Change is Inevitable: Turning 30 and Malaysian Politics

So its almost 5am and I’ve just spent a good night singing karaoke with my friends and family on a Friday night. I should be alseep by now but I’m kept up by watching all these videos created by political parties or independent communities revving up an election storm in Malaysia which will be happening on May 5th.  more

Not that it has been completely eye-opening, but you can feel a sense of urgency to change the state of our country. So I started thinking about change. I fear it. It is always looming around and I can never escape it. I usually write about my work or post up pseudo-sexy photos of myself and tell people how awesome or cool everything is but I thought I’d try something a little different this time. (Please forgive me if my grammar and spelling may fail me in this lengthy post, I rarely write more than 5 sentences nowadays.)

Change.

“OMG, I’m turning 30 and my eggs are starting to rot. Who will want to date a girl with rotting eggs?”

I don’t lie about my age–although I’m thinking of it once this year pasts me by. I’m freaking out. I have anxiety. I’m asking my friends who are turning 30 and everyone seems to be handling it a little better than I am. Truth is that I’m the person that jumps at opportunities. I’m a dream chaser. I like succeeding. I like putting myself through a test and then telling myself I passed. I have started my life at least 3-4 times and I’ve created a career for myself that spans across North America and Asia. There are many good things about my life and yet hitting the big 3-0 scares the shit out me.

I don’t know if I’m supposed to start looking for a husband now. I don’t know if I’m supposed to own a house, or two. I still can’t seem to figure out where I want to live. Have I achieved all that I have? Do I have enough time to do it? Why can’t I stay 20 forever?????

Change is inevitable. I could go about this in 2 ways:

1. Just keep lying to people. Live in denial and pretend that no one else notices that I’m lying.

or

1. Embrace it. Spend a couple more hours in the gym (or 45 minutes at Bodytone ) buy a shit load of beauty products, learn make-up tricks and compete with people 10 years younger and bring more life experience at each step of the way. Just fucking learn to adapt.

The second way is better right? I mean who are we kidding here? Anyone can read my Wiki to realize how old I am, or research my past articles and crunch numbers to know I was born in the year when Billie Jean was topping the charts. The more you lie about what you’ve done and your past, the less weight your words will carry. Which is sad because I believe that one’s word should be impeccable.

So let’s move on to politics.

DISCLAIMER: I’m not a politician. I was born in Malaysia but I grew up in Canada. I can’t even sing Negaraku properly without pretending to mouth the words with everyone else. It’s embarrassing, I know. So I’m not versed in history or in BM. But I think I am still allowed to draw an opinion about the country I still hold a passport to.

I think this whole election is pretty crazy, but change is inevitable. We’ve got social media. We have history books. We have personal accounts. We’ve got evidence. We’ve got a lot of facts. There’s a lot of money unaccounted for. The only party we can really hold accountable is the government. So if they can’t explain what they’ve done with it, then they should be at fault and the rakyat should vote them out and find someone new to represent them. That’s what happens in a democratic system.

Public service is admirable. You serve the people and you try to do what’s best for them. So we’ve got Barisan National (BN) and Patakan Rakyat (PKR), those are our two options. The incumbent and the opposition. Well just as any election period, the smear campaigns are out in full force. I’m starting to see them in the videos, the rallies, the t-shirts, the tweets, the facebook posts, the facebook groups and etc.

From an outsider, BN is offering laptops, sacks of rice, “I help you, you help me”, Gong Xi Fa Cai – Vote for me angpows and a PSY concert. If you ask me, that’s a clear sign of denial. So I think just like me, BN could go about it in 2 ways:

1. Live in denial.

OR

1. Adapt.

Who knows what will happen. Maybe BN will fight a better battle when it all unfolds but I see more wrongs than rights at the moment and no one can actually tell me about projects without some minister enjoying a little kickback. It’s sad. But competition is good and it forces people to have a dialogue about the current state of our country. Malaysia is a wonderful country and we have incredible people here, it would be a shame that time after time, the government fails to look after their people but instead looks after themselves. They’ve had quite a few years to show what they can do but actions speak louder than words.

But on the flip side, I don’t know what the opposition can do either. They talk about changes they want to implement but do they have the experience? Will they become like their predecessors and enjoy their own kickbacks too? Everyone’s always out there to sell their side, but with a democratic system you get to decide for yourself.

I think about Obama’s Background Check “Common Sense” Bill for Gun Laws not being passed earlier this week. They failed to impede progress on the big issue of gun violence in America. No political system is perfect but those who hold office and represent the people should speak for the people and not look after their own seats (maybe I have a bit of Obama’s rhetoric here). You are the elected voice to speak on their behalf. But most of the time people who hold power, refuse to let go, even if they are no longer effective. Why? Because I’m sure they fear change as much as I do.

Just like I’m trying to compete with the next lot of talented women in the entertainment scene, these politicians have to compete with others who feel like they could do a better job. Either way, you need to prove it.  

But the truth of the matter is that change is inevitable.

There’ll always be change, it’s the only thing that is constant.