The mountain

BN won handsomely at Machap. It was a 4,000+ majority, in results very similar to 2004, the Year of the Promise. Can you handle it?

Plainly speaking, the Opposition was whupped good despite their coordinated venture. Despite employing new technologies (they have a blog), cranking out a full-on series of ceramahs by Opposition heavyweights, and house-to-house canvassing. It didn't matter that case after case of govt abuse was voiced by the opposition; didn't mater if MIC thugs pounded on a couple of DAP folks. Didn't matter that the charismatic Anwar pitched in his support to huge ovations the night before.

What matters: Hakka karaoke, free food, badminton stars being forced to do exhibition games, fresh tarred roads, a new park, millions of ringgit of projects (more promises) and the trusted Payung coming to town on voting day allegedly handing out cash. As a recipient told a DAP crew (as reported by Malaysiakini) upon emerging from the Payung's ad hoc disbursement outpost: "...Biasalah."

At the end of the day, with a shedding of 481 votes compared to GE2004, it wasn't even a dent on BN's performance. It meant that for the people of Machap, the Promise is getting along just fine. Like the nine-day fiesta of songs, gifts and a twirly Payung spinning out red and teal-coloured ringgit.

Me, i'm disappointed. Downtrodden. And i'm not even active in politics.

See, despite what the pundits say, Machap may be rural but it isn't exactly backwater rural or inbreeding country. It's less than half an hour from Melaka city; close enough to the Kelang Valley. They have cars and bikes, handphones and Astro. Many of Machap's sons and daughters have basic if not tertiary education, and ought to be able to carry a proper dialogue. In other words, Machap is just about your typical west coast constituency from Pontian to Kepala Batas with a mix of villages capped with a small town.

And so, as a wonderful test case, the opposition channeled its firepower over nine days in an express education on the misdeeds of the ruling party. It seemed the mood was bouyant. Perhaps the message was getting through.

Machap Demokrasi! And at the end of the day, DAP's Liou polled 1,542 votes. That's about a fifth of total votes. That's status quo.

And that's what scares the woolies out of me. The results clearly show there's a whole big, fat population out there who are willing to go with the status quo.

And here we are battling for the return of local council elections, for safer neighborhoods, for stern action against cronyism. We lash out against corruption and toll hikes, and idiot ministers who want to carve their dominance into our space and lives. We ask for justice served, and integrity restored. And we think we make progress.

But we look up... and all we see is the steep, craggy incline of Mount Status Quo. *Gulp*