant, incompetent, and mediocre misrule in Malaysia. I borrowed it from an SMS a friend sent a couple of days ago detailing an unending catalogue of sins committed by the BN. I'm thoroughly fed up of apparently intelligent folks telling me: "Let's say we vote the Opposition into power. Is there any guarantee they won't be just as bad as the BN?" For the last time let's make this perfectly clear: the government exists, in theory, to serve the public. Even the highest paid minister is a public servant. Never let them forget that. As our servants, they either do the job we're paying them to do - or they get the sack. It's as simple as that. Or it ought to be. What has complicated matters is that any political party that has been in power long enough can amend the Constitution and bend the rules to suit itself. In our case, the outright ownership of the press and indirect control of radio and TV stations by the BN means you get nothing but official propaganda from the mainstream media. Even if you had the money to start a newspaper, magazine or TV station, the licensing laws in the country makes it imperative that you toe the party line or have your operating licence revoked.
And, of course, there are countless repressive laws like the Internal Security Act and the Official Secrets Act and the Police Act that serve one purpose only - and that's to keep the BN in power forever. Once we succeed in overthrowing these obsolete and oppressive laws, it no longer really matters who we hire to pilot the ship of state. If they do a great job we'll slap them on the back and offer them a pay rise. If they fuck up, we issue them their walking papers (perhaps after at least one warning, just to be fair).
My friends, the land belongs to nobody. However, all of us belong to the land. Never forget that. The government of the day are elected into office to administer the country, make sure the machinery is properly maintained, and to work constantly and devotedly towards the continued well-being of every citizen. They are not put there to enrich or aggrandize themselves with VVIP facilities and all that crap. The instant they forget this, we show them the boot. Comprende?Now let's knock the goddamn BN down to size on March 8th and get on with the funky bizniz of living.
DON'T FORGET: 2008 IS A LEAP YEAR. ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!!!
____
UNDI = Vote
*DACING (pronounced "dah-ching") = weighing scale, symbol of the Barisan Nazional
DAPAT - get
CACING (pronounced "cha-ching") - worms
Love it Antares!
ReplyDeleterosli
Well said Antares,
ReplyDeleteLand belong to nobody, how ever we belong to the land.
fookleong
Welcome to my pet blog, Rosli and Fook Leong! Well, let's get on with the task at hand, viz., give BN a chance to become the Opposition, see how they fare :-)
ReplyDeleteGiving BN the chance to become the Opposition. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's the wittiest thing I've heard all day :)
Thanks, Klaw! Got to admit I borrowed that from Anwar's speech on 26 Feb (see the March 1st post) where he said we could see if the BN can be rehabilitated by spending some time as the Opposition or something to that effect. Best of all was Anwar's quip about Najib. He said Najib's long experience in politics is an asset that can be put to good use. He would appoint him our ambassador to Mongolia! The crowd really liked that one... :-)
ReplyDeleteMost "intelligent" voters are ignorant of what you have written.
ReplyDeleteThey dont understand that we need a credible opposition to provide the check and balances needed to properly administer the assets and wealth of our country for our children.
Voters are blind to the gross misuse of our taxpayers money by the BN to get re-elected time after time to have the power to spend taxpayers money or borrow to spend with impunity.
This election is not a popularity contest! Voters are choosing trustees who can be trusted to wisely administer our resources to give our future generations a fighting chance in the global economy.
Welcome back, Eeyore! Where have you been all this time? Be a warrior, not a worrier. The BN represents the Lowest Common Denominator, society's basest attributes, their darkest fears, and the Gollumish shadow self that lurks below the threshold of honorability. Ultimately, it's a vote between our noble and our ignoble aspects!
ReplyDeleteAntares,
ReplyDeleteI have been silence watching, I see how worm work. goodluck to the nation, I do my part in silence.
With all due respect to our vermiform friends, by which I mean the REAL worms who actually do play an important and useful part in every ecosystem, the BN lifeforms are on a considerably lower evolutionary scale, since they cannot plead innocence when it comes to wilfully destroying the natural environment with their stupid "Mamasan 2020" (which only feeds their unbridled greed for bribes and commissions) and poisoning the psyches of an entire generation who continue to venerate the man who buggered the nation left and right (by corrupting the judiciary, the police, and the election commission) during his 22-year reign in which a merely cosmetic form of development was favored, but the intellectual and spiritual well-being of the nation was allowed to spiral downwards to its present abysmal condition.
ReplyDeleteAntares,
ReplyDelete" The man who buggered the nation left and right" as described by you was not Badawi.He inherited the "buggerred" nation from his predecessor!
Granted there was arrogance shown by those who held office as Ministers,nevertheless, you cannot rule out that if the Opposition takes over, those appointed as Ministers would likewise be equally arrogant.
As an example,last year I made complaints to the MP of Cheras,a DAP member of Parliament, that residents in my area, were attempting to cut down trees in a water works reserved land 20 feet from the highway. The trees provided shade and filtered pollution and noise from the highway.
