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Posted Sunday, November 22, 1998

THE SILENT MAJORITY



For quite sometimes now, Mahathir and his cabinet ministers have been trumpeting the notion that the "silent majority" is solidly behind the government. They even go one step further to put words in the mouth of this so-called "silent majority" by announcing that the majority also denounce the reform movement. For Mahathir and his cronies, the definition of silent majority is simple. In fact, as simple as Forest Gump’s definition of life - a box of chocolate. According to the ministers, those who don’t participate in the Reformasi demonstrations must be the silent majority. And through illogical deduction, conclude that since the majority of rakyat don’t oppose the government OPENLY, then they must be 110% behind the government.

Really? I have never been to any of the Reformasi rallies but I totally disagree with the PM on his economic policy and his leadership (or should I say, dictatorship?) in UMNO. Am I part of the silent majority? Or take my dad, for example. He has been an UMNO member for over 30 years and now the treasurer for his division - he believes that the whole Anwar trial is nothing but a conspiracy to silence the ex-TPM. My dad now reads Harakah and contemplating for the first time in his life
about the possibility of voting for PAS in the coming general election. Does he fall under the silent majority category? Or how about a few of my friends who have never voted before in their lives but are now eagerly waiting for the next election so that they can vote the opposition. Are they the silent majority?

To hastily generalize that the majority of the rakyat is behind the government is not only a major miscalculation but also a display of extreme arrogance by Barisan Nasional. The general election is probably just a few months away and for the first time since the scandal broke out, the "real" silent majority will be heard.

Recently, MCA conducted survey in Penang (please refer to the latest Far Eastern Economic Review’s intelligence column) and concluded that if the general election were held now, BN would have lost the state to the oppositions. I don’t know how many people were polled for the survey but I can assure you this - they are definitely not part of the government’s "silent majority".


Email: reformasi-terkini@usa.net