The struggle must continue. Change will come.
Taken from The Malaysian Insider
By: P.Ramakrishnan
Aliran celebratory dinner – two years ago
Two years ago, I remember telling the folks who turned up at our Aliran celebratory dinner that we should deny the Barisan Nasional its customary two-thirds’ majority in Parliament. That majority was denied them in the last election. If only I had known that they would take my suggestion so seriously, I would have said, “Change the government”. We would have put a stop to the rot.
Our theme this year is:
“The struggle must continue — change will come”.
Indeed the struggle must continue. There should be no let up. Struggle we must — if we want change. There is no option if we desire change.
But there are people who want change without the struggle. They fear that there may be upheavals when we fight for change. They want the good things to happen without stirring up the pond. “Don’t muddy the waters, don’t ruffle the feathers. Let things be as they are. Change will come”. That’s what they say.
We cannot take any more chances.
We cannot tolerate another 50 years of this rotten deal that we have been subjected to. During the last 30 years, the nation was almost bankrupted by reckless extravagance; the squandering of our wealth has continued unabated in spite of the Auditor-General’s report exposing unbelievable corruption and abuse of public money year in and year out; our fundamental rights are in danger of being whittled away very soon. Justice is no longer the last bastion for a remedy.
Change will never come without a struggle
That’s why, the struggle must continue — change will come. But change will never come without a struggle. Let’s remember that.
Frederick Douglas, one of the greatest black activists of the 19th century who presented a strong case for constant agitation against all forms of oppression, said it simply and logically: “If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favour freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without ploughing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.”
Nothing comes free
It is a fact that the whole history in the progress of human liberty shows that whatever has been achieved is the result of struggle. Nothing comes free. It is as simple as that! And there are many issues that demand that the struggle must continue. Only then will change come.
There are too many restrictions that are unfair; there are many selective prosecutions that are blatant; there are many actions against dissidents that defy the rule of law. This is why the struggle must continue. Change will come.
If you cannot march for freedom, if you can’t light a candle for justice, if you can’t wear black attire to protest the death of democracy, if you can’t fast for a cause, if you can’t do yoga for your well-being, then the struggle must continue — change will come.
Our judicial system continue to make a mockery of itself
As long as our courts don’t deliver justice based on the merits of the case but continue to make a mockery of the judicial system as had happened in numerous cases, the struggle must continue. Change will come.
We wonder how the Court of Appeal could deny a person the counsel of his choice as had happened to Sivakumar, the Speaker of the Perak State Assembly. It is such an elementary thing; it is a simple question of natural justice. How could the learned judge ignore this simple principle?
How could the Federal Court dismiss the appeal of the residents of Kampung Buah Pala on technical grounds when there are substantive triable issues that should have been addressed and determined?
How could the Federal Court ignore the constitutional provision regarding the separation of powers guaranteed in the Federal Constitution in the Perak crisis? And yet the High Court upholds this provision as a matter of fundamental principle in Gobind Singh’s case!
Judges do defy logic
Two contradictory judgments by learned judges that defy logic and bewilder simple folks like us! There have been occasions — and they still exist — when you can predict the judgments when the panel of judges is announced!
Likewise, when the royal commission that was set up to investigate the judge-fixing scandal involving V.K. Lingam found indisputable evidence against Lingam and recommended that action be taken against him and others implicated in this sordid affair, the police and the Attorney-General surprisingly found no evidence to prosecute them! Those shockingly implicated were top people in the judicial hierarchy. All these tainted characters were cleared in spite of what the commission had established after a thorough investigation.
We must continue our struggle for truth
This is why the struggle for truth and justice must continue if we want change to come. As long as information is denied and surreptitiously hidden from the public domain so that corrupt practices will never be known or exposed, the struggle must continue.
As long as the ISA is used and abused and Malaysians are locked away without being charged in a court of law, denying them the opportunity to defend themselves, the struggle must continue.
Illegal way of toppling government – as in Perak
As long as foul means are resorted to in toppling a legally elected government as had happened in Perak, thus undermining the rule of law, frustrating the will of the people, demeaning democracy and ignoring the fourth principle of the Rukunegara which upholds “good behaviour and morality”, the struggle must continue.
Politicians exploit race and religion
As long as unscrupulous politicians exploit race and religion to agitate and inflame passions and emotions for their private gain and keep us divided as a people and as a nation through various discriminatory practices, the struggle must continue.
Election commission conduct unfair election
As long as the Election Commission does not conduct free and fair elections, providing equal opportunity in radio and TV time and insisting that news coverage should be without bias, the struggle must continue.
Selective prosecution still taking place
As long as selective prosecution takes place, putting the opposition at grave risk and danger as is the case on numerous occasions involving BN opponents, the struggle must continue.
As long as those elected by the people — be they BN or Pakatan representatives — as long as they do not live up to their public pledges and betray the trust of the people and do not pay homage to truth and justice, the struggle must continue.
The struggle must continue for change to come — and it will — but only if we persist.
