Assalamualaikum and good day folks :)
Today, my posting is gonna be a lil' bit different from usual. Why? First, it's in English, fully. Secondly, it's not the usual topic i would normally talk about. As you all can see, i'm gonna talk about democracy, or more precisely, empowering democracy. I actually read a lot of books, journals, articles and what not on democracy. I wouldn't say i know all about it, but maybe more than a usual teenagers do :) I'm not really sure why i'm writing this entry but lets just say i just want to write. aite? So here goes.
Democracy, i'm sure a lot of people don't really know what it means and don't really care about it too. Am i right? Especially in Malaysia. As a teenager, i really think Malaysian are greatly left behind in aspect of democracy. Why don't you guys go ahead and ask your parents or you children, what is democracy? I bet they won't be able to answer. Maybe some might think that democracy is not really that important and it doesn't really affect our life. Those people are wrong! So again, what is democracy? I'm not gonna explain it word by word like what's written in the books but basically it means freedom, or right to do something, or to become something you would like to do or be. It's basically as simple as that and yet still a large number of people fail to understand this. You don't need to know what Aristotle or any other philosophers said about democracy to understand it.
When we talk about democracy, what usually comes in our mind? Election. Right? That is why we need to change our mindset. Since 2008, we can see that there has been a lot of effort in empowering democracy in our country. It goes without saying that it is actually working but, we are still far away from reaching the level of fully understanding and what else embracing democracy. If we take a look at the Western people, we can see that they understand and more importantly embrace democracy in their life. Democracy is not just about election or voting, it's about claiming and protecting our rights, defending what is ours, ensuring justice is done, and the list goes on.
It sadden me to say that Malaysian are at a drawback on this matter, but it's a fact. Efforts a being done and carried out to empower democracy but it's still hard for the people to accept this. This is mainly because of our mindset. We are so used of our way of thinking that democracy only revolves around election and voting that we forgot the true essence and spirit of democracy. Nowadays we can see that Malaysian are beginning to try and understand what democracy is. I would like to give my most sincere thanks and appreciation to the Chinese because in my point of view, they are the one that work the hardest in empowering democracy in our society. This does not mean that the Malays and Indians are doing nothing, it's just that they lack the efforts and means to do so.
From what i can see, a lot of people are still in the 50s. What do i mean by that? Their mind, the way they think, the way they live. They still think that we're living in the 50s. For god sake please change. This is the very reason why we Malaysian have fail in embracing democracy. This does not mean that we don't practice democracy, of course we do, but to what extend? Democracy, by right should cover our lives in a lot of aspects. Our freedom, our rights, this is what democracy enshrined. And this is what we fail to understand. And as a Muslim, i would like to explain why we should defend and empower democracy. There are some who said that democracy is not in accordance to Islam and by right Muslims should reject it.
This is false. Even great Islamic scholars such as Syeikh Yusuf Qaradhawi support democracy. This is simply because of the facts that democracy promote freedom, justice, equality and all the elements which are in accordance with Islam. This is also the very reason why we Muslims should embrace and protect democracy. We can see how Islamic country which embrace democracy in its fullest extend has flourished and reach a level in which even the Western country can't achieve. The best example i could give is Turkey. Even tough we know that Turkey is a secular country, but 99% of it's people are Muslims and they can still embrace democracy. This however is not the case in Malaysia. The Muslims, in which almost all are Malay fail in understanding this. Why? Again, our mindset. It is unfair to say that the people are to be blame fully. In my opinion, the one we should point our finger to is the government. Yes, i'm not saying that the government is to be blame fully either, but this problem rooted mostly because of the government. They have been governing us for 50 years and they fail to even educate us about democracy.
Their failure is the reason why now, after 50 years of independence we are still immature democracy-wise. Not only they fail in depicting true democracy to the people, but the government themselves fail to uphold and protect democracy. We can see this in a lot of occasions. The most critical one i would say is in the elections. There has been 12 elections so far and the 13th is just around the corner. And i dare to say that in almost all elections, democracy are kicked around and used just to gain support and vote. Where is the respect for democracy? I don't think i have to tell you people why i'm saying this. In this 50 years, we have never seen a fair and just media, we have never seen a clean election in which the opposition are given equal chance of winning, we have never seen the opposition given credit for anything even if it's a good thing, we have never seen a lot of things that by right democracy provide.
