Malaysian General Election 2008

Except for the World News Section, the Borneo Post edition yesterday was full of news and related to the upcoming Malaysian General Election, and at the risk of being considered unpatriotic, the paper appear to have been turned into nothing more than campaign leaflets and newsbits of the ruling Barisan National.

And the Malaysian TV programmes, especially the local news - are no different. Every single nuance of the newsreader lines, almost unabashedly pro government in style and substance. As with the print media, the electronic media in the country has mobilised to become the most effective campaigner for the ruling government.

As apolitical as I am, its hard not to think about the possible long term impact of this specific facet of the country's election culture to the development of democracy in terms of structure and consciousness of the population. To keep the intellectual challenge to the minimum: the impact will be bad and good, positive and negative.

Next to the word negative: I have the phrase "stunted democary" flashing through my mind. In every election, the Opposition appear to have been muted and clueless by the massive avalanche of election-time "news" story. I find it hard to believe that the Opposition is simply irrelevant on every election. Even in the most matured democracies, the political landscape always have spots where correction is necessary for further development of democracy.

Without looking for blame and/or hypothesizing the cause for the state of affairs, I think the ultimate negative impact is for the Malaysian democratic growth to be stunted (remain in its cocoon), and be left behind while other nations grow theirs and become more adept at positioning themselve to benefit from the changing world. Even in a one-party system in some part of the world, one can see how the vigorous political debate from within the party, appear to create ideas that produce tangible results.

It takes some collective effort, independent of opposition politics, to nudge a young democracy away from its "groupthink" syndrome which can hurt itself in the long run.

To some extent, the phenomenon of NGOs appear to fill the void (of creating substantive public discussions), where traditional political party fail. But because NGOs have specific agendas, it does not have sufficient appeal to permeate the consciousness of the population at large. The sum of all NGOs does not make a coherent platform that would be in a position to correct or force a democracy that have been dominated by a single entity to change course.

From what happen in other parts of the world, it became obvious that other agents of creative/destructive change to a democracy is of course, the foreign or external media. But for the most part: its all to clear that external interference is almost with certainty doom to fail for a long time, with predictable impact - before it can become a force for good.

So, the original point should be rephrased: it takes some collective effort of Malaysians themselves to nudge the young democracy from its groupthink syndrome and to pry it out from its feel good cocoon, lest it become too comfortable and stop growing. From this standpoint, it is not enough to exercise the right to vote; Malaysians should also make it their responsibility to help the Malaysian democracy grow to new heights. There are just so many issues, both internal and external that have not make their way into public forum. The media appear satistify to satiate the population with positive inidcations of current and future economic development alone as barometer of good and positive development in the country : the challenge to the supposedly highly educated population is to look at all the issues, including (of course) future economic challenge from rivals in the region and how to grow, if not protect the current quality of life. Most importantly, perhaps Malaysian from all walks of life, should make it their responsibility to try to listen to alternative political views, and to participate in the dissection of ideas and issues.

So much for the negative impact. Without a doubt: there are many good positives that can come from handing out absolute majority to the ruling political part(ies) to continue to administer a young country, such as Malaysia. Stability and continuity in development programmes is one of the fruits of retaining the same administrators and policymakes within the context of public policy. And yes, foreign businessmen, will rather work with an imperfect existing government, rather than having to embed exit strategy as additional risk factors (and cost) in their investment. Even if the opposition were to espouse equally market-friendly economic policies, businessmen will most certainly not want to take chances if their other guaranteed better investment destination. On the bureauratic front, not doubt continuity will allow public spending projects to continue unabated - and I reckon, it would be easier to contain the final cost and completion time of the project. Most importantly, perhaps - all stakeholders, in a multi-religious, multi-ethnic, geographically-diversed, that characterise the Malaysian electorates, will know what to expect on post-election day : that the existing institutions that grant each their piece of the Malaysian dream - will continue to be maintained; and the social contract remains intact. Post election day: the Malays get some of what their struggle is about, the Indians get the same more or less piece of what the fractured community wants, the Chinese may manage to advance their cause to prosper as Malaysian Chinese, and the rest of the indigenous groups in Sabah and Sarawak get assurance of continuing protection for their enshrined rights - and this simple fact is probably at the apex of all Malaysian dreams.

Unfortunately, the choice between following the path of creative "negatives" (vigorous public discourse of the issues) to the path of assured positives: has not yet become a free choice at all, or that there is no conscious effort to make the general election into a time of meaningful reckoning, not of the choices that need to be make but at the very least, of the deliberate effort to advance democracy forward. I suppose its OK if this blog will never be read by the intended audience (or anyone) : at least privately, I feel the carthasis of having exercise my right to think and blog about the Malaysian media during the upcoming General Election.