Dear R.WM,
I remember back in 1998 while I was a little girl of 12, we heard about the scandal and charges against him. I will be honest with you, I along with my friends actually believed these charges were real. Please allow me to explain:
The only source of information we had was through the mass media and mainstream papers like The Star. Why The Star you ask? Well simply because schools promote reading of newspapers, therefore it was compulsory to read either The Star or Berita Harian, which we both know are rated as the top pro-government papers in Malaysia. Back then I was too young or ignorant to actually look for an alternative source of news. The internet was only introduced 2 years prior to that, and being a typical kid, we were more inclined to chat on Mirc and Icq then.
Therefore, due to lack of information and only hearing one sided stories, of course the human mind is conditioned to believe everything that they hear and see when there is no other view. Then, I truly believed that the government was the guardian angel and because of them I was protected.
Now then, what changed my mind? 2 words; Education and Exposure.
When I started my law degree, my thinking then was not very different from when I was 12. However, after learning what the separation of powers was and what it meant to uphold this idea, along with the sanctity of the rule of law, I started seeing red flags in our system. Every law student knows or ought to know that POWER CORRUPTS AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY.
Therefore, before the last election, it was clear the government was corrupted. After they were given the historic win the last round, it became worse.
Now, back to Anwar's speech. Although he did not touch much on his personal life albeit hinting though jokes the plight he has for the last 10 years, it made me feel that the pain and humiliation he has had for the last 10 years must be so hard to bear that not many people would have come out of it unbroken.
I know that some people have doubts about him, mainly because he was once part of this corrupt government and had probably stood to gain from his position then.Well who wouldn't? There is no one in the ruling party who does not stand to gain from their alliance with them, but it is our fault for giving them so much power and mandate that they can afford to do these kind of things without being questioned. Who is there to question them? The opposition? When its a one man against 10 fight, do you really expect one man to survive?
Therefore, i just wish wholeheartedly that people would see; there must be a balance of power. It is called CHECK AND BALANCE. we cannot give a landslide victory to one ruling party and expect them to account for everything clearly. It is the nature of men to be greedy.
We have to apply pressure to ensure that there is always someone watching their back and ready to pounce on them if they do a bad job. That is what the opposition is for! regardless of who is in power. look at the most successful countries such as the UK and US, all parties are so strong that any mistakes made by the government of the day must be accounted for. This is a sure win situation where Idiots and Ignorant people will not be put into power, therefore we would be able to have smart and hardworking people regardless of race or connections, who can fully utilize the countries resources to the full benefit of the people!
I think that despite the election results this time around, we have to continue fighting to spread the news to people. It is an ongoing battle and any slight shift this coming elections should be seen as a welcoming sign that shows awareness is building among the people. Remember that Rome was not built in a day.
Yours truly,
Kell
I remember back in 1998 while I was a little girl of 12, we heard about the scandal and charges against him. I will be honest with you, I along with my friends actually believed these charges were real. Please allow me to explain:
The only source of information we had was through the mass media and mainstream papers like The Star. Why The Star you ask? Well simply because schools promote reading of newspapers, therefore it was compulsory to read either The Star or Berita Harian, which we both know are rated as the top pro-government papers in Malaysia. Back then I was too young or ignorant to actually look for an alternative source of news. The internet was only introduced 2 years prior to that, and being a typical kid, we were more inclined to chat on Mirc and Icq then.
Therefore, due to lack of information and only hearing one sided stories, of course the human mind is conditioned to believe everything that they hear and see when there is no other view. Then, I truly believed that the government was the guardian angel and because of them I was protected.
Now then, what changed my mind? 2 words; Education and Exposure.
When I started my law degree, my thinking then was not very different from when I was 12. However, after learning what the separation of powers was and what it meant to uphold this idea, along with the sanctity of the rule of law, I started seeing red flags in our system. Every law student knows or ought to know that POWER CORRUPTS AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY.
Therefore, before the last election, it was clear the government was corrupted. After they were given the historic win the last round, it became worse.
Now, back to Anwar's speech. Although he did not touch much on his personal life albeit hinting though jokes the plight he has for the last 10 years, it made me feel that the pain and humiliation he has had for the last 10 years must be so hard to bear that not many people would have come out of it unbroken.
I know that some people have doubts about him, mainly because he was once part of this corrupt government and had probably stood to gain from his position then.Well who wouldn't? There is no one in the ruling party who does not stand to gain from their alliance with them, but it is our fault for giving them so much power and mandate that they can afford to do these kind of things without being questioned. Who is there to question them? The opposition? When its a one man against 10 fight, do you really expect one man to survive?
Therefore, i just wish wholeheartedly that people would see; there must be a balance of power. It is called CHECK AND BALANCE. we cannot give a landslide victory to one ruling party and expect them to account for everything clearly. It is the nature of men to be greedy.
We have to apply pressure to ensure that there is always someone watching their back and ready to pounce on them if they do a bad job. That is what the opposition is for! regardless of who is in power. look at the most successful countries such as the UK and US, all parties are so strong that any mistakes made by the government of the day must be accounted for. This is a sure win situation where Idiots and Ignorant people will not be put into power, therefore we would be able to have smart and hardworking people regardless of race or connections, who can fully utilize the countries resources to the full benefit of the people!
I think that despite the election results this time around, we have to continue fighting to spread the news to people. It is an ongoing battle and any slight shift this coming elections should be seen as a welcoming sign that shows awareness is building among the people. Remember that Rome was not built in a day.
Yours truly,
Kell
You have struck home several points there Kell. The one I like best is 'check and balance'. 'Check and balance' has been absent for a long time and it's time this returned.
ReplyDeleteVote the damn nazis out!