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Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Good governance does not just “happen”

There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right." ─ Martin Luther King, Jr., “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution”
COMMENT
Good-governance
By Mark Lall Shimpi
2015 will go down as an important year in Malaysia’s political history. Of this I am quite certain.
Highlights of the year so far include the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) and allegations that our wholly-owned “strategic development company”, 1MDB, engaged in a number of less-than-savory financial transactions. Then of course came the marathon of shocking events of the past two months, which I suspect readers are familiar with.
Our Government appears to be dismantling before our very eyes.
As Malaysians, we should remember that good governance does not just “happen” and that our role is not restricted to voting in droves when the ballots are open but then opting out when the government we have chosen does not work “as expected”. Our role cannot be confined to merely determining election outcomes.
If we care about what happens to the future of our country, we must also play a role in determining what happens in the lengthy time in between elections. We cannot expect that mere wishing, hoping and quiet dissent will magically produce new, different results.
We need to move beyond lengthy conversations around dinner tables and water coolers ─ conversations which often amount to little less than fodder for the next meeting. We need to be willing to go further than likes, tweets and other forms of proverbial back-slapping to more substantive actions like protesting peacefully and dare I say, taking up the long, arduous hard work of actually participating in the process that is governing.
The fundamental question we are faced with today is a persistent one: what do we do about the distance between the governance we desire, and the governance we have?
I do not write to review that answer in detail. I certainly consider political participation important, but deeply respect it as each individual’s prerogative to decide how to pursue it. I only say that how we participate will shape our nation’s future.
The coming days, months and years, will present numerous avenues to get involved with issues you care about, big and small. You might decide to go to every rally and seminar. You may choose to begin a campaign to be your constituency’s future MP. Or you may simply close this tab to get back to “more important business”.
Whatever the case, I write today to remind you my fellow Malaysians of a simple truth: it is time we stopped looking longingly at our leadership. It is time we quit blaming “those politicians” for a fate we are equally tied to, and have a stake in.
Those of us on the proverbial sidelines need to ask ourselves if it is not time for more of us to put some proper skin in the game? Is it not time for more of us to remain awake, not for a day or a week, but for the long haul?
Our task is monumental, the odds as long as they’ve ever been.
How will you contribute?
Mark Lall Shimpi is a university student and an FMT reader.

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