Looking back, we see little to distinguish 2021 from 2020, and now that we are slipping and sliding into 2022, it seems like deja vu all over again.
The only change we had in 2021 was the ending of the Perikatan Nasional government – but then we were given another government, albeit under a different name.
We are in a right mess. We have a government run by incompetent people again, and it is the people who are suffering from the backlash of their ineptness and uncaring attitude.
This was blatantly obvious during the recent flooding, which left thousands of Malaysians scrambling for their lives and their homes. The crisis showed up the government’s utter failure and the PM and his ministers’ abject indifference towards the people.
So, what will change in 2022? Is change even possible?
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What about the opposition? Pakatan Harapan losing in Sarawak was understandable because Sarawakians are not too enamoured with parties from the peninsula.
Sarawak is not like Sabah, where politicians are only too keen to align themselves with peninsula-based parties, as they are apparently unable to stand on their own two feet. They do not have the courage of their convictions. They are not ashamed of jumping from one party to another as long as it serves their own purpose. Just a few days ago, another Sabah state assembly member left Warisan to join Gabungan Rakyat Sabah. I rest my case.
So Parliament should not dilly dally anymore and instead debate a law to curb such political defections. So all the MPs must just get on with it!
With a general election nearing, the people of Malaysia want something more than that we are getting now. We need good governance and better reforms in government.
Corruption is still rife and widespread, with people in all ministries and agencies having their own agendas to keep alive this entrenched culture. They know that nobody is going to blow the whistle on them so why plug something that is beneficial to so many people in positions of power and influence?
We all know the scale of corruption is serious, and the nation needs to tackle it swiftly – which is what good governance is all about.
The government needs to be reformed or reshaped, and the correct people placed in the right jobs so that the workflow become smoother. Only then will Malaysia be able to walk down the right path and pass new pro-reform laws.
Many people are so fed up with this government. Many youths are also disillusioned by the direction of politics in the country as they struggle to find job, without seeing much hope along the way. They, too, have hopes and dreams for the future. What will become of their dreams?
And what of the various political parties that will come out with their full election paraphernalia once the date of the general elections is announced?
Many hope that PH will overcome its losses and lead the way again, just as it did in 2018. Back then, the coalition talked about upholding good governance and getting rid of the kleptocracy two years ago and it tried to do just that. Sadly, the coalition fell apart.
Many still hope that after much soul searching and post-mortems, PH will once again become the coalition that got the people talking and voting for them.
We hope that after the Malacca and Sarawak state election fiascos, PH and other opposition parties will now listen to the grassroots and the younger generation. They should come down to speak to the people at the grassroots, not over them. And maybe, just maybe, the people will vote for them again.
It is not for the opposition parties to achieve their hopes and dreams, but for them to help the people and the country achieve theirs. If the opposition parties lose again, then the country will be stuck with the same people for another five years. That is a scary prospect for 2022 and beyond!
I would like to hope and dream. I hope that a party will step forward and light a beacon of hope for the people so that we can all look forward to a better and brighter Malaysia in 2022 and beyond.
Happy New Year 2022!
Jem, an Aliran reader, still cares deeply about Sabah, despite having lived in the peninsula for some time
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
Malaysia’s kleptocrats and rent-seekers (leading us on the road to sub-Saharan Africa-dom) are multiethnic in composition. Contemporary Nigeria is a warning of how Malaysia can end up under their (mis)rule.
It is the duty of progressive intellectuals to tell the truth, and to erode the ideological hegemony of ruling class elites over ordinary people.
Here, lower-income Malays are fed the ideology of “Ketuanan Melayu”.
(Remember the writings of Italian political thinker Antonio Gramsci on ideological hegemony)