One point worth mentioning is the use (or rather misuse ?) of the word “Opposition” each time people refer to certain political parties. This put a person of differing ideals as an Opposition, which forces a confrontational kind of stance – ie you are either “for” or “against”.
In fact the BN is such a fanatic practitioner of this practice that it has yet to recover from the fact that they now sit on the “opposition” bench in five states … padan muka :(
Same goes with the term “opposition blogs”. Who and what are they actually ? Well to start with, there are only a handful of this so-called “opposition blogs”, notably the blogs written by Lim Kit Siang, Tony Pua, Jeff Ooi, Chegu Bard and a few others.
What about the others ? They aren’t actually Opposition blogs. They are just blogs of the people of Malaysia – comprising of concerned individuals giving their opinions on the issues that affect them ... just like this one you are reading now !
Same goes with the term “opposition blogs”. Who and what are they actually ? Well to start with, there are only a handful of this so-called “opposition blogs”, notably the blogs written by Lim Kit Siang, Tony Pua, Jeff Ooi, Chegu Bard and a few others.
What about the others ? They aren’t actually Opposition blogs. They are just blogs of the people of Malaysia – comprising of concerned individuals giving their opinions on the issues that affect them ... just like this one you are reading now !
They have their own ideas of what’s important and what’s true (at least to them). Some are insightful, others are biased ; some question everything and everyone, others are balanced and objectives.
If anyone wants to engage with them, I would suggest to start by reading their blogs and the comments posted by their readers. This will give us a good idea of what the concerns of the rakyat are, what they think of those statements issued by government and issues that the government need to address.
In short, just because one disagrees with or criticizes the goverment does not necessarily make them “opposition”. Labeling them so, will just give the impression that we’re not really listening to their cries.
To me, labeling others who “disagree” with you as opposition is an unhealthy practice, as in this era of partnership and alliance, people don’t “fight” with their competitors anymore. But rather they should always be looking at means and ways of how to settle things with a win-win situation through partnership kind of cooperation.
Malaysians are not stupid or immature lot. In fact, they’ve never been stupid. They’ve always criticized - right from the olden days. But in those days, they "criticize" at coffee shops, barber shops and at mamak stalls. Today they do it on the internet - through blogs, forums, emails and the likes.
These new generation prefer progress to development, they want to enrich rather than just gather wealth, they want to improve their quality of life, not just adopt the latest lifestyle, they want to be heard, and not just be spoken to. I don't think there's anything wrong if someone begs to be different from the “mainstream” ?
My wish (wishful thinking ?) is that we should stop calling each other who are “on a different boat” as “opposition”, but instead should complement each other. All of us, especially those elected assemblymen and parliamentarians should be focusing on how to put the rakyat to live in harmony, prosperity and security – regardless of religion, race and political ideals. Malaysia Boleh !
If anyone wants to engage with them, I would suggest to start by reading their blogs and the comments posted by their readers. This will give us a good idea of what the concerns of the rakyat are, what they think of those statements issued by government and issues that the government need to address.
In short, just because one disagrees with or criticizes the goverment does not necessarily make them “opposition”. Labeling them so, will just give the impression that we’re not really listening to their cries.
To me, labeling others who “disagree” with you as opposition is an unhealthy practice, as in this era of partnership and alliance, people don’t “fight” with their competitors anymore. But rather they should always be looking at means and ways of how to settle things with a win-win situation through partnership kind of cooperation.
Malaysians are not stupid or immature lot. In fact, they’ve never been stupid. They’ve always criticized - right from the olden days. But in those days, they "criticize" at coffee shops, barber shops and at mamak stalls. Today they do it on the internet - through blogs, forums, emails and the likes.
These new generation prefer progress to development, they want to enrich rather than just gather wealth, they want to improve their quality of life, not just adopt the latest lifestyle, they want to be heard, and not just be spoken to. I don't think there's anything wrong if someone begs to be different from the “mainstream” ?
My wish (wishful thinking ?) is that we should stop calling each other who are “on a different boat” as “opposition”, but instead should complement each other. All of us, especially those elected assemblymen and parliamentarians should be focusing on how to put the rakyat to live in harmony, prosperity and security – regardless of religion, race and political ideals. Malaysia Boleh !
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