I wish I could be with you, my friends and brothers and sisters. Believe me, I would fly back and be with you at Kelana Jaya.

To those who want to stop us, we find that you are even more scared than we will ever be of you. There is a whole lot of injustice, of wrong-doings and blatant misuse of power that you can ever atone for - save to vote you out of power.

We will do it; if not by the next election, then the one after that. We want change, but you want to maintain power with threats, beatings, guns.

You have marginalised so many, impoverish so many, and you have hurt so many. It is time for you to answer for the crimes and the sins you have committed. We will create the change, we will push for change. However, we will never resort to your level of violence. Even if we have to fight for the space to have fairness, equality and justice, we will never stoop as low as you have. So does that mean we will get it from you, your full extent of police/state repression? I forgive you, for you do know what you do, but do it out of a fear of losing control.

So, we will attend the peaceful rally - to protest your running of Malaysia, the policies you have enacted and the way you have squandered our trust. Yes, you take to being the democratically elected government, with the mandate from the people. But you miss the point. It’s more than something every four to five years, it’s more than ballots in the box. It’s more than saying you have laws and parliament and a government. It’s more than all those.

It’s about the freedom we give you to run this country - knowing, yes, knowing that you will do right by our consent. You should be afraid of the people, not the people afraid of you.

We give you the freedom to run this country, expecting you to run the country well, with accountability, integrity and humility. We wanted you to defend the rights of all - not just a few, certainly not your own! We wanted you to economically benefit the poor, defend their rights, protect them from being downtrodden, but you end up being the one who carry out these things. We have so much, in terms of resources to share, and we wanted you to hold these in trust. You took them for your own, dipping your hands into the economic security of me, my children, and their children’s future.

We were expecting you to safeguard our rights to protest against your mismanagement and failures. We give you the power to form a government in our name, but you restrict us the means to check you when you become the nightmare, turning against us that invest you with power - in our name! So, you have failed us and have failed that most fundamental test. You all know who you are. You also know how and where you’ve failed us.

Even now as you continue to screw up administering Malaysia, we would have forgiven you and forgotten about you - by way of voting you out of power, we would have ensured you stay out of power, that your history is your own exile. And yes - this we cannot not let happen- you’d be brought to the courts to answer and defend yourself against the blatant corruption, mismanagement and the repressiveness of your administration. You reap what you sow. But that’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it? You need legitimacy at the ballots, but you’re afraid that the virtue of democracy means someone else gets to sit in your chair - every four years. So, look to the death-grip you have over the judiciary, the media and even public life! Those who are aware, who want to make Malaysia into a better country for all, and act and speak - you incarcerate and beat up. Others, you lie to them with propaganda.

Time is coming: even if batons, gas and guns are deployed, we will stand. And we pray and hope by our actions, holding peaceful rallies and undertaking civil disobedience, that we will protest and act against an unjust government.

Those of us that dared to vote against you, I hope we will stand up against you in protests and rallies. How many more are you going to drive to truth, justice and equality with your crackdowns? How much more time do you need to see your reality unravel before your eyes?

To those of us that work for social justice, we say we need policy changes. We need a to change the government. We work for changes so we can do our job better… but they lock us up.

To those who say we need space and the freedom to speak about what ails this country… they threaten us.

To those who cannot sit by and see all these happen: Malaysia, that country of your ideals, of your dreams and the people, what will you do that can guarantee these ideas and ideals remain alive?

This is Malaysia’s hour of need.

Alvin Yap is with Tenaganita. He blogs at http://www.alvinyap.net/

• Home
• Reflection
• Commentary
• Experience
• Community
• Response
• FAQ

Disclaimer: Individual writers are free to express their own views and they alone are responsible for the views expressed in any comment or posting on this website. No individual writer represents The Micah Mandate or the institutions s/he may be associated with.