(West) Malaysian Voters Rule! ...Sabahan Voters, What Happened?!

Congratulations West Malaysian voters! You knocked some democratic sense into the thick skulls of the arrogant BN leaders. Sabahan Voters, have we failed? Right now I am very disappointed, devastated by the elections results. They have labeled Sabahans as not prepared for change! Aren't we?

The last couple of days have been the greatest in Malaysia's political history. I have been glued to the TV screen hungry for the latest developments and news in Peninsular Malaysia where the winds of change have knocked down those arrogant top BN has-beens. From Sabah, from the silent majority in Sabah, we extend our congratulations to all voters over in Peninsula for your bravery and having made this possible. Malaysians have truly spoken through the ballot boxes last 8th of March 2008.

This is the Malaysia I have always wanted, and I am sure I'm not alone on this, of this I am absolutely sure. I know there is a silent majority here that has been stifled because the fear of speaking up has been successfully planted amongst us from what we have been through all these years. This is the Malaysia we longed for and proud to be part of. I thought the shouts for justice in Peninsular Malaysia was deafening to us here, I thought we were listening. Guess I thought wrong.

Dear Sabahan voters, what happened to us on 8th March 2008? Are we that politically unaware, politically stupid??! Can we not remember what Sabahans went through all these years? What about all those years of being sidelined, divided and ruled, opposed and oppressed for so long? We have been fighting a losing battle alone for so long, we have been the opposition state with Kelantan back then for quite a bit...it had been tough fighting a losing battle on our own. Have we given up hope? The nincompoops we have in power here are simply the miniatures of that in the Federal BN. The earlier BN autocracy had succeeded to divide and rule us because our nincompoop State leaders are so power crazy that they are willing to kowtow so low to lick the bread crumbs off the feet of the Federal BN leaders just so they can hold on to power! Just so they can hold on to power, the State BN leaders allowed Sabah to be ruled on a two-year rotation basis. Then, Chief Minister after Chief Minister plundered and raped our beloved land to enrich themselves and their cronies! Where on God's given earth has a State been so divided and ruled through a so-called two-year rotation basis???! Why have we allowed this? We were one of the richest States in Malaysia? How did we allow them to rob our lands, our island, our oil resources? We were once rich and now we are the second poorest after Kelantan! But remember, Kelantan is an opposition State. So counting out an opposition state, that makes Sabah the POOREST STATE in Malaysia!

And those are not enough, isn't it? The BN govt allowed the PTIs to further destroy Sabah; the project IC and the phantom voters helped rigged any election; our poverty is such that it embarasses our children, to the point of driving a 10 year student to commit suicide; our oil resources are being extracted to enrich a few and soon will be channeled to Sarawak by Petronas as if Sabah cannot manage its own oil resources? the JPS build RM15 million schools in the middle of nowhere where there is no student population while our government controlled schools (formerly mission schools) in urban areas are so crowded and don't even have space for a padang; the price of fuel and cooking gas have increased...and so on and so forth. And yet, dear Sabahan voters, we keep mum. What are we afraid of?

The alternative coalition that is now ruling Penang, Selangor, Perak and Kedah...isn't that what we actually are and what Sabah has always been, a multiracial, tolerant community. All through the recent election campaign, I had thought PKR is very acceptable to us, especially in the grassroots.

Since the results were out Sunday (9th March 08), what I felt was general subdued feeling all around, or is it just me and my friends? Yeah, Sabah BN won by a landslide, but there is no feeling of jubilation, excitement and hope. We don't see it, we don't feel it. The only happy people are the State BN winners and their cronies. And right now, even as I write, those state BN leaders are in Kuala Lumpur, unahamedly lobbying for state cabinet posts and the blessings of their BN masters. The impression the people get is that all the state leaders ever care for are positions and money! Can Sabahans not see this? Are we so blind?

At the grassroots, all we feel are disappointment, confusion and embarrassment. I don't know about you, but for many of us, somehow, something just doesn't feel right with the recent elections results. Something's amiss... something just doesn't feel right about the whole thing. The general undercurrent that was strongly felt at the grassroots throughout the recent campaign period somehow did not surface in the election results. You see, throughout the campaign period, when the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) was showcased around Sabah, with exhibitions in major towns and used as a campaign tool that moved around the State, we kept tracked. What we observed was that the reception of the masses to the SDC was not even lukewarm. Many knew it was just another election gimmick. Among the professionals, the kampung folks and the young, we whispered amongst us: the decision have been made...that, yes, we know that BN will rule again both in State and Federal, but we want a strong opposition in Sabah and Malaysia. We want a multiracial vehicle that tolerates our multiracialness and let us live in peace. We, the silent majority, spoke quietly among ourselves, we shook hands, we knew, we have decided. We want justice, transparency, good governance and to live freely, in harmony; not oppressed, divided and ruled. That was what we felt.

Last Sunday morning, 9th March, many of us woke up stunned by the results of the 2008 State Elections. Yes, Sabah BN won by a landslide. But there was no feeling of jubilation among us, only sadness, disappointment and confusion. And I repeat, somehow, the general undercurrent that was strongly felt at the grassroots throughout the campaign period somehow did not materialise in the election results. What I knew we all felt strongly about just did not tally with the election results. What happened? Could it be that the silent majority was denied its true voice by some treacherous election machinery? If the MP of Pensiangan, Sabah with the help of the SPR officials cheated in broad daylight to win unopposed in Pensiangan, then wouldn't it be so much more easier to do likewise during a heavily rainy night at tallying stations in remote constituencies? These are only some of the questions that have been heard. Another question was (remember, it was raining heavily all day all over Sabah that polling day making our interior muddy roads difficult to pass through) how could the Papar Constituency and its 2 State seats of Kawang and Pantai Manis announced themselves as winners just TWO (2) hours after polling closed at 5.00pm, when some tallying stations under Papar have NOT even finished counting the ballots?! In a neighbouring state seat, how could a majority of 805 in the 2004 elections become a majority of 5730 votes in 2008, with the same candidate standing and had several issues floating around during the campaign while the constituency's sentiment had clearly remained the same? Can someone enlightened me on how the 5000 votes came about?

Barely two days after polling, slow but surely, complaints and grouses related to polling irregularities are beginning to surface. Many of us are puzzled about a lot of things that happened after polling was closed at 5.00pm on the 8th of March 2008. I know a lot more questions will come up from a lot more places in Sabah in the next few days. Could all these events orchestrated by some unseen hand be the reason why whatever we felt before and on polling day did not translate into the election results over the weekend?

In the end, my fellow Sabahans, we will be the ones suffering the consequences of our action. We did not use our brains when we voted, we did not vote wisely for the sake of our future and that of our children's children. While our West Malaysian fellowmen and women are prepared and daring to change the future for the better of all Malaysians and our children, I am so disappointed that we Sabahans want to remain disunited and oppressed forever!