An Amazing Great Political Breakthrough Election – Pastor Law Hui Seng (Taiwan, 21/10/18)

What do you think of the recent just concluded Malaysia once in five years parliamentary election on 9^th May, 2018?  I call it amazing because I strongly believe God is involved.  I call it great because for the first time in 61 years the majority of the different races and even the people of different religions could be so united in saying no to the former ruling party coalition, despite the odds of gerrymandering in the newly drawn constituencies for the national election and mighty machinery and resources available to the last ruling party coalition.  I call it a breakthrough because ever since independence there had not been any change of ruling power.   Most importantly, it is in every sense a breakthrough as so many people said it was impossible for a power change but it happened on the 9^th May.  A much awaited smooth transfer of political power had happened.  A change that we are so proud of as it will bring hope for a better future.  A change that gives birth to a new Malaysia that inspires the rakyat to move on with a greater confidence.  Malaysia becomes new not only because a new batch of leaders with new mentality and mindset has taken over the ruling power, but more so, these new leaders will bring about changes in substance.  Especially changes in fundamental systems and policies which are more just.  It definitely brings about new hope and direction for many years to come.

The Surprising Element

The long awaited breakthrough finally came about.  Most of us could not believe it for many reasons.  Even a lot of us Christians had prayed for God to do justice, remove corruption and greed, cleanse our nation from the power of darkness, and lots of other things, we did not think the power change would happen.   Privately, I even told people the chance of changing the ruling power is at least 80% to 90%.  In my circle of friends, most of them disagreed with the percentage.  I always told them this time round, the whole political scenario in the country was very different because of the Mahathir factor.  He would unite most of the former opposition parties.   I even said in private to these close friends, if there was a change in power it had to involve the surprising element.  That was the top leadership of the last ruling power did not expect the power change would happen.  They had made all the efforts to counter every expected attack and arrow shoot at them from all sides. I tend to believe that in view of the extreme old age of Mahathir, they did not expect him to be such a powerful factor (you may disagree).  What could such a 93 years old man do? (This was very much a prevailing general comment in the newspaper in the months leading up to the election) How could he make a difference in the national election as to the effect of bringing down the ruling party?  I believe this was one of the most unexpected elements.  May be they just expected Mahathir and his new party would just win a few seats only and that was all.

Another Surprising Element: Tremendous Negative Effects of GST

I believe another very unexpected factor that brought down the last ruling power was the deep negative effects of GST.  When it was first materialized, most sensible people commented that it was something necessary and most countries are practicing it and our country needed it.  Most people, especially economic experts, bankers and the like said it was well justified. However, my argument was if the government could survive with all kinds of taxes before the introduction of GST, how she could not survive without it.  There must have been a lot of abuse of power and mismanagement of peoples’ money.

When GST was introduced, my common sense told me it was a political suicide for the ruling power.  It would become such a powerful factor that it would be a straw that brought down the ruling power.  It would make most of the citizens in Malaysia to feel the deep pain in financial limitation.  We suddenly found that our monetary value shrunk and our purchasing power was reduced significantly.  Everyone was hit by it. We felt the economic pain which touched our ‘nerve’.  It awakened us to vote for change and went for an alternative ruling coalition which might be more responsible. 

GST made the poor suffered even further and even the most uneducated could experience the economic pain.  I felt the pain too.  I even took steps to buy less things and exercised my thriftiness.  I tightened my belt.   May be the last ruling power expected the economic pain the rakyat would experience.  However, I think they miscalculated in the fact that the rakyat felt the pain so deeply. The pain was so deep that it overcame all the good measures taken by the previous government to counter the negative effects of GST.  The pain was a great uniting force to mobilize a great majority of the voters to vote against the ruling power.

Other Factors

Other factors such as the hot  national issue of corruption (the number 1 enemy of Malaysia); 1MDB mismanagement of fund; the great unequal treatment of different races owing to unjust government policies; no freedom of religion (the forbidden usage of the word Allah; and etc); nepotism and cronyism; the rich got richer and the poor got poorer; safety and security of peoples’ lives (the missing pastor Raymond Kho was unaccounted for) and property are stake; harder for people to find jobs and made ends meet owing to slow economy and countless number of other issues, are affecting the voters and caused the great majority of us to say no to the previous ruling power.  I personally believe that all these voice down to a national leadership crisis.  We were not confident with the politicians and government at different levels.  As the top level leaders did not set a high level of integrity and honesty and of great moral characters, there developed a great confidence crisis.  The great majority of the rakyat saw the nation was heading no way if the last leadership were to continue.

