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    Sunday, March 09, 2008
    Title : Waiting for the world to change
    Time : 5:10 pm

    In a way, it has already.

    http://thestar.com.my/election/story.asp?file=/2008/3/9/election2008/20080309051122&sec=election2008

    Ruling coalition party Barisan Nasional has lost its grip on four more states- Penang, Kedah, Perak and Selangor (my state!), exclusive of Kelantan which is retained by PAS.
    The parliamentary seats have not been all accounted for yet but BN has won a simple majority to form the government. The last time BN lost their 2/3 majority was during 1969 where the race riots were sparked off. I suppose that's why victory celebrations were banned? With BN candidates warning voters to vote correctly lest May 13 happens again, one is apt to roll one's eyes at BN instilling false alarm into voters. But why are the opposition leaders asking their supporters to keep calm and not celebrate yet also?

    For me, generally I am quite apathetic towards politics although I know policies made will affect my life (duh!) but it's just really disheartening and sickening to flip through the newspapers and see stupid decisions and sexist/racist statements made by leaders, both government and opposition. The interest for the general elections 2008 came quite late for me, only picking up yesterday when the polls were closed and results counted.

    The results have been quite shocking to the BN (no happy birthday for Samy Vellu, Penang falling to opposition), it has also been interesting to note that young Nurul Izzah Anwar defeated Shahrizat and blogger Jeff Ooi won a seat for DAP. Urban areas are swinging towards the opposition, perhaps due to the accessibility to non-mainstream media that are generally more supportive of opposition/more critical of government. I noted that all state seats in Sarawak fell to BN, except for one in Kuching. Wonder if interviews on Kennysia.com contributed to that? All these seem to indicate a younger generation making a change. Personally, I am quite apprehensive to see PAS winning so many seats. Albeit portraying Islam as fair and just, I still remember PAS pressing for the implementation of the syariah/hudud laws.

    Detractors of BN but skeptics of the opposition would say: Ok, so government is corrupt, failed to deliver blabla... but how do you know the opposition won't give empty promises also?
    So really it was a catch-22 situation for the opposition. The skeptics want a capable opposition, and capability arises from experience. But if the opposition is not given a chance, how would they gain the experience? Now that the chance is realised, it remains to be seen how the political climate in Malaysia will turn out. Will PAS, PKR and DAP be the new coalition? Will they be absorbed into BN like Gerakan in 1972?

    So, the wait continues.