Those who wanted to cut the tress complained to the MP and he confronted me for having brought the issue to DBKL. He said he was a two- term MP and should know better.
I told him I would like to tape up the conversation and before I could activate my tape recorder, he quickly walked away, telling those around him that I am a bad neighbour.
It was clear to me that he was only after votes, and not bothered about
environmental factors and he showed arrogance which normally would be credited to someone from B.N.
Do I therefore give my vote to such
a personality?
Get real, Man!
Hi Mike! Thanks for your interesting comment. I wasn't referring to Pak Blah as such - Doc Croc had plenty of time to imprint his energy signature on every aspect of government in his 22 years. Indeed, almost every scandal that has emerged in the last few years had its roots in the crony capitalist machinery Dr M installed as a means to achieve his repugnant vision of a fully robotized citizenry by 2020. This DAP chap you mentioned, could you at least name him so he can be reprimanded and handed over to the BN? I know power is an intoxicant - which is why the antidote (a free flow of information plus freedom to express our feelings without fear of punishment) must be made available to all freedom- and truth-loving people. End of the day, it matters not what brand of soap you use, so long as it keeps you clean! The political structure is so distorted and top-heavy (created as a legacy of the class-conscious Brits and perpetuated by the Malay rulers who seem stuck in a feudal mindset) that we have to get our hands dirty and fix the damn system before it fixes us for good. We have to believe that the machinery of governance CAN be repaired and restored to satisfactory working order. I'm generally not a political animal, not interested in sports either, and most times I'm of the view that each of us really ought to focus on raising our own consciousness and keeping it clear, instead of pinning the blame on anybody - whether the BN or the Devil. But the system is so befouled after 50 years under the BN the situation is no longer tolerable. Even a bloody mystic has to get off his arse and cast his vote or face the possibility of getting arrested for contemplating his own navel.
ReplyDeleteAntares,
ReplyDeleteIf you are not interested in plitics, yet want to comment on political issues, at least read up to know who the M.P. is for each constituency! You owe your readers that!
I am all for change and agree wholeheartedly on the need for good governance and transperancy!
In past elections, I have consistently voted for the Opposition as I wish to ensure there is proper check and balance in the system!
However, what I have encountered with the DAP M.P. for Cheras shows the ugly side of the Opposition that few know. They can be ARROGANT!
I now tend to look at what is the lesser eveil when exercising my rights to vote! Surely we do not want to jump from the frying pan into the fire!
3rd March 2008
Antares,
ReplyDeleteThis evening,5th March 2008, I was at Taman Connaught, Cheras, to hear LIm Kit Siang speak.As he was not the first speaker, I walked along the night market, browsing the different stalls.
At about 6.30pm. Ms. Teo Nie Ching, DAP candidate for Serdang was making her rounds. She was shaking hands with those at the night market. Behind her were a few female party helpers, distributing roses to those women at the night market.
There was a group of young Chinese girls walking along.They had One Indian female friend in the group. The Chinese females were all given a rose each but the Indian girl was left out.
I drew the attention of the woman handing out the roses and told her that the Indian girl is also a citizen and can be a supporter of her party. She should not be discriminated in this manner.
One of those who was earlier given the rose immediately handed over her rose to the Indian girl.
Such feelings of unity should not be prompted. We should automatically look at others as equal to us.
It is understandable that some party workers are not sensitive to such issues as they may not have been told.
Party leaders should advise their workers of such sensitivities before they are allowed to approach the public. It can give rise to
feelings of discrimination which should be avoided.Always remember little things mean a lot!
My friend,
ReplyDeleteYou have remained mute so far! I only intervened because the girl said to herself, within ear-shot. Why did they not give to me? in English!
I am not Indian and yet I felt sad - so sad!
I am not from your generation! I am from the generation before Merdeka! There was a time when Chinese. Malays and Indians were all brothers!Now we are looking for our identity again. It should not be so!
After Malaysia Day and after 1969,
we were all buggered! It was okay before and during Merdeka!
Hi Uncle Mike! :-) I'm not a DAP member (though I'm happy to support the DAP and PKR candidates in my area) so why lodge your complaints with me? More effective if you mention it to some senior DAP members, just to alert them to the fact that the party has to "de-sinicize" itself more to be truly "Malaysian." In any case, what you witnessed isn't so much an indictment of the DAP as much as the way most of us have been brought up to be overly gung-ho about our own ethnicity. Whenever I'm asked what race I am, I always answer "Human" (and occasionally I'll add, "But please don't hold that against me!")
ReplyDeleteMy friend,
ReplyDeleteSince you function as a "DAP" loudspeaker, I thought it wise to whisper in your blog!
It is not a complaint against the DAP!
It is merely telling your readers to look at all angles, not only parotting what others are saying!
If those DAP bigwigs are reading your blog, at least they get a "whiff" of how their comrades are behaving!
In as much as I criticise the DAP, I would also criticise the Government!
I am a citizen and believe in the freedom of speech.