Politics in Malaysia
Hi everyone, I haven’t updated my blog in ages. Having a sudden inspiration to write on the topic above, I decided to blog again!
Exams are over. The extra time has driven me to read about anything and everything, including UK politics. Having lived in my own bubble for 18 months, not knowing anything about UK politics and the parliment, I decided to change that today! Since I’ve read up a bit, I’ve decided to educate everyone who’s reading my blog as well! For those of you who know more than I do, feel free to comment.
I found out that the strong parties in this country include the Labour party, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrat. The current Prime Minister is from the Labour Party, and with his stepping down on the 27th June, his co-founder of New Labour, Gordon Brown will take over as PM - uncontested. So nice to win without competition hor.
Anyway, I think UK politics is soooooo different from Malaysia’s. I’m sure many of you living in the UK for some time will realise that. The thing is, the Brits are not afraid of the government. They seriously know their rights. And the politicians are expected to be the voice of the public. If the government comes up with some stupid law or even an idea, the people will shoot it down. In Malaysia, people do shoot the politicians down if they come up with a stupid idea. But many times, a stupid idea whom many politicians support in the parliment (just for the sake of not offending the people or person in power, for their own benefit) will be implemented, despite the outcry of the people! That kinda sucks (Forgive my language). And one thing Malaysians never or hardly do is to go on strike. I’m not saying that going on strike is good or what. But I see it as a means of being persistant. There are many other ways of being persistant. We, many times, just give up if something is not done our way. As a result, the country does not progress as fast as we dream it would be.
One more issue I have been thinking of is implementation. I think it’s pathetic. No matter how many rules we create or the laws we make, no implementation equals no rules. Many times, when a certain law is newly made, you will hear about the ‘tough’ implementation of that law. For example, I was reading on thestar.com about a few dozen illegal vcd dvd sellers aka ‘pirates’ being fined RM1billion. When I read it, I was like …. What about the whole row of pirates in Batu Ferringi or SS2? You want to fine a few people you caught a few billion ringgit. They can afford meh? Publicising it on the mass media will scare the other sellers meh? NO IT WON’T!! I would suggest the law enforcers to be more diligent in their jobs, catch all the ‘evil doers’ according to the law, instead of having media conferences talking about how they’ll fine people 1 billion ringgit.
Though I don’t like the way things are done in Malaysia, I don’t want to sit back and just be a backbench critisizer (if there’s such a word). I really hope I can do something, at least contribute some ideas to make my country a better one. Though the thought of the country’s mess (bribes for one) pisses me off, I still love Malaysia. It’s where I grew up in! Being in UK for 18 months open my eyes to a lot of things. The experience shows me that Malaysians can do the same (though we’re a looooong way to go). We just need to change our mindsets, from being a backbench critisizer to someone who sees something wrong in the system, and pushes to change it.
So, before I end, anyone got any ideas on how I can get involved even now? I keep saying that I want to create change, but I actually have no idea how to, as to now - in uni, age 22, how?? From now til the time I can actually get involved in a political party, it’s at least 3 more years before I go back to Msia. So please drop me a line if you know how. Thanks!
