Right ON, Pete!! Welcome, MCLM!!!

The MCLM (Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement) has been officially launched in London - many thanks to RPK, Haris Ibrahim & guys.
Latest entry on MCLM in MT is as follows:-

The MCLM membership is now open. If you have registered earlier we hope you can register again. Unfortunately there was a computer glitch and we were not able to capture your application earlier.

Please go here to register: http://mclm.org.uk/join-us.html

MCLM's First KL Public Forum will be as follows:-

Date : 21st December, 2010

Time : 7.30pm

Venue : First Floor, KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

Speakers :

1. Haris Ibrahim

2. Malik Imtiaz Sarwar

3. Andrew Yong (Malaysian Overseas Votes)

4. The second independent candidate

Allow me to state here that I support this noble endeavor - simply because it provides for a better Malaysia should it work. I'll be registering myself as a member as soon as I manage to finish reading up on it- becos I have had the fortune to speak to Haris Ibrahim personally to discuss about the plan they have, and therefore understand what they wish to achieve.
(Actually, I myself didn't understand it all too well initially, until my questions were answered by Haris personally-although some doubts do remain). My confidence has been boosted further by the announcement that Malik Imtiaz is the first candidate to offer himself for "National Service".

The question remains though, if it is really "workable" considering the "hostile" environment around in Malaysia.

While I definitely agree that it is a brilliant idea, I'm a little sceptical about the workability of the idea among a very "politically primitive" (for lack of a better word right now) electorate & politicians (yes- our politicians are nothing but "Neanderthals", especially when they spout "Ketuanan Melayu" to the detriment of the nation). Politically- they're all the same (that's a generalization, okay- don't charge me for sedition or insulting someone okay ...). As I said earlier - Malaysians are really political simpletons - right from the PhDs to the Alam Flora guy, to the clerics, to the doctors, engineers & lawyers, to the to the kiasu fella who wants to make a fast buck. The "awakening" didn't happen until 308 - and now they're still in a blur. (Evidence of that abounds all around us - even in the MT comments section- and I'd say that they're still better than many on the street).
Since they have only started thinking about politics & the nation, all the misinformation & spin in the media is beginning to "overwhelm" them. Malaysians are generally easily manipulated by the media and lack faith in their power to change things for the better- even though they have actually started to think. Many are confused, some fed-up, others frustrated.

Our politicians- as RPK put it, high-school students would put our parliamentarians to shame. Most of them are fit to be street hawkers - but instead, are today hawking away the nation's resources by their sheer stupidity. Many cringe in shame when their antics are mentioned by foreigners- while the politicians accuse "non-Malays" of being unpatriotic or accuse others of shaming the country abroad.

When our politicians appeal to the lowest denominator to seek support among insecure racists, or make vulgar signs in signs, or spout vulgar language in parliament, preach bigotry, support child marriages .... When the media proudly publishes Muhyiddin passing stupid remarks like "we will not provide federal allocations to opposition held constituencies" while they collect taxes (that's daylight extortion/blackmail!!), or death in Police custody is covered up, or the Chief Justice Tun Zaki announces laws which offer "discounts" on sentences to those who plead guilty disregarding the Executive and other "leaders" remain silent about it - it is difficult to blame the "average joe" for being confused, frustrated, disgusted, angry or losing faith.

Many still don't understand that the purpose of these MCLM "sponsored" candidates is to change this very disease perpetuated by an UMNO which is corrupt to the core- not that PKR isn't learning real fast from them. Many don't understand that to change to political culture, we need "quality" in parliament - those who can be "Wakil Rakyat" instead of "Wakil Parti" as RPK put it. We need to have pool of intellects who are capable of articulating ideas that can prevent the same rot from setting in to Pakatan Rakyat - more specifically, PKR.

[Nobody can be blamed for being sceptical of PKR's ability to govern when they are "small" & is practically chaotic (of course- fueled by the negative publicity and the many bushfire created by the "Umno-ites"). Although they fight on a more palatable platform, it would be safe to say that PKR hasn't left the UMNO/BN mold- and after the long lasting euphoria of success on 308, the rot is beginning to set in. It is a known fact that there still are the much cliched "trojans" within- simply because the leadership "let the cat out of the bag" before they surfaced. Even if they weren't, they are actually disillusioned "hard-core" Umno-ites in heart & mind - and they need to be weeded out.]

Here is a comment I got on FB from a friend:

"but I still see some people think that Barisan Rakyat is still a THREAT to PR!!!
They do not understand the whole idea of MCLM and think it is juz
"RPK got nothing to do, so he started this". I really don't understand.
Why they do not know how to THINK? Why, why, why.."
~SanJiun 善君 , on Facebook

SanJiun- don't be so harsh. I really don't blame them la .... to vote for a "non-partisan & independent" candidate on a Pakatan Rakyat (or maybe even BN) ticket- it is a "very complex" concept for people to understand, when they don't even understand their own rights, and believe that much of the exploitation by political/bureaucratic warlords are perfectly fine.
Some people think MCLM is a political party meant to "throw PR out". Politicians with self-interests view it as a threat to their political future- more so the corrupt ones.
Y'see- as RPK says, our YBs think their job is to be "wakil parti" as opposed to being the "wakil rakyat" they're elected to be- and the people too have come to believe that.
Let's hope that will change, with the advent of MCLM.

Maybe Haris & RPK didn't quite articulate themselves well, to allow people to understand. As it is, Malaysians are politically naive- to make matters worse, our political scene is pretty chaotic & confusing to the average man on the street. Now you throw in a new concept of civil society speaking for itself, and people will go "WHAAT?!".
Maybe the ideas need to be stripped of the "hi-fi" concepts, and made clear to the average joe/pakcik/makcik/Muthu/AhBeng/Ali in simple terms. Or else, with the power of the party machinery & media, opposing forces (on both sides) can easily twist things to complicate matters from a legal perspective .... that is my only concern.

But still- this is a very bold effort by our patriots, and they deserve our full participartion and support.