The footage showing Jalan Tun Perak in KL awashed with soaked protestors running away from the water cannon truck has probably been YouTubed no end. Ironically this footage came from Al-Jazeera, the station which pro-establishment Malaysia applauded when Bush and Co attacked Iraq. The Islamic brotherhood seems to have been broken now that the finger is pointed at the Malaysian Muslim dominated government. This is affirmation of the principle that you don’t support a person or an organisation just because you share the same faith or beliefs. Your support should be based on a shared conviction of the cause.

I have said for some time now (see earlier entries) that Malaysia is past the stage where incremental evolutionary changes would be sufficient. The slide has been primed for so long and the trigger long pulled by the likes of Abdul Razak and Dr Mahathir, that Badawi is now the least suited person to avoid changes which would jolt or shock the system. The chance for a relatively less painful change has been lost.

Again, the following is something I have said many time before in the past but recent events on the streets of KL are such strong symptoms I will just say it again. If you put someone in a position of responsibility not because he is the most able – be that in terms of intelligence or industry – but purely because he is of an accepted race, how can you expect progress? The whole country is systematically mismatched in terms of resource allocation. You can do this in the odd instance and get away with it, I guess. But if you do it consistently over generations and in every sphere of life, can you seriously expect progress? Whereas countries like America, Singapore, Hong Kong and China open their doors and compete for talented workforce, Malaysia bids its talents good riddance for racist reasons.

In fact it welcomes unskilled, uneducated masses from its neighbour purely for racist and religiously bigoted reasons. Unskilled and uneducated Indonesians arrive illegally en masse and are given rights of permanent residence or even citizenship regardless of their capacity to contribute to progress of the country. In contrast, the highly educated, skilled and experienced professionals are pushed out. What is the common thread? Kiddo would say: “like duhh”… race and religion. Do this consistently for 10-20 years and can you seriously expect progress in terms of dragging the country into first world/developed country status? You’d be lucky to avert a dog’s breakfast, probably if times are good. You may then cushion and absorb all the effects this brings. But good times don’t last, especially if people you entrust to manage the country and its economy are not the best ones available but are so placed purely because of racist reasons.

Actually, the cause of the demonstration was free and fair elections. Anwar Ibrahim initiated this. If he has any enduring qualities it is his ability to create a crowd to move in a massive and therefore visible way. I recall the days just before his arrest – the crowds he managed to attract were impressive by Malaysian standards, particularly when the government controlled media has a total blackout of the events.

Of course this crowd working ability of Anwar precipitated his being ostracised from Malaysian politics. He’s now back so while he is generating much needed reaction to stir the powers that be, he isn’t what Malaysia needs going forward. He was one of the perpetrators and he has not done anything to suggest that his exile has created a purer drive to bring about change. The feeling is he just wants to remain in the game and be recognised as someone who still matters in Malaysian politics, instead of being someone with a clear agenda for reform.

But what do I know. I’m not even a Malaysian anymore. I may have been born there, I may have grown up there and I may have had a great life there but that’s not where my future lies. Neither is it where the future of kiddo lies.