Some of us wished there were enough “Malay Pendekars” who would burn down buildings, go rioting like the other hot-blooded countries with swords and makeshift riot weapons, for the world to witness and be the nucleus of attention until some drastic changes happen.
I imagine how Al Jazeera’s correspondent would be the first to document the rioting, followed by BBC and then CNN who would put it on a loop every 45 minutes. Malaysia, would then be famous, once again, for the wrong reasons. Another story for the world to write about, apart from 1MDB, Najib’s Kleptocratic Regime and Finding Jho Low.
“The Quick Formation of a Back-Door Government – Lessons Learnt from Malaysia” – would be across Smart Screen Televisions across the globe, and soon on Harvard Business Review.
But that did not happen in Malaysia. Nothing happened in Malaysia. It was Business As Usual.
The next morning, for breakfast, everyone was with their to-go nasi lemak and kopi tarik, the day the Prime Minister resigned, the day the ruling Government collapsed. Journalists were camping at the Palace, scrambling for scoop, while we all stayed glued to our small screens on our palms for further news and developments. The political situation was heading south.
At that moment, it had all struck us that the concerted effort to change how Malaysia had been governed for 60 years is now gone. All the Euphoria of 9th of May 2018 had vanished suddenly, and sadly, we don’t think it will ever come back. The thought of being robbed again was haunting our minds.
Nobody saw it coming – the same way nobody fathomed UMNO was going to lose in GE14.
Waking up to reality, fact remains that the UMNO boys are back. More precisely, the Zahid boys. Fact remains that we are all shocked that Democracy in Malaysia, had a Massive Heart Attack and Died almost immediately.
Fact remains that some of us are still mourning the Death of Democracy.
Because in Malaysia, demonstrations are unheard of. Today, demonstrations would be attended by 50 people maximum. Gone are the days, when the Pendekars would be out in the fields Shouting Reformasi, getting hit by water cannons, and bruised by batons from the FRUs. In today’s Digital World, we would rather pay Grab Pendekars, if we could – but we wouldn’t be doing it ourselves, because there is just too much at stake.
So, some of us end up just “Sharing” videos of the demonstrations on their Facebook pages, as part of our role in giving back to the nation. And that’s only if the Company you work for doesn’t prevent you from posting any political “stories” or innuendoes.
While there is absolutely no comparison to the Arab Spring/Jasmine Revolution, or to the Hong Kong Protests or Delhi Riots, many foreigners have quipped that if the same would have happened in their country, there would have been bloodshed, limbs chopped off, and hospitals beds in the hallways.
But we Malaysians, have proven yet again, that we are indeed the Calmest, Coolest and most Composed set of People in the Whole Wide World. Even when there was no Government for a week, and Covid-19 was shopping for new victims, the country didn’t look like it was in any sort of crises at all. In fact, the Federal Reserve Unit wasn’t even deployed. To that extent, the country is safe.
Economically, we suffered. The KLCI plummeted, we lost 43 billion in a wink of an eye. But that did not bother too many people.
Otherwise, everyone was treating the “No Government Week” as just another ordinary week, bickering away with their friends over coffee on who is to be blamed for the collapse of Pakatan Harapan, comparing notes about what really happened during Langkah Sheraton, who is the real traitor, and who did what to whom – with many self-proclaimed political analysts emerging during the week of Langkah Sheraton.
Malaysians were busy Forwarding, and Sharing. And that was it. Purely Digital.
In conclusion, there are Malaysians who write. And there are Malaysians who bicker and rant all day long, but do nothing.
And then there are Malaysians who keep quiet, observe and read everything that is written but still say nothing. They are too afraid.
And then we have the largest set of Malaysians, the ones in the category of Keyboard Warriors, the ardent followers of Bossku, the largest base who scream the loudest and make the biggest impact.
By sheer numbers.
But in the end, it is the numbers that matter. With the SDs, it was the numbers that matter too. Soon, it will be the numbers at the Ballot Boxes that will matter.
I said soon, but if any change was to happen, it will likely to be in a couple of years.
Not now. Not in two months.
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