Change that we want? FROM what TO what?

The first point I want to make is this. Malaysia is not UMNOs or Najibs to do as they like. This is our country! Najib’s job as Prime Minster is to improve life and working conditions in Malaysia for its Rakyat. Why has Malaysia once a prosperous, productive and hopeful country now become a corrupt and repressive place? Its people live in the midst of extraordinary resources and yet suffer under restrictive and destructive boundaries imposed along racial, status, class and ethnic traps – moving relentlessly forward to a failed state?

Simply put when its people are defined as “Malays” and “Others” there will always be trouble. These superficial categories are shaping the present and future of our people by setting their access to education, work opportunities, medical benefits and even freedom to worship. Those in the ‘out’ group are denied equal opportunities in all things Malaysian.

But it is really by these definition of its own citizens that the ruling elites are staying in power and taking what they will for themselves using the racial divide as the “be all and end all” of government policies to advance their plundering and pillaging of the Nation’s Treasury.

No need to focus on what matters most in trying to understand the situation that our country finds itself in now “It is UMNO, stupid!”  

UMNO’s leadership structure has perpetuated the politics of patronage with high levels of corruption and allows itself to be dictated to by powerful UMNO ‘warlords’ having loyalty only to themselves and their vested self interest and not to Party or Nation. Those that chose to ignore these realities are brutally culled and removed from the inner sanctums of UMNO. One person, one vote does not happen in UMNO. The increasing demand for materialism and privilege of these ‘elite political groupings’ and their cronies has cost our Nation much. 

Mahathir's drive towards “meeting” the needs of our people in health care, housing, education, employment and higher standard of living has failed due to his inability to recognize our nation’s level of capacities to sustain the massive chunk of money taken out by UMNO’s own and UMNO cronies in the development of these needs for the people. To Mahathir these plunderers from UMNO could do no wrong. And when they did the country resources were used to bail them out  - again at great cost using the Public’s money. He treated the country as if it was his own domain without the responsibility of being accountable to the people for his actions.

Was this done by a “well meaning” Prime Minster or was this deliberate plundering of a country’s wealth by an all-knowing Prime Minister? You tell me!

If it were the British doing this to our country then surely there would have been an outcry from the international community. But because this was UMNO Malaysians doing unto the majority of Malaysian there would be no attempt by any nation to stop these UMNO Malaysians from robbing its own people blind. This is a done deal!

We now have to plan for the transformation of our country out of these miserable conditions. We need to put into place a healthy, sustainable and responsible economic/political system that would reflect the demand of its people to move towards a future of equal opportunity for all that lives in this Nation regardless of race, religion or culture.

But here we need to ask our self this. Getting rid of an UMNO that we do not want does not mean that we will be getting a Pakatan Rakyat that we do want. Yes we want change! But change FROM what and TO what? And there will be change because the only constant is change.

We need to give deeper thoughts to the times that will come in the not too distant future. And here again, as I have often stated, there is a need for us to make an informed judgment and choice so that the change that comes will be the one that we want. I hope that in reading what I write you will accept that you yourself will need to start the process of understanding the interesting times that we now live in – and what you, by your individual self, can contribute to make a difference to what is to come in the future. So please be with me, talk with me and join me in trying to make a difference to our life. Amen.