916

“Mr. Gobachev, tear down this wall.” - That was one of the most embarrassing moment as claimed by numerous analysts in Reagenlitics. But, the quote that seemed to undermine Soviet Union’s political clout, went well into Mikhail Gobachev’s ears and thus proving to be way more than just a gaffe. 20 years later, Sen. Barack Obama, stood on the same podium and addressed to over 200,000 supporters in what was an unprecedented hospitality an American politician or any other foreigners would received in Berlin. Although Obama has neither walls to tear nor cold wars to end this time around, the gigantic size of the entourage alone has sent significant message to Americans who will be voting in the upcoming presidential election.

An international hero doesn’t necessarily make one a local warrior. Despite being hailed globally, people like Gobachev, Reagen, Nixon and even Obama suffer to play matching games domestically. Look at the disgraced Nixon and one would understand enjoying warmth in then 11.1 billion China did not even bring a glim of light in homeland. In Malaysian context, similar models can be traced to names like Tengku Abdul Rahman and Abdullah Badawi while Tun Mahathir stands in worst of both worlds. The one that truly surpasses both barricades is none other than Anwar Ibrahim. Now, he stands in both dimensions and is being entrusted with hope, power and support that no other Malaysian politician will come an inch closer. He is indeed, our much-awaited premier of Malaysia.

The Malaysian political scene has being overwhelmed by two unseen height of political tsunamis. A catastrophe that is astonishingly well-received by all Malaysian Malaysia, yet another feat that is not being heard of. Such was a force that can only be integrated, completed and manipulated by Anwar in his quest to annihilate UMNO and the rest of Barisan Nasional. Then, Anwar launched what was known as a highly suspicious yet highly anticipated effort to topple the government. 16th of September, a day that was never before approached with such fervor and anxiety. At the time of writing, it is the eve of one of the most remembered day in all of Malaysian history. But, will Titanic reach the dock on time?

The rumor has to be spread with confidence and the speculation has to be intensified with sandiwara. All that has to do to keep Pakatan Rakyat’s MPs and state assemblymen in the pack is successful. There will not be any shocks like what happened in Kelantan four years ago and Sabah-Sarawak ages ago to haunt the oppositions this time, not especially the photo-shoot win in the Perak state. The rumor has keep them in checked and the next target is to shake the cracked and wounded BN’s ship. It is the BN’s turn to study and examine the new learning curve after the life-threatening defeat in March 8 election. Unfortunately, like what Anwar predicted, the BN has taken a detour to acknowledge their defeat and shun the fact that Malaysia needs change. And, the aftermath of this election has brought about the strongest internal breakdown in UMNO which involved 2 party presidents, one for the call to step down and another for the call to quit. Such is the turbulence in UMNO that none has able to recall how glorious and significant it used to present themselves to the people. Further humiliation has been witnessed when Najib, the son that will never destroy the party his father has co-founded, is in fact putting salt into UMNO’s wound when he was alleged to be involved in a bombardment that killed a Mongolian beauty. Anwar Ibrahim, all these years in the wild, has really become an overnight hero to the mass Malaysian.

Reformasi is inevitable. The 916 dateline is merely a tactic to sabotage the government. Theoretically, only a Prime Minister can be asked to step down when a vote of no confidence motion has been passed in the lower house. And 916 is definitely a close-shop day for parliament sittings. Practically, it is quite a Herculean task to get 30 or more MPs from an established governing party, to defect and to crossover to an aspiring opposition party and lastly to form an undemocratically elected government. Historically, none incident has ever happened in any other democratic country, however it is known that great people has often done great marvels in history of mankind despite being under criticism and pressure from social norms. But, politically, no governing party will wait to be taken over by the oppositions and live in unimaginable sufferings without giving out a good fight.

And Anwar really gives BN no other options, except staging a political assassination. If Anwar is dead, the Pakatan Rakyat will be disconnected among its component members, especially the much divided PAS and DAP. Or, a less barbaric way, is to imitate Thailand by staging a military coup and force a formation of a new government. Either way will do, as long as Anwar did not get to march towards Putrajaya with his fellow Pakatan Rakyat comrades. Either way will work, as long as Anwar did not obtain premiership and BN’s true-corruption-story did not appear on lights of mass communication. BN, 916 or no 916, is truly at Anwar’s mercy and the only way to turn around things is to impose a greater level of game that Anwar can’t play, to escape death or military power. 916 or no 916, Malaysia will never regain its political stability and will never cease to begin the agenda of development. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysians are counting on you, counting on you to deliver at any cost, notwithstanding at the expense of us, Malaysians.

