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Fellow Sarawakians, will you vote for more abuse?

COMMENT My dear fellow Sarawakians,

The late Thomas Paine, a renowned English-American political activist, and a major catalyst for the American Revolution once said: “Voting is the right which all other rights depend on.”

Therefore, if we do not at least exercise our right to vote, we are not only jointly responsible for all the things that are going on but dare I say, we will also forfeit our right to complain.

I cannot stress enough the importance for us to come out to exercise our right to vote. It is our right but sadly, more often than not, it is a right we often take for granted.

I was in Myanmar recently and had the privilege to visit their iconic City Hall, which staged a huge pro-democracy uprising spearheaded mainly by students, where thousands to the ten thousands, marched on the streets demanding for their right to vote.

Many of us are familiar with the story of Aung San Suu Kyi and her fight for democracy, but many of us didn’t know the price that was paid just for the right to vote and determine their own governance.

During that uprising at the City Hall, the Myanmar army actually opened fire against the peaceful crowd who were there to demand for their rights. More than 300 people died and majority of them were students.

Hearing this story, it really broke my heart. These university students, who had such a great future ahead of them in a growing economy of these times, but yet were willing to stare down the barrel of a gun and pay the price with their lives for that simple right to vote. A right so simple, yet far too often taken for granted.

Being grateful for very little

Fellow Sarawakians,

With all that is going around in our own state of Sarawak, from the massive mismanagements even within the state, the raping of our treasured forests, and even to the clear lack of basic necessities in many areas in the state, it clearly proves even more the need for us to make our voice known.

When we see our fellow Sarawakians deprived of the basic access to water or even electricity, or to have their ancestral lands taken away, risking them becoming squatters in their own land, our vote then is no more just to choose the government of the day, but our vote has to reflect our stand for these people. Our vote has to be a stand for humanity and morality.

For far too long, the BN government has constantly instilled fear into the people. They have mislead many into thinking that they should be grateful for the little cookies and crumbs they leave behind, after already ingesting for themselves the riches of the state.

The fact is, the example of giving “Tong Biru” to villages without access to clean water as a symbol of “development” and “fulfilled promise” is a clear insult and a total disregard for the welfare and interest of their own people. Why deprive them of proper access to water by just giving them an outdated commodity, and still demand them to be grateful?

There is a fever in the state, and many people are now commending how great Chief Minister Adenan Satem is and how they would vote for BN this time round to allow him a “stronger mandate” to demand back from the federal government what “belongs to us.”

Dare I say, if it wasn’t for the very same BN government that sold our rights as equal partners and stood by as the Federal Constitution was changed to demote Sarawak as one of the 13 states, there wouldn’t even be a need to “demand back what is rightfully ours”.

Abuse of miniscule power

What is worst for me, is the total disregard for the process of democracy that Adenan has displayed over the past few weeks leading up to this election. The blatant abuse of our immigration rights is an insult to the very democratic process for which many have paid the price and spilled their blood to protect.

By abusing our democratic rights, it just speaks volumes of Adenan's self-interest in the state, rather than the people’s interest. If we want our state to truly progress, we must allow our democratic process to mature. We must allow our society to grow in both political and socio-economic maturity and that can only happen through an open platform of information, which the government of the day is clearly afraid of.

Imagine if Adenan and BN Sarawak are already abusing the little power they have - and, imagine if we, the people, empower them with more power?

Adenan might portray himself as a reformist, a moderate or even a capable leader. However the cancer called corruption is so ingrained in the BN system that it has already crippled the ship of BN that no matter who the captain is, the ship is already sinking and it’s carrying everyone of us down with it.

We must remember, a vote for BN is not just a vote for the next government, but it is also a message we send that we condone the negligence and blatant corruption this government stands for. A vote for them is also a choice to condone them for their extensive practise of money politics, fear politics and also politics of control that is so rampant in the state.

Vote yes to abuse?

We cannot grow numb to corruption, neither should we ever condone it. It has spread through our state and crippled it to what it is today. A vote for BN is a vote saying we accept such abuse and allow such practices to continue to grow in the government.

So then, I urge you, my fellow Sarawakians,

Let us make our vote count this election. It is really not just a vote for the government of the day, but it’s a vote to send a message, a vote to make a stand, a vote for our other fellow Sarawakians who have endured so much sufferings due to the negligence of the government, and a vote for humanity and morality.

Let us, together, choose what is best for our country, and not just for ourselves…

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” - Martin Luther King

Agi idup agi ngelaban. Anang takut, anang surut.


KELVIN YII is a parliamentary assistant to Stampin MP Julian Tan.

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