COMMENT You love Malaysia with a passion. You’re sick and tired of the way this country is going to the dogs. You yearn desperately for change.

The one recurring, burning question is: how? How can we make this change happen? How can we make Malaysia better?

NONE At this point, it seems like we have tried everything. Post-GE13, we see people on every side trying the same things they have tried for decades, and achieving the same results - walking into the same walls again and again, while the country burns around us.

What this article proposes is a radically different strategy to achieve radically different results. If everything we have tried and done so far has only gotten us this far, then it is time we do something we have never done before.

Will we have the will to do get out of our comfort zones, come together and do something bold and new? You tell me.

Curing Malaysian politics will not cure all of Malaysia’s problems; unfortunately however, given the way things are currently structured, it seems almost impossible to cure the rest of

our nation’s major problems without curing Malaysia’s politics.

Malaysians, like citizens all over the world, are deeply cynical about politics. Many view it as a slimy, disgusting industry which they wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot barge-pole.

This attitude is understandable on many levels - look at all the nonsense we have seen over the decades.

There have definitely been some good eggs over the years, sincere politicians who try their very best; but on the whole, there’s no doubt that the landscape has seen more than its fair share of corrupt, hateful and devious individuals who deep down care about nothing beyond amassing power and profit.

The trick however, is to realise that cynicism gets us nowhere.

In summary, the problem is that Malaysia has left politics to the politicians. For too many of us, our political involvement is limited to one vote once every five years.

Some of us are armchair critics, while others have admirably tried to do their part, at least perhaps during the general election.

The rest of the time, politics is an industry that most of us find just too distasteful or too distant to be actively involved in.

This, my fellow Malaysians, is the single biggest reason that we as a nation are facing the crises that seem to surround us on every side today.

NONE Think about it: Increasing attempts to divide us over race and religion; the rising cost of living; relentless corruption; and an utter misplacement of priorities coupled with debilitating aimlessness in planning our future.

All these stem from the fact that full-time politicians generally calculate their actions and decisions using an extremely different set of criteria than those of normal citizens. The decisions most politicians make are crafted very carefully for self-fulfilling ends.

Very few politicians manage to survive any other way. The problem is, the way the system usually works, furthering a politician’s own interests often conflicts with furthering the interests of the people he or she is supposed to serve.

It is useless to bemoan the nature of politicians, and even more useless to try and browbeat some moral sense into them. The only productive path is to turn this broken system on its head.

Changing the calculus of power

If there is one thing politicians are good at, it is understanding where the levers of power are, and responding accordingly. If you want to change the behaviour of those in power, you have to change those levers.

Given the behaviour of the average voter, many politicians (mostly) accurately believe that they only need to care what normal people think once every five years.

In our political system, in between those five years the only other major group they need to hold themselves democratically accountable to are members of their political party. These

members elect the leaders of the party and thus determine its direction.

azlan (Remember, our votes gave Umno/BN the majority, but only Umno members ultimately decide who becomes or stays as prime minister.)

The opinion of everyone else has extremely limited influence.

Sometimes, public opinion may run hot over some issue or another, but given enough time and news cycles, issues

always fade, and are replaced by other ones, leaving no lasting imprint.

Not so for votes.

FAQ: Debunking stigmas

So here’s the pitch of this whole article, summarised in four words: join a political party.

If we do so in massive numbers, we can radically alter Malaysia’s political landscape and replace the feudalism and narrow interests that currently dominate political parties with a truly rakyat-centric ideology.

Once again, the last thing I am saying here is that this is the only way to change the country. I am only saying that after all these years of watching and analysing, the best conclusion I can come to is that right now, this will be the most effective first step.

Let us do a quick ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ about the many stigmas concerning joining a political party.

Will I have to always blindly support my party, no matter what?

I believe the moral answer is ‘No’. You should never do or say anything against your conscience. In the extremely unlikely event a political party should start monitoring every single thing a normal member says and take disciplinary action on every single dissenting voice, then be well rid of it, and move to a party that is more open to a diversity of views.

How much time and effort will joining a party involve?

I joined PKR in 2007. In over six years, I have never had to go to a meeting I did not want to, or devote any more or less time than I felt was appropriate. I think this experience is typical of Malaysia’s political parties.

Generally speaking, just like at the national level, your level of involvement does not affect your ability to vote.

