Document revealed by Anwar shows Pakatan no different than BN?
I’m a little ashamed to admit it, but you know how some people just rub you the wrong way? Something like the Cantonese term yong sui?
Wong Chun Wai kinda does that to me.
This morning’s dose came in a post entitled “The realities of Malaysian politics“:
Anwar Ibrahim has revealed a signed document between himself, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and PAS’ Hadi Awang that none of us have heard of until now – an agreement to uphold the rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution. The Sept 8 agreement pledged to uphold Malay rights and the status of Islam as the official religion.
Anwar also said that the social contract between the races were already agreed upon by all members of the coalition. He also revealed that the four-paragraph agreement could not be changed by any party, according to The Star.
Despite the criticism against the social contract and even questions about its existence, the three opposition parties realises the reality of politics in this country. This is no different from positions taken by the Alliance and the Barisan Nasional component parties.
No different? I love how Mr. Wong ignores content from his own paper:
The four-paragraph agreement signed by the three parties also said opposition leaders rejected race-based politics as it would disrupt the unity and harmony of the community.
I have talked time and time again ad nauseum about how an eternity of racially divided politics will, beyond a shadow of any doubt in my mind, make for an eternity of a racially divided Malaysia.
So how can you say that ideologically, race-based BN is no different than race-blind Pakatan?
Of course, if you believe the Malaysian Insider (I love some of their columnists to death, but barely visit the website), in an article that has subjective opinions but no bylines, this is all because of Umno’s poking.
Politics is politics; people attack, people respond. I enjoyed the March campaign where I think Pakatan managed to set the tone, and Barisan was more on the defensive.
To say that Pakatan is only seeking to reclaim ground lost to Umno agitation is, I believe, inaccurate. Have they had to reclarify their position again and again in light of constant obfuscation by BN? Of course.
While Pakatan has had to constantly battle BN controlled media like Media Prima and Wong Chun Wai without any media whatsoever of comparable reach, I feel that they have stayed on message.
What does the document say? Uphold the Constitution, uphold Malay rights, uphold the status of Islam as the official religion, uphold Bahasa Malaysia as the national language, uphold the sovereignty of the Sultans.
My friend Wong and gang makes it sound like these are new things; I think Pakatan has been toeing this line with extreme consistency every step of the way, from well before the elections until now.
I personally have absolutely no problem with these stances, and have stated repetitively that I am, myself, rabidly pro-Malay.
Of course, the core of the issue here is a larger one. Does Pakatan signal a departure from racial politics, or is it just mild repackaging?
This is a large question that probably does not bear answering in full here, but let’s look at the salient realities.
To date, the only political party in all of Malaysia that has a composition even *remotely* resembling Malaysia’s multiethnic make-up is in Pakatan.
Presently, if I’m not mistaken, there isn’t a single BN component party that has elected representatives from more than one ethnic group. Pakatan has at least two, and the only party with representatives from all three main Peninsular ethnic groups.
Recently, PAS has even started looking into starting a non-Malay wing.
Now, do these things signal the automatic end of the role race plays in Malaysian politics?
Of course not, don’t be daft.
You want to talk about the realities of Malaysian politics? Well, the reality is that there are currently two political choices for Malaysia.
One stubbornly holds on to hopelessly outdated, communalist ideologies that I firmly believe with all my heart will destroy Malaysia; the other is taking a risk and going against the grain in an attempt to break racist ideologies and replace them with principles of justice, democracy, good values, and good governance.
The realities of Malaysian politics indeed :P I am more realist than you probably think, but I still believe that reality is what you shape, not what you submit blindly to.
So far Pakatan has not shown that it its no different from BN. But Wong Chun Wai is still Wong Chun Wai. Still spineles.
Pakatan differs from BN in such a way that they are not racial based where everyone from all races can join any party PKR, PAS or DAP.
Agreement on existed Federal Const. shows the unity among Pakatan components. Next, only Parliament can alter Federal Const., not a single man or party.
In politics one is called a thief another a robber and that is what politicians are all about,only a handful do it for the love of their country.
let PR rule for one TERM then only can we make judgement.
Simple, if you think BN is better, then go ahead and vote them again in the next election.
But if you think everything can be changed overnite, well there is no super hero around.
Just remember that the choice is yours. Unless you have better strategy to undo 50 years of BN propaganda.
