Dr. Azmi Sharom is one person I found has great punch lines.
… Who to vote for then? Well for one thing, it won’t be for the politician who promises to clean up the drains of Petaling Jaya. That’s not what my MP or my State Exco Member is supposed to do. That is the job of the Local Authorities
… Ideally, I would look at the individual candidates and try to figure out where he stands. But this is not very practicable because these candidates are not really individuals; they are the human faces of their political parties. So, what about the parties then? Perhaps I can find one that matches how I think. Frankly, I don’t think there are any that truly reflect my values and aspirations.
Besides, aren’t the constituencies arranged in such a way that one party is more likely to win anyway? When one looks at the way our electoral system is managed, when you can win almost forty percent of the votes and yet only get ten percent of the seats, it is easy to get cynical. Does this mean that voting is a waste of my time? Indeed not.
… personally I think the percentage of votes is the true indicator of what the people think and want and it is just as important as the number of seats won. This is because the battle for democracy does not happen only once every four or five years. It takes place every single day. And knowing that a large group of the population feel that issues like good governance, honesty, integrity equality and civil liberties are important gives momentum and strength to that day to day battle.
Deny BN a 2/3rd majority is more than a democratic choice – it is also a moral obligation
Some people really won’t like this title! 🙂
BN manifesto: An evidence-based evaluation
Just in case some people prefer a more fact-based approach apart from ideals.
One thing I noticed for those who are critical against BN is that it’s not playing up the race or religion card, but specific criticisms on particular groups e.g. UMNO, MCA or MIC etc, and NOT on Malay, Chinese and Indian in general. This distinction reminded me of a comment or question I heard sometime ago from a Malay friend, "Are you angry with the Malays? Or are you angry with the policies which are perceived to be unjust towards non-Malays?" We live together as a people, now policies need to get more severe scrutiny and those who are crafting and implementing them too!
My views are therefore that we have to as a people have put an end to this backward and regressive agenda once and for all.
And the only way for doing it is by evolving a Malaysian-minded community of people that will clearly demonstrate this by denying the government their two-thirds majority. Then we can go back to review the original social contract of 1957 and the legal Merdeka Agreement of 1963; with full and due respect for the supremacy of the federal constitution. Only then can we exorcise the ghosts of the past that keep re-emerging over the last 50 years.
Therefore, we must translate this desire into action at the ballot box. All moderate-minded Malaysians must vote against the Umno-driven government as a way of saying that we cannot and will not tolerate the keris-wielding antics of Umno and their race-based agenda. I am sorry for the Barisan partners of Umno but I am not sure that there is really any other alternative way.
Only then will the Umno-led Barisan go back to the drawing board to revisit some real and serious issues. Whether we call it Bersih or Hindraf or simply the Barisan Rakyat Agenda, we have to say it for them with our votes against the Umno-led government.