Of course, if you want to get more involved, the party will be the better for it. If not, even that one vote in the party elections once every few years has a much, much larger impact than you might imagine.

Political parties are often badly disorganised, unwelcoming to outsiders, and don’t exactly fully reflect my values in a way that I am comfortable with. Why should I join?

All those observations are likely true - so much within our political parties are broken. One central point of this article is this: a country, institution or organisation is entirely and only what the people in it make it to be.

If politicians have infused their own twisted values to make political parties what they are today, then ordinary citizens and members are absolutely able to reshape them according to their own values tomorrow.

Think for a moment on this: it is likely that you know a great many fellow Malaysians who hare your vision for a better Malaysia and a simple strategy for getting there. In fact, it’s likely that a great many fellow citizens whom you’ve never met before also share these ideals.

Now ask two questions: firstly, if so many people share a similar vision for a better Malaysia, why do we not see this translated in the political leadership of the country? Secondly, how many of your friends are members of a political party?

Again, the key is to stop massively underestimating our ability to instigate collective action, arrest the current appalling trends in Malaysian affairs, and shape this nation together based on solid values.

Which party?

Malaysia will benefit, regardless of which party you join. If you, an ordinary citizen, decide to join Umno or any BN component party, institutions I have long held in contempt, I still believe Malaysia will ultimately be the better for it.

Your voice and your vote has the power to transform things from within.

For those who truly feel that there is no future in any of the existing parties, I say start your own. With five years to the next general election, don’t worry about splitting the vote for

now.

For the many of you reading this who are Pakatan Rakyat supporters (even if only for pragmatic purposes), take your pick. Your role is especially vital because as we have seen time and again, BN cannot be toppled by virtue of its shortcomings alone.

It can only be replaced by a movement that has proven convincingly to the people that it is a better alternative.

PKR’s one person, one vote system

Permit me to segue and elaborate briefly on the party that I personally have had the most experience with.

I would never advocate joining PKR on the grounds of it being an ‘ideal’ party - such a notion is, to a painful degree, entirely inaccurate; I might however, advocate joining because it is likely the party in which you can most easily make your voice matter.

azlan For better or worse, the country’s demographics have put PKR at the center of Pakatan. For now, they still play the biggest role in spearheading and defining Pakatan.

More importantly, PKR has one extremely unique feature: an internal electoral system that is based on one person, one vote.

Every other Malaysian political party practises some form of tiered democracy, where members vote for delegates, and delegates vote for party leaders. This system substantially reduces the voting power of a new member.  

Only in PKR do members all over the country cast one single vote of equal value within one single nationwide constituency to directly elect top party leaders at the national level.

Simply put, you can become a PKR member today (now possible via online membership registration , and immediately play a crucial role in deciding who leads the party, and what organisational values the party will reflect.

(Imagine for a moment, how different PKR would be, if its average member was more like the average Malaysiakini reader. I’m fairly sure the way the numbers work out, if every Malaysiakini subscriber became a member, they would become PKR’s kingmakers)

The PKR elections will be held in less than a year, and the team elected will play the biggest role in preparing for the next general election - both at the party and coalition level.

Whether that team reflects feudalism, moral bankruptcy, and disarray on the one hand, or integrity, principles, and intelligent organisational cohesiveness on the other could be entirely up to you.

Personally, I’m sick and tired of seeing this country crumble all around us; tired of seeing our great Malaysian spirit squashed by those on top, tired of seeing our immense national potential wasted away; and tired most of all of seeing unscrupulous people tear this country apart so they can rule over the rubble.

Our lack of involvement, more than anything, has allowed them to trample like tyrants over all that we hold dear - our talents, our resources, our values, our constitution, our unity, and

our children’s futures.

NONE In its place they have tried to ply most of us with comfort and convenience. The choice is now ours: to cling on to that comfort and convenience, or to roll up our sleeves, and step up

into the arena.

#RakyatkanPolitik ( website ; Facebook ; Twitter ) is ultimately about realising the power that we have in our hands. Those who seek to exploit us for their own profit rely above all on our ignorance of that power, and our refusal to use it.

Reclaim that power, and our nation along with it; or both will be theirs to abuse forever.

They rebelled. They evolved. And they have a plan. NATHANIEL TAN’s contract with the Selangor government ends at the end of this month. He is proud to be working with some of Malaysia’s best new blood on #RakyatkanPolitik. He hopes you’ll stand with them, and help spread the word.