Munich Remembered

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Much Ado About Nothing…

5.13 am: Hillary Clinton - 241; Barack Obama – 169

It’s 5.13 am, and I am still wide-eyed awake, as I, with millions of other Americans (and non-Americans) worldwide awaits the name of the person who will have the chance to take a shot at making it into American hisotry

It’s strange, considering my recent apathy and self-induced ignorance of local politics, that I am taking an interest in American politics, which, I must say will have at most a 0.1% bearing on my current life. Logic dictates that I should care more on local politics than foreign ones (Gee.. do I sound like a Vulcan? Blame all those Star Trek: Voyager eppies..). But logic tells me that if taking interests in local politics make me feel sick, pathetic, and nauseatic, I shall stay away from them. Indeed, I have been trying to avoid my main indulgence (other than coffee and tea), the LOCAL NEWSPAPER (more precisely, The Star), or to the very least, the first few pages, and the ”NATION” section. Friends will notice that everytime when I get the papers, my first move will be to turn to the Sports section at the back of the paper. No, not because of my sudden deep interest in all sporting events, but rather that I couldn’t bring myself to read all the headlines.

You can run, but you can’t hide. Just when I thought it was possible to avoid it, I was reminded of every single piece of sensational, and non-sensational local politics issues by my fellow brethen in my college; the bane of being surrounded by well-informed people. And to add salt to the wound, I have my politically-informed mom and most of the time politically-incorrect dad ringing their opinions every now and then.

Am I running away from the problem? You bet I am. Quite uncharacteristic of me you may say. But I reckon I am not the only one. I have grown tired and disinterested of the circus surrounding the local political scene, thanks to the soap opera and sometimes “too-good-to-be-true” and “udang di sebalik batu” drama served by the ruling party, the Barisan Nasional (BN). What? Did I hear “Vote for the opposition, then!” shout coming from somewhere? Please don’t get me started…

Strangely though, contrary to the cynical and sarcastic feeling most people have when they view the nation’s current affairs, I feel as if there is a huge burden being put on my shoulder. I guess I love the country too much to see it fall, and indeed it’s falling. Unlike a lot of people I know, who at the first chance would jump of the next plane to any of the White-Anglo-Saxon countries, I could see myself staying in Malaysia for the rest of my life, and I guess this is what bothers me the most. The nation is declining, and I ask myself; “What can a law student, who is depending on a government study loan, who has no source of income, and particularly naive do?” What? Did I hear “Vote and make a change!” cry coming from behind? 

Making a change…through the election system in Malaysia? Well, here’s the cold truth. Firstly, I do not believe that the government has been planting phantom voters, or outlawing voters in the manner that the Bushes did against Al Gore in Florida in 2000. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that the government is manipulating the election system to their advantage to the extent that they will still win with a 2/3 seat majority if they get less than 50% of the majority popular votes. A look at the previous General Election results in 2004 will reveal that such was the case. The BN won an overwhelming 90% of the Parliamentary seats, but most overlooked the fact that their popular votes were only at about 60%. Quite disproportioante, I must say. I think the BN have perfected the art of gerrymaking.

I do not believe in the system.     

Well, having said so, just for the record, I will hereby announce and shall I add, unashamedly, that I WILL NOT VOTE in the incoming election (huh, bet you didn’t see that coming). Yeah, call me a disloyal Malaysian for all I care. It’s my right, and it’s yours too. Exercise your rights not to vote!

6.03 am: John McCain – 111; Mitt Romney – 94; Mike Huckabee – 47

Ciao