Election 2008

" A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humoured inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other-side. Else to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another"

- Ralph Waldo Emmerson

Election 2008. As the dust begins to settle, Malaysians, including politicians, are searching for explanations on the how and why. The results are there for all to see. Barisan Nasional (BN) lost its two third majority in Parliament and four states in addition to Kelantan. It came as a "great wave" said some and "it spread like wildfire" lamented others.

But what went wrong and what went right? While the respective post-mortem reveal an array of causes, one thing, however, is certain - democracy went right.

I was the BN candidate for the Subang parliamentary seat. In the past, political pundits regarded this constituency as 'safe'. But nothing was safe from the March 8 Tsunami.

Yes, I lost and yes, it hurt. But I take a little consolation knowing that I was defeated by fellow lawyer R Sivarasa, a credible and respectable adversary.

Although I am upset with the results as other party members are, the people have spoken. And they did so in a thundering voice. So its time for us - on the BN bench - to sit up and listen. We thought we were listening but obviously something was lost in transition. Its time to take stock of what went wrong, as an individual, as a party and as a coalition.

Are the results of Election 2008 merely a collective venting of anger by the voters or is it part of the changing landscape of Malaysian politics?

If it is the venting of anger, then the signs have been there.

Alarms have been raised but were either ignored or reasoned away. The saying "beware of the fury of a patient man" resonates yet again. Issues that gave rise to the anger must be looked into with fresh eyes, open mind and resolved at it's fundamental level.

If the election results is part of the evolving Malaysian political landscape, then we as a party and a coalition must change to keep up with and if possible, stay ahead of the trend. Change is easier said than done. Harder still is to be attuned enough to detect it.

Often changes happen in small increment that it is seldom noticed until it stares us right in the face. The need for change stands before us like a mountain now. Change we shall or perish we will. Of course the question is about what needs to be changed and how.

However, what is right within the party must be reinforced.

I, like many other members, joined MIC to work to uplift the community. I am convinced that this is still the spirit and motive of most of its members. That being the case, where did we lose the plot?

I have my own thoughts on most of these issues but right now, as an individual and a member of MIC, I would like to hear the views of the people we represent, painful as it may be in some cases.

The ultimate ownership of MIC rests in the community. We party members are merely the stakeholders who hold it in trust on your behalf.

Murugesan Sinnandavar