For that change to take place successfully, it would take all of us and the rest of those who are the silent majority to make a stand. All those well-meaning Malaysians from the whole spectrum of society must decide that they can and will change the course of our history and determine the future of this country, where all of us can live in peace and harmony — before the articulate and aggressive minority make a mess of this country for all of us.
We will continue to make more sacrifices
It is time we realised that there are those who lost their freedom, there are those who gave their lives so that we can be where we are today because of their sacrifices.
There is no room for neutrality
In a situation as we are in now, there is no room for neutrality. In matters of right and wrong, you cannot choose to be neutral. We must take a stand. We must be on the side of truth and justice at all times so that we can have the future we want. We must stand up and speak up.
The struggle must continue. Change will come.
Dayakbaru – Change WE must
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Inspirational word from gkm2020
Our stand is always with the BN Gomen. Believed us in DL as without BN Gomen you will not find Malaysia as progress as it was today. The oppositions can only make sweet promises in their controlled states but they didn’t deliver as the BN does. In the constituences under BN in the opposition controlled states you will see more development but not on the oppositions side. Why is it lack of fund?
Where are the monies generated by the state Gomen under opposition? Didn’t all these monies leak somewhere?
Let make it clear that only BN Gomen can bring development and has the capacity and resources to rule the country. The simple reason is because politics of development is the way of life. All the BN YB’s were inspired and realised that while it’s necessary to hold seminars in luxury hotels once in a while but the most important things is to deliver promises to the rakyat.
So DB before the coming SE, please just make peace with the BN component parties and proof that you are worthy can bring more members and work for the BN.
DL..
ENTI NAKA GROUP NUAN KE MANTAI KE PENEMU
BA BLOG DB TU NADAI OLIH NARIT KAMI NYUKONG
BN. BACA NUAN COMMENT DEO, ANAKMIT OLIH GUNA KE?
PENEMU MAPAP MAIOHLAH ENGGI SEDUAI IYA.
This is the smear truth that we must accept pertaining to Malaysia politic and all the system that administrated Malaysia now. Federation of Malaysia is actually in the brink of every possibility that we could imagine for. Imagine for the worst like something happen around the rest of the world now, switch on our TV set and we could see a horrifying news from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, you just name it. With our current political leadership now, it is not possible we are going to be like those country mention. In fact, we are almost already did. The burning and torching of worship place has proven this political leader did not have capability to handle anything. Always a question for us, is this a leadership we should continuously render our support for? Are we always being convince that there is 1Malaysia concept, while we at Sarawak and for most of us Dayak are being sideline for 48 years? Only in 2008, UMNO or BN realise that there is Sarawak in Federation of Malaysia. As without stupid voter from Sarawak, they will not manage to secure the federal government. Those voters like Dayaklama, DEO, Telaga Kumang, John Jamban, Anakmit, bla… bla… bla…
Under BN administration of Sarawak for 48 years, Dayak have achieved nothing in everything. Education, infrastructure, economy, culture, spiritual, political, and all these thing mention are being dominated by somebody else who is consider minority if compare to us. Under the same administration also we are constantly being oppressed. Just study this example; even if it is not so much accurate facts as it is but still consider an eye opening facts to us, we are along with Sabah are at the bottom on the table when come to major examination like UPSR, PMR, SPM and STPM. So just count how many of our youngsters from our longhouse pursue their studies in Public Universities now. We are lucky if there is one or two who manage to get their ticket to University Malaya or UNIMAS or UMS or UKM or UPM and so forth. If compare Sarawak with Kelantan, Sarawak having less higher learning student admittance, while Kelantan with amongst the highest higher learning admittance in Malaysia. Why? Sarawak is under BN controlled and Kelantan are under PAS controlled. Who cares to uplift Sarawak, even without road, without good education, without land, without this and that, they still deliver BN votes. Just show up when there is an election and contribute a candy for the voters. The bins label as BN will be in full with just a price of candy. Such situation has been in practice for so many years and now it is time to a stop into an injustice system we have. Let’s change the course of the ship and the wind has already changed.
dayatlama,
What the BN have developed Sarawak in this 47 years. If 47 years is given to PR, I believe that PR will developed the state many times better than BN. Just imagine what you have mentioned that federal Government did not provide enough fund to them, so surprisingly the state controlled by PR run so properly and in orderly.
If that treatment is given to the BN run state, I dare not to think what will happen to the state.
Since you are using the computer don’t only rely on the newspaper for information. (Those are BN propaganda). Look out in the state run by PR in internet. See how they developed the state and caring for their communities.
Dayaklama if you are a Dayak you should support them for change. Why stopping them from better treatment. Search your heart? Unless you are wolf in sheep skin.
dayaklama,
You may talk high and low about BN government, but dayakbaru to pay no heed to your false stories. They are just good for your consumption only.
Survey by DL Ad Hoc Committee suggested that BN parties were still the prime choice among Sarawak voters, hence optimistic BN would remain in power after the next state election.
arah said:”Survey by DL Ad Hoc Committee suggested that BN parties were still the prime choice among Sarawak voters, hence optimistic BN would remain in power after the next state election.”
–Choose BN UMNO the antichrist church burners? Only retard primates believe such crappy bollocks now!