Let’s form Malaysia-Today Clubs nationwide!

planet69

Let’s form Malaysia-Today Clubs nationwide!

By Teh Tarik

Dear Raja Petra,

We are tired of being bent over and sodomised by politicians. Can you please help us to Stand Up?

Most of the buggers highlighted so far on Malaysia-Today have been from the blessed Barisan Nasional. But as you rightly pointed out in your “Tahun Meliwat Malaysia” piece, we never know when we could be sodomised by our own “gang” – be it PAS selling out to Umno for “Malay unity” (and Minister-ships), more dubious PKR collections of “donations” by another Khalid “aide” in Selangor, or even some DAP guy hopping over to MCA for “Chinese unity”.

But we are still prepared to keep the faith with Pakatan, since the alternative is worse. We understand that the Pakatan people have had their first virgin-like experiences of being penetrated by political power, and they are being tempted left, right and centre. We hope they will hold true, but in future, who knows? As they say, in politics, there are no permanent friends of enemies, only permanent interests.

No matter what their good intentions, politicians are only human – and prone to being seduced by indecent proposals from Umno warlords, business tycoons or even gangster “taikos”. Since we can only trust the Pakatan politicians, maybe say 70%, the best people to protect the people’s interests are, really, ourselves. We have to stand up for our own interests, and that includes pressuring and pushing the politicians to do what is right.

Dear Raja Petra, can you please help us organise people’s power? On the ground? Malaysia-Today has a huge readership, enough even for advertising. I have indeed met people I would never have imagined to be politically “active” – auntie-like teachers, cautious accountants, bank managers – to be avid followers of your fantastic website.

I believe some of this enormous “fan-base” is ready to “graduate” from online outpourings of (impotent?) rage and mere cyber-masturbation into more concrete forms of action. Even if it’s just 10% of the readers, I am sure the numbers will still be huge.

Action? It’s doesn’t necessarily mean going out tomorrow onto the streets to demonstrate. What about starting out with discussion groups in certain areas, say like Subang Jaya or Bangsar (in the Klang Valley) or in smaller towns like Seremban or Sitiawan? And then moving on to establish a whole network of “Malaysia-Today Clubs” throughout the country? If that’s too “political”, we can call them Concerned Citizens Clubs.

What will come out of it? Perhaps nothing more useful (and enjoyable) than a good session of bitching about (and laughing over) the latest political drama with some teh tarik. But it should also be remembered that great social movements – including that of India’s independence, China’s revolution and even Umno’s early idealism – all started with grassroots discussion groups.

Something more substantial might emerge. Such as how to improve something in our neighbourhoods and towns. Or how to reach out to the uncommitted non-internet-reading voters for the next elections. Or printing out catchy stickers (I am sure there are many graphic designers who can help us) and putting them up on bus stops, coffee shops or even public toilets etc (like how the loan sharks do it!) to counter the latest Barisan political ploys. Speaking of toilets, instead of sexual graffiti, imagine seeing a sticker which says “PLEASE FLUSH - Najis C4 Mongolia”.

The meetings may even think of how to organise protests, if you, our dear Raja Petra, is detained under the ISA for your brave work. Currently, you have your loyal band of bloggers and posse of Pakatan politicians coming to support you during your court appearances. What if we all can help you summon 5,000 people within 24 hours with just a few SMS?

The model here would be a kind of enhanced Rukun Tetangga or Residents Association – which expands its scope from local security to broader national issues. After all, if a neighbourhood can band together to do night patrols with torch-lights, yellow vests and big sticks against small-time house burglars, maybe it’s about time we banded together against the big-time national robbers too. What do all the readers think? Is this a workable model?

Even if there are no tangible “external results”, let’s not forget the “internal results” – that we are networking on the ground, and building alternative support groups. We will also be planting seeds of future activism. Who knows? If crime or the economy get really bad, even the cautious “I don’t really want to be involved-lah” or the selfish “Politics don’t affect my lifestyle so I don’t care” ones will finally feel compelled to act – and they will have a group of people to join.

During the recent elections, one sad thing was how the Opposition (especially PKR and DAP) were so short-handed that they had to scramble up to the last minute with urgent phone calls and SMS for volunteers to be vote-counting and polling agents. One now famous PKR “volunteer” is of course the Saiful sodomy guy.

Indeed, it’s often been said that the Opposition won five states not so much based on their strength of organising but because Pak Lah and the Barisan have screwed up so spectacularly.

