The Malaysia Revolution of 2008: From Under My Coconut Shell

By the time most of you read this, the election results would’ve been known to Malaysians everywhere.(as I took ages to write this and slept for a few hours and edited photos and stole photos from around the net in between).

I know most of you who read my blog would probably not even care about the outcome of the polls. If you still have a roof over your head, parents who are raking in enough to fund your education(local or overseas), enough money to go shopping and clubbing… the hopes for equality probably doesn’t appeal to you because it’s not evident to you why there is a need for a change.

I was once like the lot of you. In fact, that ‘once’ was not too long ago. Throughout the whole of last year, I’ve seen enough videos and read enough alternative news to know about the kind of idiots we have who are supposedly our leaders. They say things even a primary school child should know not to say in public. Just a simple search on youtube will yield many results of cat fights in the parliament. Here are some links if you’re interested in people shouting at each other:

I’m not ashamed to admit that it is because of a young person like Hannah Yeoh who is so passionate about making a change that I’ve become immensely interested in the going-ons of the elections process. It might sound shallow but at least it’s a good first step.

I once shunned politics too. If it doesn’t concern me, so why should I bother? I used to avoid socio-political blogs whom I thought contaminated the very essence of blogging which I faithfully deemed as personal voices about their daily lives.

My brother even asked me, “Why are you interested in politics now? You were so indifferent before.”

I have to say that I was quite offended by his statement.(normal lah, my brother and I offend each other on a regular basis.)

Is it wrong for me to choose to care about how our country is being run? Should others raise their eyebrows at me for wanting to see what changes can do for our nation? The people around me might not say it to my face but I can feel it. I know that’s what they are thinking. I’m sorry if I get too hyped up, but that’s my character. I go OTT when I get interested in things.

Why do you not like equality?

How can you be so nonchalant?

How can you be happy when you know the taxes you pay(okay, so you’re not paying yet. Your parents’ money then!) are going into stupid things like iron trees, iron pigeons(how is Subang Jaya related to pigeons you tell me? HOW?) and the biggest this and the biggest that?

The country’s peaceful and all..so what? We’re a civilized nation and that SHOULD be an element of a world-class nation. Peace is not a reason to be complacent. When you’ve achieved something, you go on to the next big thing! You got your degree already, you will then go and study for your masters and PhD what. Correct?

You got all A’s for SPM, so why didn’t you get your JPA scholarship? Yeah, are you remembering that tinge of disappointment you had those years ago? That’s what I’m talking about. All those hard work amounted to naught!

Fine, fine. I might not be extremely affected by the issues that our country is facing… in plain and simple words: I. AM. BORED!

On the 6th of March, I was positive that the rally I was about to attend in Penang would be something historical. True enough, 60,000 people flooded the Han Chiang school’s football field. First of all, Jeff Ooi was there. He might or might not remember me from the past two blog meetings but nevertheless, I’m proud to say I’ve met him before. I was also keen to listen to the likes of Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh and Lim Guan Eng.

Lie Yuen, Tee Lun and I left Sungai Petani for Penang Island at about 6.45pm on Thursday. As expected, the Penang bridge was congested and upon arriving at the venue, parking was a nightmare. I parked outside a house after Tee Lun went down to beg the house owner if it’s okay for us to park at their gate.

It started to pour but we trudged through muddy puddles and had a good laugh about how crazy we were.

Newspapers as umbrellas for the absent minded.

The place was packed but fortunately for us, we stumbled blindly in from the back of the stage and managed to get a good view. Strategy. *taps temple*

Umbrellas were obstructing our view of the stage but luckily there were big screens all around the field so that we can be part of the action too.

Some kid got lost amidst the tens of thousands Penangites.

l-r: Tee Lun, Lie Yuen and myself. It was after the rain already, but we were forced to sit on the muddy ground. Nevertheless, it was an experience of a lifetime. As mentioned in so many other blogs(T__T why lah i blog so late one..whyyy), one would have assumed that it was a rock concert instead of a political rally.

Whenever any of the leaders arrived, they were paraded past the crowd.

They even have fireworks!!

It got kind of hot despite the rain..

I was that close to the stage!

Lim Kit Siang arrives!!

Lim Guan Eng~~~~~. 😀

Jeff Ooi had totally lost his voice and thus sang cheeky songs to the masses who sang along with him. No prizes for guessing the contents of the songs.

Karpal Singh. WOW. When he spoke, it was god-like. You know the kind of voice that people use in tv shows when god speaks? The very same. I really enjoyed every word he spoke and cheered along to the cries of “Makkal Sakti!”

