Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Lesson from Barack Obama's victory

Click on image for stories and video links, including Obama's victory speech

History has been created. A black man will now sit in the White House. It's surely a lesson for the world. The majority of Americans, especially the new and younger voters, believed that he is the man who could do the job. The fact is that the face of America has changed. The minorities, put together, have become the majority. But more than that - people want a change. They are just fed up of the old politics. They are fed up of the same political rhetorics and stupidity of some established politicians.

What's the lesson for Malaysia? The March 8 election results was just the beginning. Eight months later, we should have learn from the implications of the results but unfortunately some of us have not done so. While steps have been taken to face the financial turmoil ahead, some of our politicians and activists seemed more concerned with some road signs in Penang. It had to take someone from Pahang to file a legal action in Penang. Doesn't that speak volumes of what it means? Some of us quarrel over whether a non-Malay should be the acting general manager of PKNS, which is hardly the most powerful position in the state. Deputy Barisan Nasional Youth chairman? It was shot down outright by some. It is time for our politicians to grow up because the majority of Malaysians have grown up. Race politics is yesterday's politics.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

wcw,

no, not in Malaysia. race politics hold the upper hand. ultras in UMNO are dominating and you know who is behind this.
you are to the dot. while others are crossing the racial divide line, this country is regressing into racism under UMNO.

Anonymous said...

Hi Datuk,

Correction-Obama is not 100% black. He is mixed, father Black but mother white. So how do you come to conclusion he is black? Is it because the father is Black?

Then, Tun Mahathir should not be term as a Malay since his Father is Indian, only his mother is Malay.

So comparatively, Malaysia has an Indian Prime Minister-black earlier than USA-Just think it over eh.

Anyhow, congrats to Obama, may he govern better than his predecessors.

lanaibeach said...

History lessons
Of yesteryears
It seems vested interested parties ignore
Brewing racial politics doing damages to the nation
Of many religions, multi-racial and cultures

Now look at the Superpower USA
The minority worked up to elect a Black President
This is history in America
The Americans got fed up of old issues
Time they pick someone beyond colors
And lead the nation to the World

Back home we have myopic leaders
Still harping on the malay supremacy
As if it is a menu it can’t change
On petty issues nothing to do with economics

Arguing on BM
Ignoring other languages in FC
Complaining about PKNS appointment
Insisting it should be a Malay

Other Malaysians can’t do the job?
This is the frog in coconut shell problem
Time the Malay wakes up to reality
This is the borderless world

Filing case on road signs languages
What are they trying to show?
Only Zaid Ibrahim has the gut to say
Take stock learn the history

You hack it or you leave behind
The best person wins in the borderless competitive world
Nothing to do with race – supremacy or stupidity
We want to hack the world
So be united else disunited we fall

Anonymous said...

America's new battle cry into the unknown future is "Yes, we can". We can claim that theirs is not dissimilar to our "Malaysia Boleh" cry. But that is where the similarity lies. When it is uttered by Obama and echoed by Americans, it makes me want to weep. Their cry harbours hope, will and a fierce desire for a more understanding government and a better country. When I hear Malaysians screaming Malaysia Boleh, I want to laugh, I want to cry and most of all I want to puke.

Anonymous said...

The dinasour world is extinct for a long long time. But sometimes, they still roar in a movie. And when everyone finished watching and clapping, we go back to the real world. Let all who harp on race be marginalised and those who embrace change be normalised!

Anonymous said...

Change has come to America. Change has and will continue to come to Malaysia.

Some are still denial stage. Some are still mimpi siang. Some gila bayang.

Either we progress or regress.

Change will come. Let us all be the agent of change. Change for all Malaysians.

Change of paradigm. Change of attitudes. Change of mindsets. For our own sake.

God bless America. God bless Malaysia.

Anonymous said...

Datuk,

Obama victory is only on the popular votes not the electoral votes. So be patient, if you harped on the issue of Obama being the first black President (actually he is mixed-black and white)he may lose out in the electoral votes which will be in January 2009. As such he is not the President elect as yet.

Please dont jump the gun, that what happened to Al-Gore, Anwar Ibrahim good friend.

sinnersaint:saintsinner said...