It amazes me how these parties had years to prepare for these watershed elections, yet they still lacked the organised networks of manpower when crunch time came along. However, despite the last minute scramble, many Malaysians (including colleagues in my pro-Barisan company) still answered the call to volunteer publicly, despite the risk of being seen as “anti-establshment”.

The one big exception was of course PAS, which had lots of people going round on Kancils and motorbikes to put up posters, arrange chairs, and carry flags etc etc at PKR and even DAP rallies. Perhaps that is the advantage of religious zeal and a common meeting place – the mosque. Yet despite offering the most hands and legs on the ground, PAS finds itself in a secondary position within Pakatan, leading some leaders to be tempted by Umno’s offers.

The other source of manpower I saw in Selangor were the folks from Hindraf, who even went round to help PAS put up their moon symbol poster everywhere. A crucial point of mobilisation was at Hindu temples.

As for the Chinese, a disturbing story I have heard is how the gangster triads in Penang played a substantial role in DAP’s campaign there – which makes me worry about what possible “favours” are owed to them. I hope this is not true. If it is, well, the Chinese have only themselves to blame for not getting off their asses and doing the ground work that the gangsters (allegedly) did.

During the elections, I walked into one of the PKR “Bilik Gerakan” in Selangor to help out, and before I knew what hit me, I was “hereby appointed” the coordinator to distribute campaign leaflets in my middle-class housing area. It was something of a miracle, and a testament of Malaysians’ willingness to contribute, that within a few days, there were more than a dozen volunteers ready and raring to walk house to house, stuffing leaflets into postboxes. It was a fantastic feeling to be part of grassroots democracy in action, to feel empowered in taking some action, however small, after hearing all about this country going down the drain.

But after the elections, things died down. I was wondering why nobody from PKR had asked these volunteers to maybe form a branch of something? Were they too busy scrambling over forming the Selangor State Government to bother with setting up solid grassroots for the future?

And what was that thing about PKR “not accepting” new members despite the flood of interest after the elections? Were certain established PKR branch and division chieftains trying to protect their “turf”? We have heard how grassroots members of Barisan parties are migrating to the Pakatan parties and perhaps some readers can shed more light on this. How widespread is it?

Then again, how much can we trust hard-core ex-Barisan party members who cross over? And what about all those people out there who have never joined any party but who have been politically awakened in recent times by Malaysia’s alarming decline? How do we tap into this new “silent majority”?

Granted, not everybody wants to become a card-carrying party member. And there are many, like yourself dear Raja Petra, who insist on remaining “neutral”, so that we can be free to criticise either side of the political divide if they don’t measure up.

So we have a huge pool of potential here – people who don’t feel like joining political parties but who are ardent readers of Malaysia-Today. Can we be organised – in the real world – into a potent force that can push for a better Malaysia? Imagine... a network of “Malaysia-Today Clubs” in every other housing area... Wouldn’t that be a great form of people power? The world’s first blog-spawned national people’s movement?

Most importantly, it would be a neutral Third Force in between the political parties, that can promote a common-sense reform agenda that is not racial-based but issue-based – the ground occupied by Middle Urban Malaysia as often heard in the website’s feedback forums.

In any true revolution, the people are trusted and that’s why guns are given to them. Because the revolution is about the people fighting for their own rights. Of course, in the Malaysian context, our guns are our computers, pens and mouths shooting out ideas to improve society.

Does it all sound too ambitious? Well, even if nothing actually “happens”, at least we will know that Malaysians like to be entertained by political gossip but are not prepared to actually DO SOMETHING. The government we get is as good as we the citizens make it. Is our contribution limited to marking an X on the ballot paper once every five years? Or can we do something a little extra? Like putting up cheeky Najis stickers in toilets?

Umno Youth have their black-vested boors shouting for Ketuanan Melayu while their leaders are plundering the nation’s (and Malay’s) wealth. PAS Youth have their turban troops shouting against sexy concerts while their leaders are exploring back-room deals with Umno. What does Middle Malaysia have?

We have all seen how people have poured out frustrations onto Malaysia-Today’s forums. Can we channel all that into something more concrete?

One fear is that Malaysians are “immature”, “not ready” and will kill each other with racial abuse once we are liberated into action. That’s what the Barisan tells us, and that’s why they say they have to play Big Brother and “take care” of society with the ISA and such.

Indeed, some of the more abusive rantings on Malaysia-Today suggest that there are lots of frustrated folks out there with no other outlet. And dear Raja Petra, as you yourself have pointed out, the Muslim and non-Muslims responses to your so-called “bashing” of local Muslim practices are also polarised.

Well, that’s what happens when people throw their prejudices about when safely hidden behind an online cloak of anonymity. I believe meeting people face-to-face will induce more civility, and a desire to seek out a workable common ground?

