“This blog, then, is about civil society reclaiming its power to determine who are the law-makers in Parliament today who are worthy of the trust reposed in them by the people and if, sadly, we discover there are none presently, to make an informed decision of who we will next install in the people’s parliament”. – my very first posting in this blog in 2007.
On 9th May, 2018, a united rakyat reclaimed that power to determine the 222 individuals who we would trust to serve as law-makers in the Dewan Rakyat and who would form the next government.
In late February running into March this year, that trust was betrayed.
That power to determine still lies with us, one we will exercise come the 15th GE, whenever that might be.
Between now and then, much will have to be done to set right this betrayal and, this time, put the governance in the hands of the right people.
I said this in my last post : “…the current circumstance of the nation warrants politics taking a backseat so that all attention may be turned to the national crisis at hand”.
Since 18th March, when the Movement Control Order (MCO) kicked in, except for the very few occasions when I have had to be out to get food supplies and sanitisers, face masks and gloves, I have stayed in.
Working on my cooking, to make the keto diet I am on more than just livable.
Exercising in the home.
Catching up on all the news around the world.
Reading, reading, and more reading.
And a whole lot of self-reflection and introspection.
This pandemic that we now face lays bare so much that is wrong in the world that we live in.
The Covid-19 stimulus package announced recently made provision for the M40 and B40 groups.
Why does our country, a wealthy oil and gas producing nation, even have a B40 grouping?
Where have we gone wrong?
Have we long turned a blind eye to this?
This huge gulf between the elite super rich and the masses whose meal for the day is dictated by what they can earn that same day, is a global phenomena.
India, with a population of 1.3 billion, perhaps best demonstrates what is happening globally, even here in our own country, but more openly and vividly.
We do not know when this MCO will finally be uplifted and when some sense of normalcy will return to our lives, but we must brace ourselves for the possibility that life as we have long known it may never be the same again.
We will be faced with the need to bring about much changes in how we see and do things, and to revisit our value systems.
If any are sitting at home now and thinking of how to bring about change in the 15th GE, I suggest that a more immediate change needs to happen well before.
In ourselves.
Gandhi said that we need to be the change we wish to see in the world.
Real, meaningful change, especially for the B40, through GE15 and beyond, must start with us.
Starting tomorrow, until the MCO is finally lifted, I shall not write on politics.
Many have asked in the past what drove me to quit a thriving legal practice and how, if at all, it changed my life?
I will write and share this.
Post 14th GE, my health took a turn for the worse. The type 2 diabetes condition exploded. Visceral fat levels were dangerously high. Body fat had ballooned.
Today, that diabetic condition is in remission ( some refer to it as reversed, but I think remission describes it more correctly ).
Visceral and body fat down.
Especially for type 2 diabetics out there, I want to share this with you.
We stay at home now to escape the pandemic outside.
I want to share with you about the pandemic within.
That pandemic within, and another risk that lurks in our homes.
We are now social distancing.
Nothing to stop us socialising and interacting through social media.
My number is +6012-2070534.
For those of you who care to, add me on whatsapp, tell me a little bit about yourself, and lets remove that distance in cyberspace.
Stay safe, folks.
The People's Parliament 
Posted on March 31, 2020
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