Citizen soldiers: a call to arms

To paraphrased President Franklin Roosevelt, May 7 2009 is a day which will live in infamy.
Above: From Anil Netto's excellent blog.
I blogged earlier that some people are worried about BN retaking the 2/3 majority in the Parliament and wiping out PR’s gains in 2008 come next general election as the economic cycle could be in the “up” cycle again. http://wangsamajuformalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/04/you-deserve-what-you-get.html


Are we Malaysians really that shallow? A few sweets at election time and we sell our souls and the future of the nation? Some of us might be like that, some of us might still be like that come next GE and shall always be like that.


Ask ourselves this …


Would you WANT to be stuck in a system of selective application and gross disregard of laws and governance, feeding on scraps left by the greedy and privileged?


Go live in a country that has low level of corruption and fairness in drafting and enforcement of legislation and decide if the present administration is being fair to you or not. Some of us might have the answer already as millions of Malaysia had migrated overseas for a better life. Heck, even our ministers and their families utilizes foreign hospitals and universities. Why not bring the environment we carve for from overseas into our country?


Are you only good enough to bitch in mamak stalls or even afraid to speak out? I even heard a graduate from local university not wanting to vote at all fearing that if she had voted for the opposition, she would not get her housing loan approved by a bank.


What do you want and how much are you willing to do for your livelihood as well as for your children’s and their children’s? This post is about what we, ordinary citizens and taxpayers, can do if you say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and decide to take a stand.


Stephen Ambrose, a renowned American historian who wrote some historical masterpiece such as Band of Brothers, which was adapted as a TV mini series by HBO, Pegasus Bridge, We Die Alone, Victors etc., coined the term “Citizen Soldiers” and wrote a book about it. It is about ordinary Americans leaving their normal lives and came forward; suffering, dying, excelling and ultimately prevailing in World War II fighting the Germans and Japanese to protect their family, country and their way of life.
Caption on news paper: Huns (Germans) kill women and children


Not all of us can come forward and offer ourselves as a candidate for Parliament or State Assembly, Not all of us can be a Raja Petra Kamarudin. Not all of us can be a political party member and be as committed as those dedicated souls.

We can do as much, or as little as we can do. When we accumulate all the little effort of everyone, the combined impact is greater, much greater than the sum of its parts.


Let’s make a list of what we can do to assist and support those who are carrying the fight for us. Know your rights as a citizen and taxpayer of this country. Be prepared to question and parry any attempt to infringe or violate what you are entitled to. Discard any irrational fear or herd mentality that would arrest your growth as a responsible and participative citizen in a democratic country.


They have made their stand, loud and clear. Make a stand and let it be known.
































Register yourself as a voter and make sure you vote. Get someone who has not voted before to vote. Make donations to the political party you support; either by voluntary contribution or attending their fund raising function. Value your hard earn money and refrain spending your money that would fund parties that infringe your rights as a citizen and tax payer of this country, if possible. A single word would suffice, boycott!

Get onto politicians’ blogs and participate in discussions to raise your awareness and share your awareness with friends and family. Provide constructive feedback to your Yang Berhormats to support and motivate them as well as to help them do their jobs better.

So far so good...not too difficult right? If you want to raise the stake then ….


Visit your Yang Berhormat’s service center and talk to him or her. Provide feedback, donations, constructive advise and whatever support you deem within your means and meeting the YB’s or his or her PAs’ needs. Talk to your friends and families about the service available at the service center.

Join political party of your choice as an ordinary member and participate in their activities. I have attended some parties’ function such as fund raising dinner, talks etc. I am always impressed by the quiet dignity, contribution and sacrifice of those ordinary members. I remember a DAP member I observed during the party’s Chinese New Year open house ceremony earlier this year. There was a Malay lady in tudung and DAP T shirt helping out in the event. Her quiet, non-nonsense and efficient demeanour had left an impression on my mind.

The list above is not exhaustive. I am not a very intelligent person yet I can come up with a few suggestions. Yours ideas are very appreciated. If you think some of the above actions points are valid, well, what are you waiting for?

13 comments:

  1. Mr. Lee,

    Fear is still the keyword in Malaysia. You had presented in this article what is in my mine all these years.

    I would like to seek your permission to reproduce it at my blog with a link to it.