And that’s Lim Guan Eng being carried by his hardcore supporters. If you have watched DAP’s campaign video, you’d remember this scene where Guan Eng is released from Kamunting and is speaking to his supporters as Lim Kit Siang stands next to him. He wears a lei(garland of flowers) around his neck and very forcefully swings his hands up and down to make a point as his lips curve fiercely downwards with each syllable. The look on his face just screams, “Injustice.”

God… yes, that scene. *fans self* I think he looks hot there despite him being the same age as my mother. He was probably in his late thirties when that footage was taken. I think he has qualified as my first political crush. He has got this very nice uncle demeanor about him. Speaking of Uncle-ish demeanor, I could replay and replay the Koh Tsu Koon press conference. The perfect gentleman. *melts* I’m sure he was very good with the ladies in his hey days. That docile manner.. *sighsighsigh*

I have one celebrity crush and we all know it’s Douglas Lim hehehe..and of course my darrrrrlllliinnnngg sweethearttt love you sooo sooo much boyfriend who just rolls his eyes at me at the mention of Douglas Lim. However, I had a good chuckle when I realised that my political crush, my celebrity crush and boyfriend share the same surname. Same chinese character, yes. That two identical crosses with skirts. You know, Ling, in mandarin. Chee Kiang’s Lam is a cantonese version of that character.

I was there!!!

Photos stolen from Tvsmith and Oon Yeoh. 😛

I can’t find photos of Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng talking but I was just happy to be there. If I didn’t go that night, I’ll probably never have the chance to ever hear them speak in front of me. (but since they won, I guess that won’t be the last time. Heh.) Question, in what language do you think Kit Siang and Guan Eng speak at home? I’m guessing Hokkien since they are from Johor. I asked Cze-Yin, “What do they speak at home ar?” and she said, “Politics.” … -_- I meant what language lorh.

You know what I’m waiting for? I’m waiting for an autobiography on either Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh or Lim Guan Eng. Do let me know if there are any!

On Friday, I took the bus home to catch Hannah Yeoh’s final ceramah in Sunway.

I’m guessing it has been raining at every other ceramah for the past two weeks.

In the spirit of a multiracial nation, this chinese guy spoke in tamil, bm, english, mandarin and cantonese. Amazing!!

Edward Ling, Hannah Yeoh’s campaign manager, was extremely passionate in his speech. =) Also my senior from school.

Small photo of Hannah..sigh. She brought a little girl up on stage as she was touched to see that she has inspired such a young girl.

The crowd that gathered under the rain.

Sigh, note to all: If you have a DSLR, bring it to ceramahs.

ROCKET!!!

Followed mum and dad to my old school on polling day.

It’s been so long since I last walked to school.

The crowd was a bit of a let down though. I must’ve expected too much.

I managed to sneak this shot before a policewoman shooed me away.

Oh, issit? *walks in anyway*

As I complete this post, what is being called the Malaysia Revolution of 2008 happened over the weekend and as much as I wanted this to happen, I want to thread carefully into this new era with my friends and family. Baby steps to a better world. 🙂 I can only hope. Hoping is good, right?

I’ve said so much and raved so much and yelled(with joy!) so much over the weekend that I’m starting to bore myself silly. I know my blog should serve as a journal to me but there comes a point in every blogger’s life where you just don’t need to say every single damn thing that pulsates through your head. But I shall keep those emails that my best friends and I have been sending to each other regarding the elections. Those should be good enough personal accounts of mine so that I may remember this historic day when I’m old.(or when I’m free enough to dig through my junk)

In years to come, our children will read in their textbooks about how the balance of power has been obtained after the Malaysia Revolution of 2008, a political tsunami that wiped out significant members of the ruling coalition, in order to make way for a more optimistic, fresher and multi-racial generation of leaders. Our children will know of tokoh-tokoh such as Raja Petra, Jeff Ooi and other very very influential bloggers who defied the norms of traditional media by enlightening the urban nation about the wrongs of this country.

I’m extremely proud of the opposition for what they have achieved. All those times when certain members of the oppositions have been thrown into Kamunting without trial, how they tried and tried and tried again in so many general elections before, how they have been heartbreakingly silenced by the mainstream media… but most of all, I am very happy that their success has shocked my apathetic friends into realizing just how much a vote can make.

Over dinner, I asked the ones who have yet to register, “So will you be registering now?”

“OH DEFINITELY!” one of them said, with her eyes wide, while the other one nods furiously from across the table.

Not only do we have a stronger opposition, but we have managed to cultivate a stronger sense of awareness among the apethetic. And for that, I am grateful.

I’m registering myself as a voter for the next elections as soon as I have a weekday here in Subang. I turned 21 two months too late.

Parliament proceedings will be so goddamn fun. I shall keep watch.

And with this, I end with my final croak – Ribbit.