I'm not writing this to lambast the government but it's the truth. Then, we can see how the government show that they are powerful and that they don't need to listen or even give a slightest chance for the people to express their views and thoughts on certain matter. This has happen countless time. In 1998, when Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked and accused of something he did not commit, the PPSMI rally, the ISA rally and most recently the Bersih 2.0 rally. All of these are rallies and demonstration. Does it go against democracy to express our views, to express our thoughts? No! Infact it is the very thing democracy provide and allow us to do. However, these are not respected by our government. They think that they have the right to do anything that they think is correct. Even the Federal Constitution, through Article 10(a)(b) give the citizen freedom of assembly. What is the purpose of our constitution? To make sure that the country are run in a proper manner and in accordance with the law. It also function to uphold and enshrined democracy. Yes, as a law student, i know that our freedoms are restricted, and in this case, by the Police Act. This however would not be a problem if the government truly embrace and respect democracy and the rights of the people. It is not a problem to let the people march and rally peacefully. Don't use excuse such as it would turn violent because the only violent one i've seen is the government. It is best if you respect the people's rights, respect democracy. But of course, they don't.
Again i would to ask that we take a look at the Western country. It's not that there are no Eastern country that have a good democracy, but the Western are just better at it. Eastern country such as Japan, South Korea, Australia in general is great in upholding democracy, way better than Malaysia. The United States for example, when there are rallies or demonstration, what do their authority does? Beat the crap out of the people? Shoot them with tear gas? Make them run by shooting chemical water? No! They respect the people, make sure the assembly run peacefully, give the people space for them to express they view. Why? Because that is what democracy is all about. And the Western seems to respect that a lot. It's funny though to me. Why? Because our government are controlled by Muslims. Our Prime Minister are Muslim! As i said before democracy is actually in accordance with Islam. So why? Why do these Muslims fail to respect democracy? Is it not also what Islam provide?
Take a look at the history of our prophet, Muhammad s.a.w. How does he rule? He rule Madinah in the best way one can rule. He respect the people's rights, he gave freedom to the people, he make sure that justice is done, he respect the people and in return, the people regardless of race, religion, background all respect him and accepted him as a leader. The same goes to the Khulafa' Ar-Rasyidin. Of course at that time the term democracy doesn't exist but is it not the same with what democracy provide? It is but it's a shame most people fail to realize this. Back to Malaysia, we must all remember that only through democracy can we achieve a better life. Better in what way? We would have more freedom, we can defend our rights, we are given equal and fair treatment. How are we going to achieve this? Only by understanding and embracing democracy. Democracy is merely a concept. Yes it is not written in any statutes or document but we know it exists.
In the last few months we can see how democracy rises in the Middle East. We can see how the autocratic leaders and regimes are toppled by the people they oppressed for years. This happens to Ben Ali in Tunisia, Mubarak in Egypt and recently to Gaddafi in Libya. And now even the 'great' Israeli's regime under Benjamin Netanyahu are in the threat of being toppled by their own people. Some dispute this however. The ask how is this the rise of democracy when they toppled these leaders by an undemocratic ways? Yes the ways is undemocratic but desperate measures makes for desperate times. Why choose demonstration? Why not topple them in an election? Some pseudo-democrat might ask. Again, the answer is simple, when democracy itself is not in order, the only way to correct this is by an undemocratic ways. How can they change or topple the government when media are not fair, when there are still manipulation in election and when democracy are still kicked around by these regimes? Hence, the only way is through an undemocratic way.
All of these should be an example for the Malaysian. I'm not asking the people to rise and topple the government, i'm simply asking that we empower democracy. Democracy is just as important as education, it's just as important as money. Only in what way? That is what the people should comprehend. Another thing that i think the people should understand properly in the effort to empower democracy. The roles of the opposition. In the past years, we can see that the opposition are treated as if they are the enemy of the nation. The media, the government try to depict them as anti-national. The funny thing is some of the people believe that! These clearly shows how low our knowledge and understanding on democracy is. What is democratic government? Abe Lincoln said, 'democratic government is of the people, by the people, for the people'. Do you think our goverment is? Again, i'm not writing this to attack the government, just being critical. From what i understand, what the government is doing, depicting the opposition as enemy of the nation and says all sort of bad things about the opposition in the media, is actually something that is totally wrong and are against the spirit of democracy. The former Menteri Besar of Selangor, Dato' Khir Toyo even go as far as to create what he called 'Wawasan Sifar Pembangkang' or 'Zero Opposition Vision'. Not only is this is not in accordance with spirit of democracy but it also show how again, we fail to grasp the essence of democracy. What sadden me more is the fact that he is a Malay. In a way he depicted that the Malay are no good in democracy and have zero tolerant for it. And i am against this 100%!