It’s similar to the way we drive. Hidden behind the anonymous cloaks of glass and metal we call cars, Malaysians often drive aggressively. There’s no human accountability and we become reduced to our objects – cars. Yet, the moment we slide down our power windows and pop out our head, smile a bit and wave our hand, we re-introduce the “human touch”, and other drivers are usually more willing to give some leeway.

If I’m wrong, and the meetings erupt into mayhem, then maybe the Barisan is right – we are hopelessly immature and deserve to have our freedoms muzzled by oppressive laws like the ISA.

Dear Raja Petra, I am not sure how the mechanics of this can be organised. Maybe you can ask online for volunteers to be contact persons/coordinators in certain areas. Friends from NGO backgrounds (with experience in holding “empowerment” workshops) can contribute. Volunteers with human resource training or personality motivation backgrounds can also help to gel people together.

Dear Raja Petra, to be sure, many will be curious, even enthralled, to meet you face to face. But, with all due respect, it’s not about you coming and giving a one hour ceramah with everybody listening passively and then going home without any solid horizontal linkages being formed. That would just be like reading one of your articles online.

I would humbly suggest that the spotlight of these meetings be not directed at somebody on stage, or even at the issues, but at the PEOPLE who come. We could start out with people forming smaller groups, getting to know each other, and then exchanging experiences and viewpoints. To avoid scaring off the crucial fence-sitters, it can be made more of a relaxed social event with food and drinks, perhaps even selected (politically) funny video clips, thrown in.

For subsequent meetings, each group can propose one workable, modest plan of action – it could be something as small as everyone undertaking to invite one other friend for the next meeting. As people are busy with work, e-groups (on Facebook or yahoo-groups or elsewhere) can be formed for additional online neighbourhood discussions, though clearly these “virtual” events cannot be as “solid” as actual face-to-face meetings.

Whatever it is, it’s the people’s show, and we should decide for ourselves what, if anything, can be done. Trying to dictate an agenda beforehand will, I believe, not empower people. That’s the old style top-down feudal politics practised in the Barisan (and Pakatan too!).

Democracy must be lived and felt. We the people have to discuss and come out with our own ideas and action plans, otherwise there will be no sense of “ownership”, commitment and responsibility to them. Advice is welcome, but we should also be allowed to make our own “mistakes”, otherwise we will never grow up politically.

As NGO’s who are involved in organising communities (eg urban squatters, estate workers etc etc) have recognised, the PROCESS is as important as the END PRODUCT. Meaning that all this is not just about producing an “external result” like say, posters or demonstrations.

Equally important are the “internal results” – building social bonds of solidarity and friendship, to see how multi-racial Malaysians can (or cannot) have a real shared sense of “pakatan” at neighbourhood level. One factor in our favour is that the readership of Malaysia-Today seems to be more urban/middle class/English-Malay speaking, and that might help us to gel more easily together.

Will these groups be infiltrated by Special Branch operatives? Or Saiful-like moles? Who might then provoke us to do silly things? Most probably. But we have to trust the people, and the wisdom of the majority, to balance things out and do the right thing, just as we often see how ridiculous comments to articles are voted way way down.

Perhaps, for the initial stages, let’s all put our heads together and suggest some guidelines on this website beforehand (for example: no racial and religious insults, speak Bahasa Malaysia or English at meetings), to prevent the meetings getting out of hand. Also, a disclaimer could be issued that Malaysia-Today is merely facilitating a platform for discussion and cannot be held responsible for the decisions that emerge.

Dear Raja Petra, we don’t know what will become of us, the avid followers of your website, if one day you were to “go down” (dragging Najib along as you say) into prison for your stand. Will we then merely move our mouse to another blog? And get our cyber-voyeurism “kicks” elsewhere?

Is that how Malaysia-Today will end? With an “error message” on a blank screen?

One of your greatest legacies is the spreading of liberating information, which became a major factor in the people’s power elections of March 2008. Perhaps your next greatest contribution is to help us get organised into real people’s power groupings, give us a platform to meet like-minded people.

Many Malaysians have been awakened by the dirt of the past few years, as exposed by Malaysia-Today. Surely it’s time to take things to the next level? We’ve been aroused long enough with all the information foreplay. How about some real action?

We are tired of being bent over and getting sodomised. Of fucked-up politics happening TO us. Instead, we should be MAKING the right politics happen.

As reggae king Bob Marley would sing, we gotta get up, stand up... stand up for our rights!

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Niah-gong!!! That deserves a slap Mr. Green