Electoral fever

Elections are coming. Politicians are campaigning. All over you see posters and flags of the different parties hanging on street lamps, bus stops, etc. Everywhere you go, you hear people talking about who they're going to vote for, who's standing for which district, the party which they think will win, how many seats BN is going to get this year etc. And unfortunately for me, I won't be able to do anything. All because i neglected to register myself as a voter. All this while i've thought that it doesn't matter whether i vote or not coz somehow or other BN always wins. But now i've come to realize that the result doesn't matter. It's the fact that i should be practicing my right as a citizen of this country to vote. I should practice my right to democracy. And even though i know that things won't change even if i do vote, at least i know i tried to make a difference instead of just whining and complaining.

I'm just waiting for a change to take place. A change that will take away all classifications of race and where a Bangsa Malaysia will actually happen. Where everyone will just be called malaysian. And a change that will allow more non-bumis into universities. Or better yet, make all university entries based on merit which really should be the case. And that corporate ownership need not have a bumi owning a certain percentage. Doesn't the government ever wonder whether these so called special rights piss other ppl off? That it's looked upon as unfair? That giving things to ppl based on their race is just bullshit? Or has Malaysia settled into a such a state of complacency that they just accept whatever the govt feeds them? As long as there's water, sewage system, adequate jobs, enough food and money... every other unfair treatment is jujustified? I've heard ppl who've said that we're so much better off than other 3rd world countries coz we've got no war and extreme poverty and because of those things, our government is doing a good job. But what about the other things? The fact that we're being discriminated against based on race? The fact that we have to pay a huge sum for tertiary education just because we're of another colour? The fact that we can't get a job as a civil servant just coz we're of another race? I mean if bumis can't get in universities based on merit, doesn't that tell us something? That they're maybe just not good enough? If the state of governtment offices, where majority of the workers are not non-bumis, is slow and inefficient tell us something as well? It's because these ppl know they're given chances and easy access to things where they become lazy and feel they don't have to work for anything. Whereas the others would have to strive just to earn a spot.

Some ppl argue that these rights have been there since independence so we shouldn't change them. That it was promised to them. But that was then and this is now. That was a time when perhaps they needed to be protected coz there were immigrants coming and so on. But it's the present now we're talking about. Everyone should be equal. Especially since we're supposed to be only one race. But how can we be classified as one when certain sections of the 'one' will be given extra privelages? How can we be referred to as only one race when everyone does not get equal treatment?

This is getting depressing. Everyday, i hope for a change. And everyday, nothign changes. I want to love my country - no questions asked. I look around and i see the development and progress and feel proud of my country. But how can i love my country wholeheartedly when my country doesn't?