Now and the 80s.

(Discretion: I'm talking vaguely. If you understood that's great, you got the basics. Here's a cookie for you.)

If you talk with boomers about the 80s where economy everywhere was somewhat at its best, trying to compare today's era and then is like comparing stone age and today. This idea of comparison came due to the current batshit & shitshow situation we are in now. Everyone's affected.

Democracy 101: I really believe every citizens should have the right to vote. And that elected official should be given the time, to deliver their manifesto. It is every citizens sacred duty to go out & vote.

But with COVID 19 in this era and so on, that's kinda impossible right? You don't have to look far at India to see what happened. I mean, there's Sabah. You already knew who did what. 

The system crumbles within - not due to the parties or grassroots itself but the elites. The painful reality that no one sees is once you joined politics, your hands are "dirty". Over the years, you could see much of "rebranding" done after what happened last year. 

What bothers me the most isn't the fact that we hoped for a change or it is still the same product with a different design box. Yes, I am mad but that isn't the root of the madness going on. "Ah I've seen this man before", says we who came unsurprised. It isn't also the fact that people did nothing right after that. No one wants to die & aggravate the situation much more worse! Especially not knowing the cure for COVID that time!

And special attention not knowing what happens to the poor and already desperate middle incomers. Oh, and the young! So no one can go demonstrate or do anything. But to rely and believe the government can solve things.

So what is it really that I am stress about? There are two things. Idiocy and incompetence.

We knew about "politics are dirty" and that once you got yourself involved, basically your life is a reality TV show with a more expandable character than Kardashians and more harder to keep up to. Hence, we knew about how elites rule in every other way that is known to the open source information that we have in the internet. 

You, as a politician could deny where and how did some gross amount of coins came into your bank account. Or you can just admit but tell other things, by cutting off your weakest link. Politics is a game of chess. Go big or go home - certainly not for you if you love to cry and rant to your social media. You can gain supporters from your symphatizers & that's what young people of my age do but really - you're just another replaceable pawn. The elites 1 and you: 0.

The problem in idiocy it isn't those who are in power and still have control for their "continuity to live". But it is the people, who let the same person to be relevant in these era where they should just go out and retire. We knew that the elites are people from the same circle but after tracing some bank accounts and for some clues of "the blunders" in our country, there are still people who were blind to the fact that our country was going in a healthy direction back in 2018.

It is still shocking to know that there are people who wish it was like the 80s where everything was great. Banks and business were flourishing. KLCC and high rise buildings are on the way. Definitely the living conditions changed and Malaysia was a perfect destination for foreign investors. Don't believe what I'm saying? Asian countries really believed they are in economic miracle. 

What people don't remember is what happened in the stock crash. Perhaps some sort of amnesia, or probably because oblivious to know that the market fixes "by itself". Hence, everything was fine except for what happens after that. Problem is, the rich gets richer. And you, poorer. You really believed your life was improving but that's because life was adapting itself in a technology which makes your everyday life easier; washing your clothes can be done with washing machine, you don't need the noisy typwriter if you earn yourself a Microsoft Word or even a smartphone! What else I can say? What has really change in terms of living expenses and technology? 

In the late 80s, we were able to shift ourselves from reliance in agriculture to IT. Because we really believed that was our future at the time. Probably because, yes! We put the right people in their rightfully deserved post by election! I repeat, PROBABLY.

But with time, people get drunk out of successes they made. Power, what used to be as a mandate now becomes a tool for oppression and opium. And that's when incompetency comes in place. Should our eyes are wide open to the batshit that is happening and that we keep them in power, I call that idiocy and incompetence combined. We fail as citizens. To keep the power for checks and balances. We fail to protect the needy.

These elites will stay in power as they have an agenda. You? What do you have? But to keep your business going, they have the money. You don't. You need permissions. The dilemma stands. Hence, the cycle. Hence, the idiocy. Hence, the incompetency.

So what has changed since the 80s until today? Should we just be proud of what we achieved back then, only to cover the salt already in our wound? Or should we just watch it burn, as we have watched the brain drain where countless of talented Malaysians who migrated to other countries? But whose fault again, was it? Who denied their rights as Malaysians to live normally & enjoy their status as free citizen who should be able to give back to their country - suddenly ran away? What happened to the IT dream that we had back then? Shouldn't we be able to produce more than just new models of Proton cars or more yields of palm oil industry? Why are we still having the similar narrative since 1957 in order to protect our pockets, based on ethnicity that we are born into? Shouldn't plans be revised and revisited?

I question all of this because I love my country. 

Imagine that we used to send satellites to space. We invested those huge chunk of money and we had satellite TV where back then only the rich could afford, now almost everyone could. We made life easier back then but these elites were busy enjoying food from high above, which probably they are still doing the same thing in these hard times. The thing that I couldn't fathom is rich kids barking at the wrong tree.

What I hoped to see is Malaysians all kinds of age and ethnicity, realized that change must take account of time. To see that we have stagnated, not being able to cope with the global industrialization which lead us to the similar lifestyle and political atmosphere where nothing has changed. Same faces in political ruling arena is never a great indocator as history has shown power absolutely corrupts. The bigger context is, we should've earned more - better way of living and better access to education. No one should suffer under the terms of being barred from basic rights and needs, especially in this harsh times. The world revolves around and the era of dinosaurs roam the earth have long gone. Over the years, people around earth have adapted to the most harshest conditions and improves their ways of living. So must we. 

It is not the time to compare which era was the best (especially among boomers), certainly not the best thing to do when you don't have both of your feet resting on the ground.

Asyraf Amir. 20210702.