Say goodbye to hatred

Kwong Wah, May 13, 2016

To all Malaysian friends:

The Sarawak state election was fierce. The barring of politicians from entering Sarawak, assault of candidates, the helicopter crash which killed six persons, including two government officials and Barisan’s overwhelming victory have been hot news in the media.

If you surf the net, you would have noticed 70% of netizens feel that the crash victims deserve it because they belonged to the Barisan camp. The other 20% have been mocking them. For example, they ask: “How come it is not the couple?” or “Adenan not only bar Pakatan members, even Barisan members have been barred. They deserve it.” Only 10% of the netizens sent their condolences and comforting words to the victim’s families. Sad to say, those who say the victims deserve it are mostly Chinese netizens.

Yes, I am talking about the six lives lost. Human beings are born compassionate and since when have we lost our compassion? Regardless of which race they were from or which party they belonged to, do we have to be so hateful?

Since the 308 and 505 general elections, we have seen the majority of Rocket people spewing crude and hateful remarks for their selfish interest. They spread baseless allegations and made exaggerated claims of suppression in their gatherings or via social media, taking advantage of the freedom of expression and public grievances.

They have been exaggerating public dissatisfaction and pouring out politics of hate. And look at the results now:

Case 1: Anti-Barisan netizens have been cursing all Barisan-linked people as running dogs and condemning them to hell, even mocking Barisan MPs who died in the accident. They say those victims deserve it and say it with such glee as if they have struck a lucky draw.

Case 2: I know of a Madam Loh who voted for Barisan candidate Tiong Thai King because of Tiong’s help at his service centre. However, this has caused a dispute with her daughter who has been working for a long time in west Malaysia and who has a different political stand. Her daughter scolded the mother of being ignorant and flew off to west Malaysia immediately after the state election.

Case 3: West Malaysians wage a war of words with their east Malaysian friends after the state election. They used crude and abusive words in scolding their east Malaysian friends for being blind and blur. Friends from west Malaysia, do you remember if we have ever scolded you when the Rocket or Blue Eye took over Penang or Selangor, or when Barisan took over Johor and Pahang?

The feeling of hatred has crossed the baseline and risen above our political stand as it has seriously hurt our conscience and affected our daily life. What does such deep hatred bring to our society? Does it help in our economic progress, enhance our morality or racial unity?

The fact is the hatred created by political parties will only deepen the cracks among different races and lead to more social and moral problems and it has to be stopped.

My greatest dream ever since I joined politics is to change the existing political culture. I may or may not be an elected representative but my greater concern is the young generation growing up in such a hateful environment.

Thus, when I became the Gerakan Youth Chairman, I made it my goal to make more people realize that blind hatred or being abusive would not solve any problem. We want the nation to progress and we must start from ourselves first by:

1: Raising our civic awareness; understanding better our national system, and the administration of local authorities and the differences between MPs and state assemblymen;

2: Focusing more on a candidate’s background, his quality and political ideology rather than his party; differentiating those who make empty promises in their election manifesto. Most important is to reject being brainwashed by politicians with their politics of hate and to reject the rotten idea of “vote for the party not the candidate.”

3. Understanding the political stand and ideology of every party; being aware of their every act because it reflects their political stand and principle.
4. Understanding that election is part of the parliamentary democracy and voting is the duty of a citizen; it is a personal choice. After the election, all of us, including politicians, still have to lead a normal life and earn a living. Don’t be fired up by the seditious words of politicians and become radical, don’t insult or hurt people close to you, your family members or even strangers because of political differences.

Knowledge is the greatest weapon to change and reform the society and public participation plays the most effective supervisory role. Only this can we ensure a better society for our next generation.