Frozen in fear, then I cried: how Malaysians felt when Barisan Nasional fell
In their own words: what went through Malaysian minds when Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan ended rival coalition’s six-decade rule
Malaysia’s recent elections saw shocking results: Opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan forming a government and dethroning Barisan Nasional for the first time in over half a century. Young people from all racial and economic backgrounds voted overwhelmingly for the opposition. Below are four essays on their experiences when history was made.
‘Democracy will flow rich in this land’
KASTHURI PATTO, 39, daughter of old time DAP politician P. Patto
May 9, 2018 will forever be etched in the hearts of all Malaysians as the day the rakyat [ordinary citizens] made up their minds to step in to protect and save their tanahair [homeland] from continuing to be pillaged and plundered by an iron fisted kleptocratic regime under a 60-year-old Barisan Nasional government.
Malaysians voted for the first time with courage in their hearts, for change, for the unknown because they had witnessed themselves the scale of the corruption, abuse of power and tyranny at the hands of the Najib administration.
Under that regime, regressive laws came into place and threats were constantly made against Malaysians who wanted to exercise their rights to assemble in the many rallies organised by civil society. Lies concocted by the BN government held sway in the mainstream media and racial and religious politics were played at every step by bigots and extremists.
The next five years under the new Pakatan Harapan leadership will see democracy flow rich in this land, freedom will be protected and rights defended.
