COMMENT “Pakatan Harapan is far from perfect. In fact, it may not be good enough at this point of time. Yet, it is still our best bet.”

This post which appeared on a chat group resonates well with my soul.

It continued: “If BN still commands power at federal government, people will get more disillusioned and the hope for reform would drastically fade away. This is actually not the worst of it. The worst is yet to come.”

In a recent article, Bersih secretariat member Mandeep Singh Karpall Singh wrote: “We can no longer expect another political tsunami to change the status quo.

“We cannot expect a high voter turnout. The people are tired. They are tired of a ‘corrupt’ regime. They are also tired of a divided opposition relentlessly bickering among themselves.”

A different view

I have a different view on what is happening on the ground. Looking at my own response, I have this to say.

Back in 2008, I was overseas. From where we were, Indians, Chinese and Malays, we were merely monitoring the latest news from several thousands of kilometres away. The excitement of course was in the air as we read the news about the political tsunami that hit the nation.

In 2013, like most people, I started attending political ceramahs. I was there at one where Tony Pua spoke and I was also there at Nurul Izzah Anwar’s fundraising dinners.

At the same time, I also invited some friends to Elizabeth Wong’s fundraising dinner. I was at nearly every function that I could find time to attend. For the first time, I also offered myself to serve as a polling agent.

I was also at Bersih 3 (my first demonstration) and I also went to Bersih 4. However, I did not make it for Bersih 5. Neither did I attend the anti-hudud gathering.

In the lead-up to the 14th general election, I was offered two tickets to attend a DAP fundraiser for Professor Aziz Bari. I have not responded with a ‘Yes’. Does that mean that I am losing steam?

I would like to say to the doubting Thomases that many of us may appear to be ‘dormant’, but the truth is we have already decided who to vote for in the coming general election. I would, for example, prefer that our politicians focus their attention on the rural Malays and East Malaysians.

No point preaching to the converted

There is no point preaching to the converted. I do not mind contributing money to support the Pakatan Harapan, but to spend an evening listening to what I am already know is a sheer waste of my time.

Some of us, including myself, are good at throwing brickbats even at Harapan leaders. No one is perfect. Even Harapan leaders make mistakes. They can sometimes be a disappointment.

On one particular occasion, I even wrote a strong email to a PKR leader, but when the last general election came along, I voted for him. I even gave my time to help him to campaign although I am usually known as apolitical.

Do not be surprised that for the coming general election, I will also do the same to help him with the campaign in whatever way I can including all the manual work.

The reason we throw brickbats is not because we have given up hope on them. We just want them to improve for the better.

As I have often alluded to, even if you put a cat or a mouse to stand for Harapan, I would vote for it. Malaysia needs to have a change of government, or else we are doomed as a nation...