New state gov'ts - don't blow it

New state gov'ts - don't blow it

Product Of the System | Mar 11, 08 5:40pm

Greetings to the new leaders of the state governments of Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan. We congratulate the parties for a hard-won battle against the seemingly insurmountable Barisan Nasional. We the voters stood by you - DAP, PKR and PAS - during those days you were known as the opposition. We gave a great part of ourselves to help in your noble cause. We parted with our hard-earned money and donated generously at your open air ceramah. We braved the unrelenting terrible weather, stood heel-deep in mud listening to your promises of a better Malaysia. We refused to budge under all adverse circumstances. Some of us have placed our careers and families at risk. We were vocal critics and diligent ‘Deep Throats’ supporting the opposition while earning a living in the civil service. We slogged and blogged, wrote and re-wrote, voted and revolted. We did it all for only one reason – that together we can initiate change towards a better Malaysia. You have now won victoriously, far beyond anyone’s expectations. Do not disappoint us, the rakyat. You have proclaimed us your bosses by your own admission and we lay claim to that role. You will fulfill your promises and we expect you to demonstrate genuine effort even if you fail in the end. In the past, you could cite limited resources and forced inhibition as excuses for delivery failure. No more now. You are in charge and the last thing we rakyat need is more mitigating factors. We will judge you by the same measures by which we have expelled the previous regime. Rest assured that you will be held accountable to every proclamation and condemnation that you ever uttered over the last four years. We voted you in without regard to your skin colour, religion or biological makeup. We were Chinese who have voted PAS, Malays who have chosen DAP and Indians who opted for PKR. We were the oppressed who saw you as liberators and the cheated who believed in the truth. We, your bosses, have set aside our differences and we shall settle for nothing less than the same among you. If we could unite in spite of years of BN racism, you as leaders have even more reason to collaborate and achieve. While we won’t expect you to see eye to eye in all things, we do not want any washing of dirty linen in public, either. We affirm our right to praise or criticise you and it is our privilege to have a say in decision-making. We do not desire fanciful slogans or sweet-sounding promises. Rather, we wish to taste sincerity and humility, and we demand you from this moment to observe humility at all times. We insist on our right to be heard, our grouses to be attended to and our welfare to be considered. We seek justice, not exhibitionism. Do not betray the trust we placed in you, lest we show you the exit the way we did to the previous regime that betrayed us. This is your time - your one and only chance to prove you’re worth your salt. Don’t blow it.