High time we wisen up. But to whom?

I came across an article High time we wisen up — Justine Mei-Ern at The Malaysian Insider yesterday. I felt it was related to my blogpost Relevancy of The English Speaking Middle Class that I did a few days ago.

Below are the comments I left on on TMI (with some correction on the phrasings that does not the distort the points of my original comments):



Mei-Ern,

I do not disagree with your moral reasoning regarding the apathy of some Malaysians who do not vote or PM Najib's depth. But I do hope that educated middle class people such as yourself could leap out of your intellectual domains into the reality of the non English speaking masses.

We have been troubling ourselves over the wrongs of BN for so many years. But should we instead be worrying about the probability that even if all the educated middle class voted against the BN; that BN will still be calling the shots in the next government or the one after it?

Should be worry about why BN could summon millions of gullible folks for votes and listen to BN rubbish propaganda? Yes, those gullible English incompetent, shallow and don't read much folks. Those folks that are outside the sphere of our articulate English rants.

Is it because BN do get their people to talk with them and maybe throw some money at these folks surviving on meager wages?

Should we be asking these gullible folks to catch up at Mat Rempit speed and speak our type of English? Or should we instead be learning how to communicate in their jargon and enlightened them?

Should we be using our academic and business prowess to help them organize their local community to become less dependent on BN handouts? Should be lamenting how undisciplined and slow the low level workers are? Or should the business circle be risking their bottom line slightly to give them a survivable wage and some respect for their work first?

Call me what you may, but I believe that the building assabiyah(social solidarity) and goodwill among populated majority(middle and lower hierarchy) is more democratic than any elections. Votes are exogenous measures(not unimportant though) while the level of Assabiyah forms the foundation of the society.

So should we start by fighting first - for a solid lateral community socially in the realms below us or against corrupt ruling elites above?