Chun Wai

The Audacity of Hope - is ALIVE!

It transcends race, religion, colour, thats the testimony of this American election.

We should not view it otherwise, cause that will only point to our own bigotry. India paved the way many years ago when the people had voted a Muslim as a President and a Sikh as their Prime Minister... not forgetting a Roman Catholic who heads Congress..... its now Americas turn to showcase true democracy minus bigotry.

I do believe, Malaysian will rise to the occassion, sooner than the pundits would have it. Remember its the will of the people that wanted and turned it around -especially the younger generation -they determine the future of any nation.

So, to all Malaysian, we can become a powerful beacon too, once we all throw out the Bushes and the Ku Klux Klan mentality within our society and politics.

THERE'S HOPE - SHALOM

ps THE MEDIA CAN SHED ITS UGLINESS TOO ke ke ke

Anonymous said...

Hi adamharris,

You are right that Mahathir should be an Indian because his father is Indian. But he, an opportunist, chose to be Malay (and an extremist) because Malays hold politcal power in Malaysia and he wants all the privileges of a winner. Had it been the case of India or anywhere where Malays are a minority, I have no doubt that Mahathir would choose to be an Indian. Typical opportunists like him should be hung upside down by their balls by his own Indian community which he has dissociated from

Anonymous said...

HOW CAN WE PROGRESS IF WE HAVE THE LIKES OF THAMBY CHIK AND ALL THE OTHER UMNO/BN MORONS SEEKING AFTER APOLOGIES, APOLOGIES, APOLOGIES FROM THE RAKYAT. YES, ZAID IS NOW CONSIDERED AN ORDINARY RAKYAT JUST LIKE US. GROW UP, PLEASE THAMBY CHIK!!!!

Anonymous said...

adamharris,

Keep your mouth shut if you know nothing about US politics. The January vote is just a formality. A Afro-American will be the US president come January. But a non_malay WILL never be allowed to become the prime minister of Malaysia. Just goes to show how racist the Malays are. By the way Afro-Americans only make up 15-17% of the US population. US is truly the land of the free while Malaysia is the land of racist Malays. Guess who will be remembered in history.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to President Obama. You victory today is an inspiration to all ethynic minority groups around the world. Histroy was made today and you sir have broken the shakkels of Race.May god bless you and the Americans.

Anonymous said...

Well said Datuk.

Now, will any of the racist Malaysian politicians both from BN and PR ever understand this concept?

"Have they grow up", you asked. Grown up they have, but chances are they will choose to hang on to power at whatever cost in view of their greed.

Anonymous said...

Well done Obama! With such a diverse background hopefully he would be a better world leader. Anyway, we shd learn a lot from this. To those who are seeking overnight changes in this country, let's be more realistic, Obama will be the 44th President of the USA, we are only at PM No. 5 now. I agree with Adamharris, if I'm not mistaken, Tunku's mother was a Siamese, TDM got Indian blood, Pak Lah got Chinese blood, not so sure about Tun Hussein Onn, any Arab blood. Anwar also got Indian blood right? Obama is half black.

Anonymous said...

Not in Malaysia. In Malaysia its about race, religion and single race supremacy and not about equality, humanity and ability.
5o years from now we could be the least developed in the world.

CWI MALAYSIA said...

The US Presidential election campaign has opened a new chapter for US imperialism. The overwhelming opposition to the policies of the Bush regime and the onset of a deep and serious recession has seen a mass demand for ‘change’. Massive enthusiasm and high expectations have been aroused, especially among young people and Afro-Americans in the Democratic candidate, Barak Obama. The enthusiasm and hopes of what his presidency will mean goes beyond the USA. In poll after poll in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa, Obama is by far the favoured candidate. While the outcome of the election to the Congress and scale of the Democrat majority, especially in the House of Representatives, will be important factors in determining what Obama actually does in some spheres of US intervention, one thing is clear: Obama is coming to power in an entirely different world situation than when Bush and the neo-cons took power in 2000. The question of US foreign policy in the post-Bush era is being posed sharply.

THE ‘US EMPIRE’ AFTER BUSH—> http://asocialistmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/10/world-relation-us-empire-after-bush.html

Anonymous said...

