The Fall of an Empire...

... and from its ruins, perhaps a new and better governed administration shall sprout.

The heavy propoganda machinery of Barisan Nasional has failed to stem the inevitable, and that is to stop the unilateral voting for the opposition by the Malaysian urban and educated. So much has happened (or not happened) in the past 4 years that cannot be stopped by speeches and full-page advertisements. And so, the stronghold of BN over the Malaysian Parliament has fallen, and along with it, Kelantan, Penang, Kedah, Selangor and then Perak.

Firstly, I applaud the maturity of the current BN in how they have responded to the loss. "We accept the loss this is a democratic right of the people", said the PM. A former woman minister said "The people have spoken". And the heads of the Chinese parties, in shock at their defeat, have said "We have some soul searching to do". Very matured and very responsible to take ownership and admit that they themselves are to blame.

I almost feel bad for them. However, if BN should ever come to win again, then this is a lesson that must be learnt. Bill Gates once said "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose". They have won for so long. And you can become disenchanted with what you really stand for. Yes, this is a lesson that is long in waiting. We must fail sometimes. We must allow ourselves to lose gracefully and admit defeat. And we must lose to know our faults and our areas to improve on.


"A new dawn to Malaysia" says the opposition. Very true, but the dawn shall quickly turn to day and how the day shall turn out has yet to be seen. I am optimistic and yet sceptical.

There is this euphoric feeling in the air. Many people have woken up today feeling a feeling of high. Like something good is about to happen.

Wait a minute.. the feeling is very familiar. When was the last time we felt like this? It wasn't that long ago... Oh yes, in 2004! When BN won by a mile and the new PM was sworn in, we all felt really good. So how is it that people can feel the same way with the exact opposite outcome? It's called Hope. The election outcome didn't happen because the people support the opposition. Rather, the people are so frustrated with empty promises and the opinion that things have gotten worse, that they are voting for hope, by doing the exact opposite. If doing the opposite means voting the opposition, then so be it.

And hope won today so that's why we feel good. We have bought ourselves another 4 years to see how things will turn out. In the meantime, bask in the feeling of hope. The work starts soon and there will be no time for sentimental feelings anymore.