I dare say that most people in Malaysia do not really understand the roles and importance of the opposition with respect to democracy. Most of them view the opposition as an entity that should not exist as they are only good in opposing everything the government does. Yet again this show how our people lack understanding about democracy. However, we can see that this scenario are beginning to take a turn after the 12th GE. The people are beginning to understand the significant of the opposition and why they are important in a democratic nation. In this case, i think we also need to blame the opposition. Why? Because they themselves fail in projecting to the people their role in accordance with democracy. If they are serious in upholding democracy, by right they are the one that should start educating the people about democracy, something that the government has fail to do. We can see that after 2008 we have a strong opposition. The opposition which are divided among themselves before have finally emerge into a strong entity and hence creating a good start for a two party system in Malaysia. I'm not going to give a lengthy explanation on the significance of the opposition here, so i think a simple anecdote would serve the purpose. As we all know, in 2004, the ruling party, the Barisan Nasional won 90% of the parliamentary seats, which is way more than 2/3 that they need to form a strong government. To simply put it, they are too strong and hence, too comfortable with the situation.
When this happen, we all know what comes next. The government started getting too comfortable that they forgot the reason they are that comfortable in the first place. They started to forget the people, they started thinking about their own importance and they started slacking off. This then lead to the political 'tsunami', as depicted by Lim Kit Siang which i think would alter and change the political scenario in Malaysia forever. The people, which i think are starting to understand and comprehend democracy, use their rights and gave a huge slap to the head to the ruling party. They gave the opposition, the Pakatan Rakyat a huge responsibility democracy-wise. The people gave them a chance to become a strong oppsition which holds almost half the seats in the parliament and gave them the opportunity to become the government in 4 states! Now these shows that the people in Malaysia are empowering democracy. But even so, it's still insufficient. A lot still need to be done. Now the government are starting to work harder, they start to concentrate on the people now. Why? For the sake of keeping their power. Now, there is nothing wrong with that. As long as they do their work according to the law, that would fulfill the requirement of democracy. And the opposition are also working hard to grab power from the government. This is the need for a strong opposition, to act as a check and balance to the government. In modern country where democracy flourished, change in government is common. They usually happens when the people needs can no longer be quenched by the current government. So the people turn to the opposition. In Malaysia however, this is not the case. Change of government are feared by some. It is as if the world would end if it happens. This is why knowledge in democracy need to be empowered among the Malaysian. They need to educated about their responsibility towards democracy.
When we talk about democracy, and the government and the opposition, it sadden me for the facts that only several political leaders really talk about empowering democracy. This goes to both the government and opposition. Among these leaders are Dato' Seri Anwar, Dato' Saifuddin Abdullah, Lim Kit Siang and some others. I think by right all political leaders should talk and educate the people about democracy. Yes it is not their responsibility according to law, but democracy require each and every person to understand it and if these leaders understand that, they should carries out this responsibility. If they doesn't, who else would? Only they can educate the people on why democracy is important and why they should empower democracy. I am especially dissapointed by the fact that the people here treat democracy like it is unimportant and as if it is something that we does not require and unnecessary. However, as i said before, democracy can even change the way we live our life. If we listen to Dato' Seri Anwar's speech, especially when he gave speech on democracy, he always shows how democracy and Islam are inter-related. This is just like what i said before, democracy provide the values in which Islam endorse and provide as well. That is why it is our responsibility as a Muslim to make sure those values are carried out. After all, Islam is ad-Din or a way of life.
Dato' Saifuddin, one of the leaders in government which I admire, casually talks about democracy in Malaysia. He talks about how democracy affects our lives and how our participation in democracy and democratic processes are important in building great nation. Youth often become his topic. He often speaks of the youth and democracy. I agree with him because from what I can see the youth nowadays are distancing themselves from democracy. They lack the understanding, not because they are not educated but simply because they refuse to understand what democracy is. This is one of the things that we have to look at when we talk about empowering democracy. I would like to say again that democracy is important and it is not something that we can look down to or look away from. If we fail to embrace democracy, we would fail in building a nation in which rule of law, justice, freedom and rights are uphold. Remember, democracy is just a concept, but without it we would lose in a lot of aspects. That is why, now we must look back and think, how are we going to empower democracy? Should we teach democracy in school? Should parents teach their children about democracy? I doubt that would work because i'm sure the parents themselves knows nothing about democracy other than voting and the election. So tell me now, how can democracy be empowered? Democracy is not and never about any one group or society. It is also not about one party. It's about everyone and democracy can only be empowered through a collaborative and collective efforts. We would need a lot of thinking and changing to do in order for us to empower democracy and the only one capable of doing so in none other than the Malaysian themselves.
I think that's it for now. By far this is the longest entry i've done haha. There's actually a lot more i would like to say but maybe later. Or i can always write a book :p
That's it then. Assalamualaikum...
p/s: I don't put in a lot names or facts because that would be boring right? So this is just my view on what democracy is and it's up to you how to see it :)
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