Trying to blog about books this morning without acknowledging yesterday's election results would be like trying to ignore a big fat elephant grazing on your front lawn!The slide to the opposition and Barisan's loss of a two-thirds majority in parliament was unbelievable ... exhilarating, and yes, a little scary because of the scale of the shift and the radical change to the political landscape of this country. But I am happy and optimistic, and wish the new elected representatives all the best. Several of them are friends I've made through blogging so I wave especially to Jeff Ooi, Nik Nazmi, Teresa Kok, and Elizabeth Wong (elected to Selangor State Parliament.) The one MP I'm sad to see go out is my neighbour, Lee Wha Beng, because I know how hard he's been working for his constituency.
I couldn't of course vote as a foreigner who doesn't even have permanent resident's status. I stayed up watching the results come in until I could keep my eyes open no longer about 2 a.m. and am so grateful to Malaysiakini who posted updates constantly. (The main site crashed because demand was overwhelming, but fortunately the mirror sites were up and running.) Thanks too to those who pinged their posts on Project Petaling Street and offered a running commentary of the news and a barometer of public opinion. Facebook was also a great way of checking out friend's reactions! The opposition victory is of course also very largely a victory for the alternative (electronic) media.
Now I leave the political commentary to others and go back to books!
(Photo by Butch Coolidge on Flickr)
15 comments:
Sharon, put dem books down for 10 minutes and do an Irish jig with me!
yeah, will do antares. actually don't have room on my stupid face for this oversized grin.
Elizabeth Wong is my State rep, and I voted for her!
even though i have a meeting with my thesis supervisor on monday to submit my biweekly progress report to him i did absolutely no work today because i wasted the whole time in front of the laptop surfing websites and blogs that followed the election and i am absolutely thrilled and happy that obama beat hillary in wyoming.
Congratulations to all the winners and supporters!
Wish I wish there in Malaysia.
Delighted, exhilarated, and yeah a fat grin on my face that refuses to go away! Indeed I went to bed last night at 4 a.m. with the grin firmly fixed to the face. Malaysians of all races, of all ages rallied for the country! You rock, people!
saras
i was at an election party last night and it was so exciting to be part of history, surrounded by Malaysian friends (& lovers of Malaysia who couldn't vote like me but voted in their hearts). I've been saying all along about tapping into a cosmic shift that unites ordinary people and makes them realise "yes they can"!Love it! Congratulations especially to the Malaysian Indian voters around the country who sacrificed the most in voting opposition. Let's hope it will be recognised and respected by the new victors. But how sweet it must be to see a dynasty fall - MIC 1-2-3-4 !!! Iolanda
you mean you mean,WE are the government now? ;)
Hi Sharon, I was wondering about the elephant on your front lawn, and still wondering about it after reading your post! LOL
ivan - the elephant is eating all my flowers but i just don't care
iolanda - absolutely right about the indian voters and it really is time to right some wrongs.
what makes me incredibly happy is that this is people of all races coming together and saying we want change.
saras - yours is such an exciting constituency! lembah pantai is where it's at in this election
i am truly proud to be Malaysian today.
so am i Guo, even though i'm not. (if you get what i mean)
At risk of sounding like flea under elephant, like Saras, I also live in schizoid Lembah Pantai(with some of KL's richest and poorest residents). Still I AM surprised Shahrizat lost and just wondering about "14 uncounted ballot boxes"? Iolanda
"Pretty Important Afterthought :
We cannot and must not say "the opposition" anymore or allow the press to use the term. Now we are talking about the government."
No, they are not the government. They remain the opposition. The government is the party that commands a majority of the seats in Parliament. That remains the BN.
yeah, you're right anon. realised when i read that back. but now perhaps we might hope to have a proper shadow cabinet with portfolios ...
the 14 uncounted ballot boxes sound really fishy, iolanda. something funny happened in 1999 with the postal votes suddenly appearing when sharizat was losing ... i'd like to know the whole story about waht happened this time round.
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