Dato',
No doubt Barrack Obama's victory as the 44th (1st Black) US Presdient transcends racial barrier in America, and may have sparked glimpse of hope for many in our Boleh land.Nonetheless I very much doubt this change will ever happen in our Boleh land. Malaysian politics has been very communal since independent and will stay the same until God knows when. In present political context the leaders that we have today sorely lacks leadership, charisma and embraced the Malaysian-muhibbah spirit and do not have the Rakyat interests in mind and in their heart. Most of them can't even articulate economic and bread/butter issues maturely, intelligently and sensibly-what more to change themselves.

Anonymous said...

Ya.. tell that to those UMNO buggers. Tell that to those ketupat in power today! They are the ones that keep spinning and instigating all these racial issues.

When I watched Obama's speech after his victory, I cant help but feel how pathetic we, Malaysians are. Our leaders could not think, act, behave and lead half as well as Obama can. Yes, he has yet to start but I believe he can!

And when I watched John McCain's speech after losing, I again cant help but feel why can't any of our people in power here behave so graciously and dynamic.

This has nothing to do with how many years of civilization America has had or how advance they are and therefore their people in power can behave in such gracious manner.. NO!!

This has a lot to do with being human, having conscience and honor which none of our politicians or leaders have! It is outright shameful and I am for once ashame to say I am being governed by such idiots! I really do hope those sitting in that chair that has the big title printed PM and DPM realise this!

Anonymous said...

It's time we have an election for our Prime Minister position too. It should not be a hand out, hand over post anymore. Our Prime Minister should be able to prove he/she deserves the position before he/she gets elected to the seat, not during, and definitely not after.

ChengHo said...

The American peoples share a lots of common traits rather than diff.

they go to the same school , same church , same university , speak same language , eat same food , celebrate the same X mas , same halloween ,same new year ,etc the list go on and on . everybody will call themself African American , American Chinese , American Japanese,etc

What do we have ? we still trying to narrow down our diff , we even have difficulty asking people to speak the same National language ( some still not fluent) ,same school,etc

anyway USA took 350 yrs for what is USA today . listen to Obama winning speech .

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you but what change can Malaysians bring about.
Some of these locals are the most thick headed stubborn numbskulls walking planet Earth that they hear no one except themselves.
Race politics is yesterdays politics - sure. But the likelihood for a change in that here in this country - unlikely.
I await eagerly the day a non-malay becomes prime minister here.

ps: hope you're doing good.

Jo

BlueMoon said...

One good thing about America is that all Americans speak the same language and go to the same school. Obama is a the best example. His parent may be from Kenya but he speaks, thinks and dreams like any ordinary american. Obama never hides his africa's origin but he the first and foremost is an american. Unfortunately, the same is not happening here. It's not very uncommon to find third or fourth generation immigrants who could not read and write simple BM to start with. Therefore, the solution to their predicatment is to change the road signs with languages that are close to them. Americans and perhaps Obama are laughing when they hear that we are quarelling on how the road signs should be displayed inspite of being independent 51 years ago.

Anonymous said...

refering to the sender who had said malaysia is a land of racist malay... if u dare enough, identify yourselve, watch what u say! and dato, to u, it seems u are slowly showing ur true colours .. of ur own hidden agenda of supporting non malay in everything they demand just because of the march 8 election result!

Unknown said...

Dear Wong,

For me, the lesson I learnt from Obama's victory is this truth:

All Things are Possible with God. Only Believe.

Many have written saying it is not possible to see positve changes in this nation.

Many say that the govt will not change, that Umno is incapable of change.

But now I choose to see things differently.

This nation will change for the better.

This is a wonderful and blessed country.

We are a blessed people.


The hearts of our leaders are in the hands of God who will direct the path that they must take.

Man may plan but it is the Almighty that will decides.

Be positve. Believe and expect positive changes.

Wow!!! It's great to be alive!

TO God be the Glory!!!

Anonymous said...

