ISA SAMAD MAY BE GOOD BUT...THINK TWICE

By: Tohkong Mosjid_ I'm not a supporter of PR, neither do I love BN. But I can proudly say I love my country, our Malaysia more than any political party.


Dear Bagan Pinang voters (yes, that includes you, my dear postal voters),


No doubt, in your heart, some of you may have already decided about who to vote for comes Oct 11. Perhaps there are some of you who think that there is no big implications to our country no matter who you vote for. Perhaps some of you, are still hesitating between voting for 'what's right' in your heart or 'what's good' to your constituency.

There are several arguments and questions below which I hope you will be able to spare some time to ponder before you cast your votes on Oct 11, 2009.
1. Our Morale Barometer

In our heart, we all have a morale barometer. In nature, we know what's right and what's wrong. For example, we know that 'stealing' is wrong by heart (some chose to ignore it) even without reading any holy books or having anyone telling us.

BN (or specifically UMNO) has justified why they had chosen Tan Sri Isa Samad as their candidate. Regardless of what versions of justification they are trying to tell and reason with us on Isa Samad's candicacy, I believe most of us are still battling with our morale barometer whether their explanation could be accepted. We should ignore their reasoning and start asking ourselves some morale questions instead (below).

i. If our heart tells us that UMNO is morally low to nominate Isa, then where do we stand morally if we ended up voting for him on Oct 11?

ii. It is true that in our heart 'being right' is not more important in comparison to 'being good' to your own constitution? iii. What are we voting for actually? Is it just that plain simple a choice between UMNO and PAS?

The deeper questions...


iv. What message are you trying to send by voting for a certain person in Bagan Pinang?

v. Next, are you sure you are sending the right message?


vi. Are you sure they (the winner) are going to get the right message you are sending?
vii. Is there any implication on the country when who you vote for wins the election?

2. After losing 7 by-elections, has BN wake up to make the change we desire?
So far BN has lost 7 by-elections held so far since March 2008.
Did BN reform yet? If no, did you ask yourself why?


How did the MSM reported BN's loses in those elections? Remember the word 'status-quo'?

Did they get the signals from the voters in Kuala Terengganu, Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau and recently Permatang Pasir? Why haven't they been able to interpret those signals as a warning that they are losing support for behaving the way they are behaving now?

Let me tell you why. BN has yet to wake up because they believed (hypnotized is a better word, I guess) all their loses came from opposition seats meant 'nothing is wrong about their behaviour'.

They even convinced themselves by saying: "We did not lose support (because they still got their votes), we just did not manage to snatch the seat away. Afterall it was an opposition seat!" (They easily forgot about Kuala Terengganu because it was never really their stronghold anyway.)

Before you cast your votes for BN in Bagan Pinang, you may want to rethink your decision by asking yourself these questions below:


i.Do you honestly think BN is going to change its way of handling our country if they win Bagan Pinang?

ii.Will they become more arrogant or more humble and sincere in serving the country after winning Bagan Pinang? (assuming carrying the cow head around is one of their arrogant stunt.)

After they ignored those 7 by-elections' loses, Bagan Pinang presents a golden opportunity to re-send those signals (in a very electrifying way) to BN. Bagan Pinang is their stronghold, a lost here for BN can finally stop them from hallucinating that they still enjoy our support no matter how suck and corrupted they are for 50 years. Yes, you, the Bagan Pinang voters can help 25,000,000 Malaysian to send the strongest message ever to BN to tell them to "buck up or else be shipped out comes next general election" by voting for PAS.

3. Your votes affect 25 million Malaysians!


Yes, Bagan Pinang is just a small DUN in a not very well developed Negeri Sembilan state. But no doubt, the implication of this election result is the most significant compared to the 7 other by-elections before this. Let me share with you why.

a. If BN wins, how will they interpret the cow-head incident? If they win in BP, are we indirectly sending the signal that this act can be repeated?


b. If BN wins, how will they interpret the rakyat's anger in extending the IGP's contract for another year? If they win in BP, are we indirectly sending the signal that our IGP had done a fabulous job thus far?

c. If BN wins, how will MACC interpret the rakyat's anger in Teoh Beng Hock's death? If they win in BP, are we indirectly sending the signal that it is not that big a deal when a witness died under their custody?


d. If BN wins, how will they interpret the rakyat's anger in the way they abused the laws and constitution in Perak's power grab? If they win in BP, are we indirectly sending the signal that Perak's takeover was legitimate, and it was within their right to do so?

e. If BN wins, how will they interpret the rakyat's anger in their racist statements and policies as portrayed by their newspapers? If they win in BP, are we indirectly sending the signal, that we are ok with their racist political game as long as our roads are built?

f. If BN wins, how will they interpret the rakyat's despise on the massive corruption going on in the country? If they win in BP, are we indirectly sending the message that we don't care how corrupt they are presently or previously, as long as our needs in the constitutions are promised to be fulfilled?

g. If BN wins, how will they interpret the death of Kugan in custody and the ridiculous AG's decision of prosecuting only one policemen for causing grievous injury (not death, mind you!)? If they win in BP, are we indirectly sending the signal that we are generally ok with what the police did to Kugan while letting AG to ridicule us with such lame prosecution? If not for Bagan Pinang's election, do you honestly think that the policemen is going to be hauled to court?

