Skip to main content

A Day We'll Never Forget




March 8, 2008. Exactly six years before today. It’s a day where all Malaysian of any ages wouldn’t forget. A day where we truly understand the meaning of democracy. A day we realize how important our votes count, and not to forget a day that changes Malaysia forever. Remembering the night of March 8 2008, when I stare on the screens of my computer, looking at the live results broadcasting from the TV, full of shocks and disbelieves, struggling to gasper for air. We all know the storm was coming before the day. But nobody knew how strong it was. The election results show it all, stumbling some big-named politicians along the way, and making some freshman in politics a policymaker overnight. It’s an eventful day that truly caught everybody by surprise. 

Till today, I keep thinking how much Malaysia has changed since then. People around started to realize the importance of one vote in the ballot. Instead of complaining how bad the government is, people started to register and vote to make their case clear. Citizens who have never voted before are taking an effort to dig out their voter registration to make sure they are eligible to vote next time around. The normal naive thinking of “It’s just only one single vote” is gradually diminishing as time passed by. In the meantime, young people are making an effort to register as a voter once turned the age of 21. All these makes out for the record high turnout achieved during the last election in 2013 of nearly 85%.

The great Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” All these changes we witnessed are all thanks to powerful of education. Education in the form of textbook, lectures, internet, magazines, news channels changes the way people think and perceived an issue. With the number of people getting quality education broaden, the number of fresh graduates increases as years go on, the industry is anticipating the arrival of more critical thinking mind. All these allow more people to have the ability to weigh the pros and cons. We don’t need to rely on just one single source for information. More people are able to access the internet more frequently, opening up more room of additional news sources to make a better judgement of an issue. Of course, there are lots of untrue stories and rumors circulating the internet. But through the events of the day, everybody realize how strong the power of education that ultimately gives people the better sense of judgement and the courage to make big moves when it is needed.

For once, politicians in the country possibly gained a lot more on that day. The most important lesson is to learn not to take anything for granted. A swift change of power is always possible in just a single day. The support that sends you into public office can equally topple you if you failed to perform. Politicians started to be more generous, friendly, and kind to the voters for an obvious reason. Your complaints, voices, and dissatisfaction can be loudly heard and solved instantaneously. Some of them even learn how to behave themselves in the parliament!

Perhaps many Malaysians had the same thought as mine. We are not any supporters of either party but we are definitely not a fence-sitter. But on the day we looked back what happen 6 years ago, we know Malaysia will never be the same after that day. What we want for our country is change. The power of change to ensure Malaysia can form a strong two-party system in place in our country which is consisting of both government and opposition. A strong check and balance system that is in placed in many developed countries. Till today it has nearly been 57 years since we gain independence from the British, but we never had one single change of government. Even though there are flaws and irregularity in the Malaysian election system, but the events of 8 March 2008 certainly changes the dynamics of the country and we all know the events on that day is a head start of propelling Malaysia to be a strong nation.


By,
Zhe Xu
8th March 2014

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Andy Murray, Not There Yet

Murray's victory at Flushing Meadows ended Britain's 76 years wait for a male Grand Slam winner.  First of all, I would like to congratulate Andy Murray for winning the 2012 US Open, his first grand slam title. Surely he is now a big sporting icon back in Great Britain by ending the country’s 76 years wait for a grand slam male winner. The last Brit to win a grand slam was Fred Perry back in 1936, when he won the US Open in New York. He shows the world his great mental strength since that Wimbledon final set-back. He went on to win the Olympic Gold Medal just exactly one month after that set-back and now his first grand slam title on his favorite hard court surface. His maiden grand slam doesn’t come at an easy cost. He finally wins his first grand slam after four failed attempts. Both Federer and Nadal won their first grand slam title at their very first grand slam final. While Djokovic won his first on his second attempt. He is definitely one of the talent guys on the ...

[Euro 16] Reflection: The 24-Team Format

It wasn’t a tournament that creates many excitement. A final result that nobody would have predicted - Portugal won. For a team that finished the tournament with three draws, third-placed in the group, and with a single win in 90 minutes but ended up lifting the trophy, this was ultimately the biggest embarrassment of the new 24-team format UEFA had introduced in this year’s tournament. Much like other sport organizations like FIFA and NFL, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the biggest reason for this 24-team format - Money. While sponsors and UEFA are happily collecting the massive revenues generated from this tournament, many must be wondering: Is this 24-team format a great thing for this championships? For start, this format creates more opportunities for 8 more teams to play in this tournament. Teams like Albania, Wales, and Northern Ireland are benefits of this new format. There are all making their debuts at this year’s tournament. But with more teams playing in Euro 1...

Talent or Money?

*It has been a long time since I posted on this blog. Since this is my very first post of 2013, I wish everybody having a great year ahead in 2013! (By the way, screwed those Mayans who say that the world will end) The judging panel and host of the singing talent show The Voice (Top) and The X Factor(Below). (Top): Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera, Blake Sheldon and Carson Daly. (Below): L.A. Reid, Demi Lovato, Britney Spears and Simon Cowell.  Whether you are a fan of any talent show, here comes a big question for the producers. Are you guys really interested in searching a new talent or interested in making your pocket richer? On TV, I could say all of them will say the former one, but backstage I’m sure many will pick the later answer. Whether you are a fan of The Voice, American Idol, The X Factor, Got Talent or even Dancing with the Stars, there’s one fact you can't deny, that is the more frequent you turn on your TV to watch these shows, the more mon...