By Richard Loh
My delayed comment on the Sarawak State Election results was because I was on the road the past few days. By now most of you must have read statements from party leaders from both sides, the winners and losers, the experts from the new media and of course the umno/bn controlled media as well.
Was there really a tsunami in this State Election? There was none and let me explain why.
A tsunami cannot happened by itself, it needs an action to trigger it. The recent tsunami in Japan was triggered by a 8.9 Richter Scale earthquake. A tsunami usually will not happened for earthquake less than 5 Richter Scale, it will just create ripples.
In my earlier posting I clearly mentioned that the wind of change in Sarawak was only ripples being formed and there can be no tsunami as yet.
Sarawak and to an extend Sabah are totally different ‘monsters’ to tackle. They will only listen to their masters who have controlled them for over 40 years and will growl and bite anyone else that come near them. Even if they are being tortured, denied their food, basic amenities and land, they will still go back to their masters after been given small pep talks (with some threats) and a little incentives better than the usual, thrown in.
By just blowing air from your mouth is not going to create any tsunami. Some concrete actions need to be done that will have the effect of a 7 Richter Scale earthquake which can shake the people, only then a tsunami can be seen and felt.
For Pakatan Rakyat to make inroads into Sarawak and Sabah or rather to gain state power there are many challenges and obstacles that PR has to face and fend off and by just shouting and claiming that the tsunami has arrived is simply not good enough. The best bet is to work with the local leaders, members and political parties that are serious in wanting change as they are the ones who know better the in-things of their states. TALK less and WORK more. By talking too much you allow the media especially umno’s to spin more.
It is hope that Pakatan Rakyat will not stay jubilant over the small gain for too long but start looking into what went wrong for their failure to deny Umno/BN/Taib the two third majority, if I am not wrong, this is their main objective.
GE 13 is just round the corner and if PR is still on cloud nine with the little improvement of the Sarawak Election and the 308 results, they are in big trouble.
From afar and on the sideline, many are seeing a very shaky Pakatan Rakyat and with the help of the umno/bn controlled media spinning out of control every little thing that they can find on PR, irrespective of its truth, PR can be disintegrated even before the 13th GE arrives.
PR must not only be seen to be a strong coalition but all its physical actions must be accepted by the rakyat. But sadly no one wants to admit the fault line within the coalition. Looks like it is easier to pretend then admitting it.
PR must face reality and start to clean up the internal mess of one of the party. There is no point in pretending that all is fine when everyone on the outside can see clearly that it is not so.
My question to PR is, are you sincere in wanting to capture Putra Jaya? If you are, then prove to us that all the three parties can agree to stand as one and withstand the onslaught of your opponent. The rakyat are very worried and frustrated when the three parties are quarrelling over seats allocation and party members fighting for candidacy.
My postings may offend and make some PR leaders and supporters angry but my intention is very clear. I want PR to capture Putra Jaya and I need to speak my mind when I see anything wrong that may cost the chances of capturing Putra Jaya. For example, my tweet on the latest TV3 interview may have offended Raja Petra Kamarudin thus he removed and blocked me from following him. RPK is not a politician, he can do what he likes to anybody but PR leaders should not show their anger directly and upfront when confronted by members and supporters who are more vocal.
I may be wrong most of the time in hammering PR but I cannot be wrong all the time.