|
"Dare to speak out" has all of a sudden become a fashionable buzzword in the country's politics, as if a politician will never become a good leader and win the hearts of the people unless he is brave enough to speak out.
As such, those who have not been bold enough to speak out in the past, will now have to "speak out audibly." And those who were marginalised for their bold remarks in the past, will now harness the opportunity to launch verbal assaults on those who used to marginalise them, and vow to be even more outspoken than anyone else. As a matter of fact, "outspokenness" should have been the most fundamental principle for human existence. If a person has been bullied or insulted, but chooses to remain submissive, taciturn and self-consolatory instead of putting on a good fight or resisting, how much different is he from Ah Q, the infamous character created by novelist Lu Xun? As such, if a component party of Barisan Nasional is being suppressed by another component party, and chooses to speak nothing of it, then the party's future is at stake. Having suffered the humiliating defeat in the March general elections, MCA, UMNO and Gerakan Rakyat have now found themselves at a crossroad: whether they should proceed with their own ways, or make the right turn. Change, is therefore inevitable and essential. Nevertheless, if the direction of change is only established upon the "dare to speak out" objective, then that is not going to be a real change, but a reversal to the original starting point. When MCA joined BN back then, wasn't it embracing "outspokenness" to fight for the rights of the Chinese community? Wasn't that the most fundamental principle for its peaceful co-existence with UMNO and the attitude that it should have? But why has the party come to the actual realisation of this only after six long decades? Perhaps the leaders in MCA have something they find it very hard to utter, or else why shouldn't it put things clear in words? | "What the voters want from their elected representatives is more than just outspokenness. They want to live a respectful life with self-esteem and equitable policies." |
In the face of the current uncertainties and rapid changes in the country's politics, those who have high expectations for MCA's transformation are definitely not going to be satisfied with the party's so-called "dare to speak out" objective and direction. The more a political party stresses that it has to be outspoken, the more does it protrude the unfavourable position it is now in, as well as how helpless it has been in the past. While being outspoken could save the Chinese community some grace, if MCA's objective to change and reform is confined to "outspokenness" when dealt with unfair treatment, even after the humiliating defeat in March elections, all I can say is that the party's scope has been too narrow. Besides, challenging other people in "outspokenness" is but insignificant. In the past, we have seen some party big shots and leaders showing off their outspoken spirit, but later giving in to the counter-attacks of UMNO leaders. Not all MCA leaders fall into this category of people though, as we still see many who would truthfully fight for the rights of the Chinese community when the going is tough. Against a backdrop of emerging bipartisan politics and improved public perception of democracy, what the voters want from their elected representatives is more than just outspokenness. They want to live a respectful life with self-esteem and equitable policies. In view of this, the transformation of MCA should be steered towards a broader scope. Instead of speaking out only at crucial times, why not discard its own inferiority complex and fight for equal treatment with UMNO, which I believe is what the Chinese community has really wanted? (By TAN POH KHENG/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)
 |
The Blogs 
Perhaps enrolling them into economic and political science or philosophy courses would be helpful. But gotta make sure they pass the IELTS or any other language test first.
_____________________________
http://sustainablemalaysia.********.com