It was like yesterday, in 1994 I gave Al Marhum my father a lift to the Voting Centre at Kampung Baru, to be exact at Jalan Stonor. Before he got out of the car I asked my him, “Why don’t you vote for the Opposition……..give the Opposition a chance.” The candidate for the opposition at that time was from PAS.
My father is a very proud Malay man, he was proud he was part of the civil service, he was proud he served the former Jabatan Telekom for 25 years, before he opted for retirement when Telekom was privatised. He lives on his pension, in 1995 it was for a mere RM350 or less. He doesn’t even own a house. He believes the government has provided everything he needed. A simple malay man, at that time, I for one can never understand as to why he look highly at Tun Mahathir and Barisan Nasional.
“Do you know it is not as simple as you thought in choosing a leader?......" He said, ".....Do not gamble when choosing one. You do not know what it was like to look for food when there was no peace. You do not know what it was like to ensure you and your sibling gets fed when there was no food about.”
He was referring to the tragedy of 13th May, 1969, at that time I was so young with 2 other siblings we lived at Jalan Hamzah, Kampung Baru. I have my grandmother at Jalan Raja Alang, the other grand mother at Jalan Raja Uda. Both parents are from Kampung Baru. I heard of curfew those days, I was told several of my uncles broke into a few shops at Jalan Raja Laut in order to find food for the Kampung Baru people. They were nearly shot by the army for breaking the curfew.
The former Assistant District Officer, Criminal Division before the establishment of Bukit Aman once told me, “I can never forget when I saw the Malays came from Kampung Baru they walked from Kampung Cendana and the Chinese came from Tiong Nam”. The exact location from Tiong Nam was from Selangor Mansion, where Sogo is standing now. "They were about to clashed at Campbell Road next to Odeon Cinema. We managed to stop them…” he said. “…..Along the way back they did all lot of damage, destroying whatever the see on their path.”. No one knew what happen to my grandmother who was at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman that noon. She was last seen opposite the Globe Silk Store. Missing until today.
I grew up to learn there is no grave of my mothers mum when I visit Ampang Cemetery every Hari Raya morning.
I also grew to up to learned to visit the neighbours whether they are Chinese or Indian or any other race or tribes, it does not matter. My mother will ensure we dressed up in the morning at every Chinese New Year or Deepavali or Christmas, she looked at us and said, “ Go to Mr and Mrs Indra’s house 3 doors away, wish them Happy Deepavali or go to Mr Mrs Ooi’s house opposite our house and wish him Kong Hee Fatt Choy. I will join u later.” She never joined us as far as I remember. She never stopped reminding us until the day she died.
My father is a very proud Malay man, he was proud he was part of the civil service, he was proud he served the former Jabatan Telekom for 25 years, before he opted for retirement when Telekom was privatised. He lives on his pension, in 1995 it was for a mere RM350 or less. He doesn’t even own a house. He believes the government has provided everything he needed. A simple malay man, at that time, I for one can never understand as to why he look highly at Tun Mahathir and Barisan Nasional.
“Do you know it is not as simple as you thought in choosing a leader?......" He said, ".....Do not gamble when choosing one. You do not know what it was like to look for food when there was no peace. You do not know what it was like to ensure you and your sibling gets fed when there was no food about.”
He was referring to the tragedy of 13th May, 1969, at that time I was so young with 2 other siblings we lived at Jalan Hamzah, Kampung Baru. I have my grandmother at Jalan Raja Alang, the other grand mother at Jalan Raja Uda. Both parents are from Kampung Baru. I heard of curfew those days, I was told several of my uncles broke into a few shops at Jalan Raja Laut in order to find food for the Kampung Baru people. They were nearly shot by the army for breaking the curfew.
The former Assistant District Officer, Criminal Division before the establishment of Bukit Aman once told me, “I can never forget when I saw the Malays came from Kampung Baru they walked from Kampung Cendana and the Chinese came from Tiong Nam”. The exact location from Tiong Nam was from Selangor Mansion, where Sogo is standing now. "They were about to clashed at Campbell Road next to Odeon Cinema. We managed to stop them…” he said. “…..Along the way back they did all lot of damage, destroying whatever the see on their path.”. No one knew what happen to my grandmother who was at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman that noon. She was last seen opposite the Globe Silk Store. Missing until today.
