AUGUST 26 ― The defeatist arguments I hear about Bersih are almost as annoying as the anti-rally speeches from pro-government people.
“I'm not going to Bersih, it won't change anything.”
“I'm gay and Bersih won't help me, so I'm not going.”
And then I read an opinion piece bemoaning Malaysia's “helpless liberals” who are apparently too chickenshit to do something more revolutionary instead of a tame, safe rally.
It is such a silly notion that all we need is one huge French Revolution-like coup or massive show of public disobedience and hurrah, like magic our economy will be fixed, we will be free of tyranny, corrupt leaders will be purged and our country will suddenly become an utopia. All the enlightened liberals need to do is rise up and take back our country and all be well.
I will ask something I commonly ask when I meet people this obviously divorced from reality: Just how much pot have you been smoking?
Ah, Malaysians with short memories.
Does no one remember when the first Bersih was called? How cowed so many Malaysians were? The fear? The anxiety? Even my own father warned my brother to specifically not attend the rally.
The country did not go down in flames. Peace was still the order of the day. Malaysians realised that mass rallies would mean water cannons, tear gas and hapless foreign journalists caught in the crossfire, but there were no riots.
Nothing changed, you say? Something did change. Malaysians' perception about protesting.
Bersih 2 happened. And Bersih 3. Now it's the fourth edition and things have changed but not in the way that champagne socialists would like.
It is not about liberals being helpless to effect change. It is about who we are.
Look at us. We are not a homogenous society; we are a living miracle in how people of diverse races and religions have not as yet murdered each other. Like it or not, we have to give the government some credit for that, but at the same time we have to acknowledge how it has adapted the British divide-and-conquer policy to retain power.
It is not about assimilating identities, forcing citizens into fitting into this neat template of what it means to be a 1Malaysian. We are still far from learning true tolerance and acceptance. It's not about that nationalistic claptrap notion of unity, it's about getting to that place where we are different and yet equal.
We still live in a country where so many of us are in denial about other citizens being second-class citizens. Being a Sabahan, I don't even get full Bumiputera privileges as I am deemed a second-class Bumi.
What is scary is that we see so many youngsters turning towards religion instead of towards self-expression and citizenhood. Like their elders, they become obsessed with how their peers dress and behave instead of addressing serious issues like poverty and the welfare of the disadvantaged.
Here is the reality: Malaysians are very diverse people who want different things. Our political parties reflect that. PAS and its supporters want Malaysia to be a fully Islamic country, whether non-Muslims want it or not. DAP is still struggling with the Chinese chauvinism that still exists within its ranks. While it has succeeded in recruiting some high-profile non-Chinese members, the reality is that its leaders at all levels are predominantly Chinese.
And Umno's agenda is pushing Malay supremacy even if it burns the country down in the process.
What is happening is that Malaysians are learning to be more vocal. Learning to question, learning to voice their frustration. Change is hard and change is not overnight. The Arab Spring did not suddenly install better governments in the Middle East, but instead showed the weaknesses and challenges many of these countries faced.
Look at Thailand, where it has now become a country taken over by military dictators who have no qualms about shooting its own unarmed citizens when they try to rally. A country that bans a hand gesture is a country with serious civil liberty issues.
If you want instant change, it's not going to happen. If you think progress can be achieved by a violent overthrow of the government, I choose to disagree with you.
Whatever you might say about our current state of repression, it's obvious you didn't live through the terrifying aftermath of Operasi Lalang. When journalists and activists were arrested en masse and detained without charge, without trial.
People are still afraid now, but at least they're becoming less afraid about speaking up. You want change now? You'll be disappointed. But if you love your country enough, you'll work for change even if you know that you might never see it in your lifetime.
The only helpless liberal is the one who does nothing at all.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