    Thanks in advance

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  2. The biggest and fastest impact is boycott. Boycott any thing remotely connected to UMNO and BN. Boycott the cronies. UMNO and BN only understand money and through money we can hurt them and make them hurt bad. The mamak boycott in Penang I dare say is a good start last year. I'm not a racist but when you tried to incite a riot and destabilized a state govt through Machiavellian means then these KIMMA people are a state enemy. Now UMNO and BN has shown themselves as the enemy of the people so the people will resist them with the only power we have, our wallet. BOYCOTT! BOYCOTT! BOYCOTT!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Its between the "have" and the "have not". You political morons both sides, likewise, just trying to justify your own abyssal political interest. But actually you guys just want to have POWER, and telling the whole world you represent the PEOPLE, my foot. Never appreciate of what the country gives you, but always greedy and demand as if you have done a lot to the country. Anyone who do not like this country, please go. Do not say you represent the MAJORITY....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Richard,

    I am honoured by your request. please by all means.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hamba,

    boycott is not racism, it is about taking care of our own hard earned money

    Anom,

    read your comments 2 times and I failed to see your point. the only solution you offer is to get out of Malaysia so I gather you are from Noh Omar's school of "if Johnny Foreigner don't like it here, get out"

    try a stint with the lovely Malaysia My Second Home programme and get constructive.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anom,

    You are probably one sick UMNO related contractor who's still waiting for some projects to proceed. After all you must have spend quite an amount entertaining those "decision makers" at KTV's or SPA's. Problem is you are either taken as a sucker (for entertaining without getting the project first) or someone who's generous enough.

    ReplyDelete
  7. LWT,

    Good stuff.

    Citizen soldiers = Barisan Rakyat Bloggers & Friends.

    And as for Anon (2.21pm), it's pretty obvious this person can't speak on behalf of the majority because he/she couldn't be bothered to even support his/her words with an identity.

    A coward can never make a stand. Especially an anonymous coward.

    ReplyDelete
  8. There are some people who are still in the dark and totally out of syn on what's happening in this country. This country is the people, and the people- make up this country. A country does not automatically 'gives' you. You work for it. Some work more some work less, it depends. Some pay more taxes, some pay less, and again it depends. All in all we contribute in terms of taxes and labour, and we all have a stake in the administration of the country. Having a stake means exercising that right to make things right when they are not. LWT hits the point- the starting point is ourselves and our constituency reps (the MPS and Aduns) because they represent us. They are our voice, so we should be continuously in dialogue with our reps.

    It's not as easy as 'going away if you don't like it here...' because you are born here!!!

    Great post Wee Tak- 1,185 hits for this post yesterday.

    ReplyDelete
  9. well said shar101,

    a coward can never make a stand, and the tell tale sign of a cyber trooper is the use of abusive statements without any explanation, logic and justification

    Citizen soldiers = Barisan Rakyat Bloggers & Friends....and more friends we shall make.

    Thanks resident, who is the blog owner who accord me the honour to co-author the posting.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Awesome post. I hope your writings can spur the Cinapeks into action. They love to sit back and do nothing. But when they are bullied, they whine and bitch to no end.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I agree that boycott is the most potent weapon against those corrupts. We read from history books how it crippled the British textile industry (led by Gandhi), and how it affected the bus companies in US (led by Martin Luther King). Unfortunately, people nowadays are too sedated with materialism to fathom the power they have in the choice of goods they buy. I recall the recent call to boycott all US and Israeli goods at the height of the Palestine-Israel conflict, and I saw plenty of cars with McDonalds drive-thru stickers. A peep into those cars typically reveals a Malay Muslims driver! Talk about choosing solidarity with the victims of war or a satisfying bite into a Big Mac.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for the remarks, JH.

    Dr M had that Buy British Last thingy so evil good ole Che Det like the idea too.

    We should draw up a list of things that people can determine its affiliation and decide for themselves. MalaysiaToday has drawn up a list of Berjaya Group matters...maybe I would not take my vacations in Berjaya Resorts, buy Proton Cars, fly MAS etc.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This article above is featured in Malaysia Today 's Around The Blogs section: http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/category/1/16/84 which took 3,035 hits!!

    ReplyDelete