I can go on and on, but I will stop at (g). Yes, this election's result affects not only the 14,000+ people in Bagan Pinang; the reality is, this election result has a very deep impact to the whole country if BN wins.

A PAS win here is the trigger point that UMNO desperately need to realise that, it is time for them to reform from within and stop playing racial politics while getting serious in winning back our support or else they will suffer our wrath comes next general election.

Again, Dear Bagan Pinang voters, can you help 25,000,000 Malaysian to send the correct message to BN, our government of the day, that we are unhappy with their way of governing and we really want them to buck up for the sake of the nation?

4. An analogy of which is the better apple, BN or PR?

Yes, some of you are arguing that PR is not much better than BN, which I agree. But let me use an analogy I got it from somewhere to let you do some pondering before deciding on who you should vote for:

Assuming right now, you (a 50 years toothless old man) are very, very, very hungry (if you don't eat anything in the next minute, you are going to die, and suicide is not an option) and you really, really, really hate eating apple since you are an infant.

Someone came by, being sympathetic and cruel, he gave you 2 apples to eat but you can only choose one. One apple is sour but it is still fresh, while the other is sweet but rotten. (Whether the apple is 'sweet, sour, rotten or fresh' depends on your judgement based on your 50 years experience living as a human.)

Since suicide (by not eating the next minute) is not an option, you need to choose one now. Which apple will you choose?

[Note 1: A sour and fresh apple -- you know you are bit safer taking this one but you are toothless, so it is going to be a pain to eat.]

[Note 2: A rotten apple, sweet and mushy, but most importantly easy to eat for a toothless man like you, but you know you are in for a severe food poisoning in the next hour or so and bet on your luck to hope for a kind-hearted human to drop by and send you to the hospital.]

Or you let a third party (a passer-by) to choose for you and stuck it to your mouth to save you? [Message for Hindraf's call to boycott election.]

5. Bad timing

On any other times, local issues should dominate your decision on who to vote for in Bagan Pinang. But let me remind you, after the cow-head fiasco, Teoh Beng Hock's death, PKFZ's exposure, IGP's extension, the arrival of the submarine, Scorpene, etc. etc. this time your votes to BN simply tells them those unforgivable things are right. You are indirectly (although it might not be your attention) giving your approval to them to justify their corruption, power abuse and their extreme expenditure are acceptable.

After so many years of living in Malaysia, repeatedly reading of so many books (including holy books), countless prayers to God to protect us; it would be very sad to know that the best reason you can come out with (to vote for Isa), is that he knows how to solve all your constituency problems. For 50 years, you have been toyed with the same strategy (promise here, promise that), haven't you learn anything about BN's sincerity in governing?

6. What was Isa Samad's real intention?

Have you asked yourself, did UMNO choose him on merit, or UMNO choose him due to pressure?


It was because the Negeri Sembilan's UMNO grassroots wanted him that badly, or Isa himself wanted the seat so badly that he asked his grassroots to pressure for it?

If Isa said something like this to the grassroots: "I'm a semi-retired man. Let's nominate someone else and give them a chance, I'll fully support whoever you choose," to his supporters, do you think his supporters would not have nominated someone else if they were given a green light?

How many UMNO people in Bagan Pinang has a personal agenda (vying for contracts, powers or money) by supporting Isa's candidacy? Was Isa nominated because he was the best guy for Bagan Pinang or he was the best guy for his supporters to get back on the gravy train? Was it about you, the normal citizens of Bagan Pinang, or was it about them?

7. Treat BN as your spoilt child

Permatang Pasir's voters had rejected a tainted candidate, because they wanted someone clean to represent them. In our heart, all of us are wishing for a batch of clean and new faces in our government to replace those useless old faces who speak more nonsenses as the day gone by.

If you are going to vote for Isa, you are basically going against your own wish. Our generation is suffering under this BN government because of our endless support for the past 50 years without check and balance; we pampered them too much. Our children and grandchildren are going to suffer if BN does not change its attitude any time soon. Let's not make it worse by voting for them this time. A BN's lost here is good for the country. We need to seriously wake them up from their sweet and wet dream to revamp and reform to be a better and responsible government NOW!

Treat BN as your spoilt child. Assuming that you have tried to reason with them numerous times previously, and it has failed to work. Now, how can you discipline your spoilt child? By giving them more sweets? Or by biting the bullet to let them suffer some hardships? Think about it before you cast your votes.

8. Last but not least

Dear Bagan Pinang voters,

No matter what I wrote above, in the end, it is still your call on who you should vote for. But please remember your votes do have a massive effect on the future of our beloved country. Think about our country, our next generation and our current government's attitude before you decide who to vote for. Put country first before your constituency.

Isa Samad may be good for Bagan Pinang, but is he a good choice for 25,000,000 Malaysians who are still living under BN's government?

Your decision can save Malaysia for many years to come. Your decision to vote for PAS this time, will severely cut short the time UMNO and BN needs to reinvent and reform themselves to serve us better. Think about it.

Thank you.
“UMNO TIADA, RAKYAT SEJAHTERA”.


"SELAMATKAN RAKYAT DAN SELAMATKAN NEGARA”

“PROTES SAMPAI TURUN”