The BN (read UMNO)government has lowered the standards of everything in Malaysia. In education, the standards of teachers have been lowered, and we have teachers that don't care and can't teach. The passing grades have been lowered, with the result that students can go through standard one to form five, and still remain illiterate. We have an inflation of A's forSPM and STPM, and the "A" in these examinations have lost respectability. The entrance standards to universities have dropped so low that we have university students who are almost illiterate. And the quality of lecturers in the universities are of dubious quality. And we produce graduates that are unemployable in the market. And the government absorb these low level graduates into government insitutions, resulting in a bureaucracy filled with people of low intellectual level. Malaysia produces lawyers with a low level of rational capacity as illustrated by Zulkifli Nordin. And we are all familiar with the doctors who examine patients by using a pen to touch the patients because these female doctors think it is haram for her to touch her patients. Some don't even look at the face of the patients, or even the eyes of the patients who have complaints of eye infection ( no joke and no exageration here). And even the "Religion graduates" who only studied Islam are taught only by lecturers of dubious quality rather than by Islamic intellectuals of high caliber. And look at our quality (or lack of ) of parliment representatives who are elected based on their party platform rather than on their own merits! And look at the low quality of the cabinet ministers and state officials. Some even have to resort to buying "honorary doctorates" , or fake master's degrees to put on a fake front. Are you then surprised that we are governed by idiots that continue to bring Malaysia to a lower level? And all this is happening under the cover of NEP. Each time issues are brought up for debate, the government suppress the issues by playing up racial and religious sentiments. The whole country is being robbed blind by politicians who use the cover of race and religion. And many of these politicians have billions parked in oversea bank accounts, and their children all studying oversea. It is high time the rakyat of all races unite and bring in change.

Unknown said...

Don't worry...if they don't change then we will change them.

amoker said...

Adamharis, you and Rocky tries to paint Obama as mixed and I wonder why. To me, his race does not matter as he is the more competent among the 2. UMNO chaps (like you?) does not understand what competition means and just look at the race. For me , the result will make the UMNO fascist more protective of their racist agenda for not wanting to be like the white, ultra right Republican Americans who cried when the worldview is now distorted.

Do watch "Bowling in Columbine" and change the white american to Malays and you can see the same similarity.

Niuku said...

To paraphase your words...In Malaysia, we are utterly and bloody fed up with the same political rhetorics and stupidity of some dominant and established BN politicians.

Niuku

Unknown said...

The Unthinkable Happened: America Elects a Black President
Wednesday, November 05, 2008



We ask:

Will Malaysians ever see in their life time a Chinese/Indian/Iban/ Dayak Malaysian Prime Minister or even a Deputy Prime Minister?

Unlikely, as long as we choose to continue to elect UMNO to win government.
- Malaysian Unplug



URL - http://mybaru.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Wong,
In M'sia, there will never be a non-Malay PM or DPM. That is the fact. Malaysia belongs to all but the power to rule only belongs to the Malay. What we have read in the paper for the past few months is that no one can question such a right. And UMNO is playing this card very well. They rule the country and will continue to do so. PR and Anwar is only dreaming to rule the country. They will never be able to do that. Reason: They are diluting the powers of Malays to the non-Malay. Come next election, UMNO will harp on this issue to threaten the Malays to vote for UMNO. The cycle continues.
And can anyone rebuke them? Just look at the MP for Pasir Salak, Tajuddin. He called another MP 'Bastard' and what happen to him. Just need to retract that word. But if the same were from opposition MP, I think he will be suspended.

Anonymous said...

When the phrase "Malaysia Boleh" was first used, it was with pride and optimism.

It should have been the official policy of Malaysia. Now, this is an embarrassing phrase used in disgust and anger.

No thanks to Badawi. No thanks to the bigots and religious nuts.

Ghifari X said...

If you ever doubted the concept of white privilege, ask yourself: when was the last time a white man wept with joy because another white man was elected president? Hi you Malaysians- all of you deserves the leadership you have; Indian Chinese Malayu all of you are racist as none can imagine outside of Israel Europe and The US. What you all need is the same financial melt down and elite masturbation of the nations finances economy and ineffective laws perhaps then you'd all come to your senses.I don't see a single group of non-racist in Malaysia except the ones you despised the most "ASLI".

Anonymous said...

Yeah,.. I am imagining YB Lim Kit Siang as PM of Malaysia... Urghhh... Damn ugly. Bangladeshi workers in the rubber factory speak better Bahasa than YB Lim can.