COMMENT | May 9 is the 2nd anniversary of that magical day when the rakyat brought down the proud and mighty BN at the ballot box. Sure, the "Empire Strikes Back", if you’ll permit me a Star Wars analogy, but let’s never forget that we, the people, did manage to do the impossible.

In the run up to the elections, the mood had been electric. Huge crowds had come for Pakatan Harapan ceramahs all over the country, even those held near Umno’s so-called “Felda fortresses”. Ceramah audiences were asked to display their handphone lights, and “seas” of lights glimmered, promising a wave of change.

I managed to join one of these huge rallies in the Keramat area of Kuala Lumpur. The padang (field) at the venue was soggy and muddy, yet heaps of humanity -- of all races -- were huddled there, under an intermittent drizzle, heaving for hope, for “harapan”, of a better country.

Hawkers were doing brisk business too - food, drinks and lots of T-shirts, especially of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as if he was some Che Guevara hero or something. I bought a generic Pakatan T-shirt, but refused to spend RM20 on a Mahathir one. Yes, he was needed to swing the tide, but I could not forget how his rule had led to the rot dragging down the country now.

Remember the tensions of election day? The huge and eager turnout even before polling stations opened, the long queues, the whispers of conspiracies to prevent certain people from voting and the fear of sudden blackouts when counting ballots.

Recall how the results stopped coming out after a certain time when BN was losing? And the rumours flying around. Would the election authorities be fair? Would an emergency be declared?

When victory was finally declared in the wee hours of May 10, I could hardly believe it… against all odds, the "Death Star" had been destroyed.

We all know how the story has turned out since. Leaders in Harapan may have...