Soul searching post-#GE13

Wan Hong gets pensive post-GE13.

Tweets of exasperation and Facebook posts of disbelief and anger flowed through my timelines as I write this at the dawn of 6^th May 2013. Many Malaysians yearned to wake up to a new government, to a new Malaysia. But alas, the status quo prevails. But will cool-headedness and ever more importantly, unity, prevail?

There are so many angles and approaches to analysing the outcome of GE13 and it will be done. There will be post-mortems by both sides of the political divide and they will announce their interpretation of the results. Najib has already pointed fingers at the Chinese for BN’s loss of Selangor while Anwar cries of fraud and refuses to acknowledge the results. People see only what they want to see.

But what do Malaysians want to see? And more crucially, are we all looking at the same goal, the same end game?

It is worth highlighting that not all Malaysians see what they want to see. At one point, it might seem that hey, all Malaysians are up against the coalition and we have a chance! But this worthy tweet brings home the point that there are among us those that hold different beliefs from ours.

RT @jleongmy: I think we fell to confirmation bias. Social media does that. You tend to flock to like-minded people and think everyone’s on ur side.

It might baffle some that there are those who support the other side of the party that we have so much dissatisfaction with. But I have met progressive educated youths who are with the ruling coalition and they are as staunch supporters of Barisan as can be. To each their own.

So what next? Cry fraud? Harbour hatred of them? Call them stupid? And let the political parties manipulate an “us against them” game of power play to the politicians’ benefits?

Look at this! People have started sharing facts spreading rumors that the Election Commission Chief claimed that the mysterious vote-rigging blackout was a toast to celebrating Earth Hour. But did you know the source for  that quote? Here it is

RT @HMetroll: Pengerusi SPR menjelaskan blackout berlaku di beberapa kawasan pengiraan undi kerana meraikan kempen Earth Hour.

Twitter account by Harian MeTROLL. Need I say more? Most were trolled but blamed it on the government anyway.

We Malaysians should look at ourselves and do some national soul searching – does politics ruin our unity? Do we see the other’s point of view or do we just want to see what we want to see?

Fortunately, Malaysians are multicultural and also multi-pronged in beliefs and stances. And it is good to have diverse stances in the political arena. Check and balance. Check and balance. Ultimately, what do we see in the aftermath of GE13? Or more precisely, from which perspective? From a partisan political point of view, or as Malaysians. As one?

I leave you with this tweet by prominent human rights lawyer activists, Edmund Bon.

“RT @edmundbon: We are unfortunately still very divided by ethnicity, rural and urban divide after 50 yrs of monopoly of economy & education. #PRU13

We certainly need some soul searching.