I grew up to learn there is no grave of my mothers mum when I visit Ampang Cemetery every Hari Raya morning.
I also grew to up to learned to visit the neighbours whether they are Chinese or Indian or any other race or tribes, it does not matter. My mother will ensure we dressed up in the morning at every Chinese New Year or Deepavali or Christmas, she looked at us and said, “ Go to Mr and Mrs Indra’s house 3 doors away, wish them Happy Deepavali or go to Mr Mrs Ooi’s house opposite our house and wish him Kong Hee Fatt Choy. I will join u later.” She never joined us as far as I remember. She never stopped reminding us until the day she died.
Today, I did the same to my children except they are as tender as 3 years old and I accompanied them as a proud father. I am very happy to wish my neigbours Happy Chinese New Year or Merry Christmas with the children. All these will never happen without peace and harmony. I know I will never be able to thank both of my parents, I will continue their dreams and wishes for a peaceful country. I will definitely vote the party that can give peace and harmony. The free oil, or gas are definitely a bonus. You cannot buy peace and harmony.
Selamat Mengundi. Undilah Pemimpin Yang Menjanjikan Keamanan dan Kesejahteraan.
Selamat Mengundi. Undilah Pemimpin Yang Menjanjikan Keamanan dan Kesejahteraan.
6 comments:
As a lawyer u should know its best to always have check and balance. U got it right first time when u advised your dad- God bless his soul. Real peace and harmony comes when the opposition and the ruling party can work together for the best of the nation. Government is the trustee of the people. If parties keep the politics of separation, there will tensions and we do not know when it can explode and jeopardise peace. Monopoly of any sort, including power is bad for the nation. Times have changed and so have the people. We do not have to let the ghost of 1969 haunt us anymore. We do not need the politics of fear. We do not need people to go amok when they loose and if they do, the people responsible should be detained immediately. We need common sense and wise leaders who will ensure peace prevails no matter who wins the elections. To be fair u can vote for both the ruling party and the opposition. But did u vote today darihulu?
COming to think about it which pemimpin does not promise peace and security?
We stand today at crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other leads to total extinction. Let us hope we have the wisdom to make the right choice.
Not everyone in malaysia are lawyers. there are many simple people like my dad. check and balance are for those like you, to the mak cik in the market all she care whether she get the right balance after paying her groceries, not short change.
i dont believe in giving one and taking one like u suggest for when giving my vote.
did i vote? why not ask which party i vote?
yup i agree that its best to always have check and balance.
if majority members of parliment are from the ruling party whose gonna object each time they contribute ideas or something which is so called "what is best for the nation"...by having the opposition won 66 seats i could say that its gonna be a very interesting 4 or 5 years to faced while waiting for the next election to be held..well as for you darihulu...sometimes a changes is good..yup we do need changes once in a while..with changes we can learn to appreciate something more than we do before.
In this case, every single person would have a different perception and expectation on the type of community they would like to live in. Peaceful or chaotic is up to person own natural desire, and when it comes to voting it is the democratic way to choose the options available on the table. So to say one is wrong to choose this party or right to choose that party is entirely selfish, that is just comparing one's decisions to another's desire.
If one were to vote for peace, then what is the price one are willing to pay. Forever living in double standard society..? Forever living in bribery..? Forever living in uncontrollably inflating economy..? Forever living in lies and cover-ups by the government..? Forever living in democratic country that when we are not allow to question about how is our tax paying money is being spent..?! and of course there's more....
But on the other hand, are we prepared for the worst from the outcome of our decisions. Are we prepared if the turn of events didn't turn out as expected..? Are we willing to go through another 13 Mei..? Are we willing to live in the form of current Iraq(initially were fighting for freedom, so they say)..? of course it may not go to that extent, but are we prepared for the worst...?!
At the end of the day, It is what we believe will get us through whatever the the outcome, for better or worst.
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