Personally, it is hard to see Pakatan as non-racial (e.g. the concept of Bangsa Malaysia is a racial concept). I see it as just a different side of the racial coin from the BN side. Maybe Pakatan can take a page from the Obama playbook and not even mention the coin. Simply sticking to the message of economics, education and healthcare is tough. Racial politics in Malaysia is simply too ingrained. However, I do applaud Pakatan for at least trying something different.
saya setuju dengan pendirian anda. saya bagi 5 bintang.
c’mon we must know the reality and face the reality. melayu is the biggest group in malaysia. if they are not ready for immediate and drustic change, they can’t bring in the changes overnight. any little changes, BN will twist the fact and play up the issue to the fullest. and PR is constantly facing the threats of the federal government and the polis.
i think PR is doing good. i see good governance in penang, selangor and perak. seldom news from kelantan.
the next general election we as malaysian will bring them down from the federal goverment 2much of money politics n bribe corruption showing of on tv news!!we mst hav a oter races as a prime minister!
other races as a malaysian prime minister for all not umno for malay mca for cns mic for indian for wat!
we wan a change a new goverment
What can you expect from a person who is under the payroll of a BN outfit! He would naturally carry the balls of those who pay his salary. It is obvious that WCW would betray his own kind just for the sake of his own rice bowl. Such character would never be respected and worst still trying to lead others. As the saying goes the “the blind leading the blind”. So fellow readers don’t give too much attention to a slime. Cheers and have a nice day!
[...] I’ve not kept trackof Wong Chun Wai’s postings in his Blog, I was grateful for Nat’s latest posting which drew my attention to WCW’s latest post, ‘The realities of Malaysian [...]
Whether it’s the same or different, Ketuanan Rakyat platform has to be seriously adhered to,, There is no two way around this.
what can you expect from a guy under the BN payroll.
he writes & edits rubbish articel. not a single statement when UMNO shouts KETUANAN MELAYU.
Is Wong Chun Wai suggesting that the PR government run foul of the provisions within the Federal Constitution ?
The PR has the task of dismantling 51 years of institutionalized bigotry propogated by an UMNO led BN.
So don’t try to deliver a premature report card of PR who have yet to take over the reigns of the Federal Government.
If you want to do a comparison look into areas of Competence, Accountability and Transparency, this is where the BN government falls far short of expectations.
As for political spin , it seems that Wong Chun Wai is not very good at it, ditto his counterpart in NST Kalimullah Hassan.
I am still snickering at the piece by Syed Nadzri (NST) that talked about the 5 reasons Anwar could lose the Permatang Pauh by-elections, well we all know how that went.
Lame political spin seems to be the hallmark of BN.
Vijay Kumar Murugavell
What do you expect from this person? Chinese call it “running dog”? I give him the nick-name “Brutus”. Not the Brutus of Ceasar, but the Brutus of the Chinese.
Let’s face it, race will always be an issue in Malaysian politics at least for the time being. The difference is the extent the parties engaged in it.
What is more important is the cleanness, transparency and accountability of the government which the present BN/UMNO government has none.
PR is still the better choice than BN hands down anytime.
I agreed with Anwar on social contract and race issue.PKR PAS DAP have agreed many issues.Thats why PKR PAS & DAP formed Pakatan.
The Difference is as a citizen, I totally disagree if UMNO/BN is the one claiming to champion the above issues.
What has changed? Why is PR similar to BN just because of the signed document? Isnt that what have been agreed since the very beginning of Independance?
You may ask how PR is different to BN:
1) PR is different bacause they promise to give priority according to need rather than race.
2)PR is different because they promise judicial independance
3) PR is different because they are against ISA
4) PR is different because they are for separation of power between federal, state and council. Including Local Council Election proposal.
5) PR is different because they do not instigate racial anger like certain dominant party in BN does.
6) PR promises automatic scholarship for high acheivers regardless of Race.
and trust me, They are different in many other ways.
Lets not compare between US and Malaysia.
Obama maybe a black president but he is still a Christian. US will never accept a Muslim president would they?
Likewise Mahathir himself is a Muslim who has an Indian blood in him. How are we different then?
We cant change things overnight. Right now the priority is to get a clean transparent goverment who pledge to help the poor.
Next is to train Malays esp the poor to be able to be independant and cometitive.
Then maybe…maybe we can seek equal opportunity…this may take 10 year or 100 year…but lets not stop trying
Wong Chun Wai is not very bright huh? PR just uphold what already enshrined in the Constitution, before it was gang raped by BN, and with utmost consistency, as a Chief Editor of a ‘reputable’ newspaper, he couldn’t be that clueless?
Oh, he needs to write such worthless spin to live it to his title – Datuk Wong Chun Wai. You are forgiven, Datuk. *chuckles*