Many Don't See It

Tension in Middle East, the ongoing killings in West Bank and even the food crisis, fuel hike ... ... Regardless of who you are and at where you currently reside, like what Friedman has said, the world is flat. And his theory holds true as long as you are living on earth, you will surely feel the pinch of inflation and economic slowdown. Some has pointed to Iran's overzealous commitment to developing nuclear, while some take on China and India as the culprit of the collapsing of what was then a systematic world trade of crude oil. Agreeable to all these points, but many don't see all these catastrophe as the result of mismanagement of our environment. Many don't see it and many more remain ignorant or even worse, being critical of environmental conservation efforts. Ask any economist, they will tell you that the opportunity cost of development - forgoing nature conservation - will be too much a cost to pay.

The brass excuse of being poor enough to enjoy the luxurious environmental measures taken by Western's company just show how exactly is the mentality of the people of Republic of China. Despite the success of summer Olympics and the one-of-a-kind construction of "double-decker" tunnel highway, China is still far behind when it comes to environmental friendliness. The problem does not arise with ideological differences or excessive nationalism of its people to the extent of being labeled as xenophobic. The real issue is the degree of incentive given by the communist regime to all businesses. The key question- How serious is the government when it takes on environmental issues? To bolster up its economic needs, the Chinese officials have astoundingly shown their advocacy to pariah states like Myanmar, Sudan, Zimbabwe and even Somalia. Knowingly that they have been backed, local authorities continue to indulge in richness at the expense of its people. As a result, basic sanitation and sewerage system are not of an adequate standard for people of modern history. As for the Chinese, over-dependency of coal as main power source has deteriorated ground level ozone which causes uncontrollable pollution. Since China have sucked up most production which was left idle due to global economic downturn, its industries have the obligation to make sufficient compensation towards damages caused to the nature, a cost described as negative externalities in economic terms. And if the republic remains ignorant, then domestic nature issues will pile up in near future.

The United States of America, for the first time in history, suffer great humiliation when the Iranians refuse to bow down on its much critical nuclear weapon expansion. The humiliating part is not with the blatant opposition of the Iranians, but it is the fact that the States is no longer the sole political powerhouse. The rise of China and Russia has caused great anxiety to the White House as the country suffers from unprecedented economic slowdown and oppression from third world countries, e.g. trading crude oil and other resources to China, India or even Russia. Moreover, America have to take Iran's threat seriously to destroy the world's sole access to crude oil located in The Gulf, which will definitely cause price of crude oil to soar sky high. Just when these countries wrestle for international clout, the people of Israel and Palestine continue to immerse into endless killings and destruction. When the Jews return to reside at Jerusalem after the end of Nazi's Holocaust, the succeeding quest aided by Western sympathizers for settlements has been uncompromisable in the eyes of Palestinian and its Islamic allies. Despite being a stake of continuous strangling between the West and Islam, both ethnics continue to struggle for arable lands, sources of clean water and such. The Israelis are exporting agricultural products which used up entire water reserves and the Palestinians continue to substitute production with weapons and armed personnels. One would ask, why can't these two regimes give up fighting and start developing own demarcated settlements. Why do they have to keep competing on the already resources-scarce desert lands? And if charismatic people like Sen. Obama starts sounding like the butcher John McCain, then perhaps, we will witness the first two races to be completely annihilated in 21st century.

The mismanagement of nature does not only bug giant economy. Indonesia and Brazil - rapid deforestation, Niger and India- negligence on proper sanitation and people's health, and even filthy rich state like Dubai and Abu Dhabi take issue of nature as Western propaganda, one would really wonder, should mankind proceed to search for higher living standards and rapid economic growth , or should we do it by factor in nature conservation in all planning? Until we all see changes and improvement, one could actually taking into belief that death awaits us, and the end of the world is all real but rhetorical. Until then, the people will understand, that all efforts poured into enriching civilization, is all but endearing us towards termination of mankind.