Disappearing voices and the choice to surrender
Mar 04, 2008 in General
Recently, I had the privilege of being with too many journalists assigned to different constituencies and party candidates for the season. I met up with one foreign correspondent from across the causeway the day before, for instance, who I found far more involved and concerned about Malaysian politics than most of my friends.
I was both humbled by these people, and then disgusted by the many.
There's the talk that we have these days, you know, when you meet up in circles and the first line instead of, 'Dah makan tak?', you go, 'So where are you voting?'
I'm disgusted that so many of my friends, JOURNALISTS assigned to cover the elections in fact, answer so matter of factly, 'Hahaha, no i'm not even registered, what's the point?'
These are the same people who, when not in election season, will sit around your local cafe bars and bitch about evil editors and crazy deadlines. These are the same people who are suppressed by government-controlled news agencies, and these are the same people who have the privilege of going to more ceramahs than your average PAS-fervent makcik down the road, these are the same people who have the first-hand view of how our favourite incumbent Pak Lah actually articulates his opinions in not-so-many-phrase over half-an-hour long speeches of success stories and proof of records, and these are the people who KNOW first hand by virtue of EXPERIENCE that who is walking the talk and who is not, …
And they tell me, 'You know, I am not voting, i'm just going to sit and sleep, stupid elections.'
…
Of course its stupid, we have stupid politicians, stupid candidates, stupid elections commissions, and stupid journalists assigned to cover the ceramahs… crap right?