Sarawak Parliamentary Election Analyzed

In Sarawak, beside the above factors, the indigenous people are very much bothered by the issue of land acquisition, though the land is under the management of Sarawak government.  A lot of lands were acquired for personal gain.  Indigenous people were very unhappy as they lost their court cases on the disputed acquisition of lands. More and more lands were acquired and passed on to the rich entrepreneurs at a low price in the name of development.  A lot of empty promises were made and not fulfilled.  I heard from the long house folks that building of roads and supply of electricity were promised but it took the ruling power many long years to fulfill. Some were not fulfilled at all.  I also observed that the internal strife, tensions among the leadership and struggles in certain ruling parties had caused eroded support for the ruling power.  Disunity was a heavy price for these parties which lost their seats.  Sarawak rights as a nation forming Malaysia were greatly eroded (throughout the last decade) was also a great factor that contributed to the dissatisfaction towards the ruling power. Of course there were a lot of other accumulated factors which contributed to the Chinese and indigenous people not voting for the last ruling power. (I believe the political tsunami that happened among the indigenous people and the Chinese in Sarawak will continue to reach its height in the coming Sarawak election, which will be held in about 2 years’ time). All these combined factors had caused the ruling power to lose 12 significant parliament seats from Sarawak and this had contributed to the change of power to the Harapan Coalition.

God’s Factor

As a disciple of Jesus, I pray for Malaysia and really asked the almighty God to come in and intervene and restore peace, justice and prosperity.  I prayed for God to remove all the corrupted politicians in His timing for more than 15 years.  I prayed that every since before year 8^th March, 2008 parliamentary election.  In the 5^th May, 2013 parliamentary election, a lot of us were disappointed as there was no change of ruling power though the opposition front at that time scored a greater number of voting percentage than the ruling power.  I even told  a  Yang Berhormat after the 8^th March election that it was not God’s timing yet.  God being sovereign, He knows what is best for every human being and every country in this world since He is the creator of the universe and He created the earth.  Apostle Paul even said in the letter to the Romans in chapter 13 that God put the kings and ruling power (the government) at the throne and the people were to obey the government of the day. Then, the implication is God can also remove the ruling power if He put it there.  Nobody, no king, no military might, no government is more powerful than God.  God has the sovereignty and control over all things and beings He created.  He is the King of kings.   Who dare to challenge God? Therefore, if we are the politicians and the governing power of the day, we need to be answerable to God in the usage of the political power which is entrusted by the people.   Politicians need to be humble before God, whether they are Christians or not.  Only fear of God can empower him to distant himself or herself from greed and corruption, dishonesty, hypocrisy, self-centeredness, and all kinds of immorality.  Only fear of God can empower one to rule with justice, peace and compassion.  If one is not afraid of God’s punishment for one’s mistakes, sins, or unrighteousness, one can do anything when one has the power.  We are familiar with the term ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely.’  On the other hand, when one fears God, God will bless one with wisdom, like King Solomon to rule a country.

In the Old Testament, I notice that whenever Israelites and kings sinned against God of Yahweh in idol worship, moral decadence, and after countless warnings by prophets that went unheeded, God’s discipline and punishment would come on them in the form of downfalls for both the Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom in the hands of the foreign empires and being put in exiles in the foreign lands like Babylon and Assyria.  I strongly believe that it is the same today if any ruling power does not fear God.  God will send His messengers to come and correct the repeated mistakes, sins and unrighteousness, after repeated corrections that yield no repentance, then, God will remove the power.  For those of us who do not subscribe to this belief, you may like to produce your own analysis for the downfall of the ruling power.

This time, on the 9^th May, this year, God heard the great cry of His children in Malaysia and also His children in other parts of the world for Malaysia, and He decided to intervene and brought down the ruling power by a peaceful election.  This is God’s timing.  Whatever theology you may subscribe to and you may choose to disagree with me, I strongly believe that Christian prayers from all denominations had really contributed to the almighty God hearing our prayer.

What Can we contribute to the New Malaysia?

The most unexpected political breakthrough is very precious to all of us citizens of all races and religions.  We must treasure it like a new baby being born (a new Malaysia) and it is to be nurtured with love and care and grow into maturity in all aspects of its life.  Do you agree?  How to help this baby to grow? I strongly suggest that, since we voted in the new ruling power, we must do our part to empower this new Malaysia to grow.  I pray that you agree with me on this.

I call this new Malaysia a new born baby because in many aspects the new government needs to start all over.  We need to start all over because some of the present public institutions have been damaged and much neglected owing to human weaknesses and moral decadence.  The new government needs to work extra hard with great sincerity in these important institutions of democracy and national life.  I believe the following institutions and national life aspects need to be given top priority.

Firstly, one of  the most fundamental aspects of democracy, that is the separation of powers needs a redress; the institutions of judiciary, government and the parliament need to work independently.   It is a tough issue as the independency of each institution has not been honored for too long and the whole Malaysian constitution does not seem to advocate separation of the 3 powers.   Tedious tasks that involve amendments of laws will take a long time to achieve the ideal. 

Secondly, as a nation which makes up of different races and people professing so many different religions and living with such different cultures, we need to be united and move forward together.  At the moment, unfortunately, when it comes to major social, political and economic considerations, race and religion factors are still rated as very high in priority in the political agenda for party politics and even national life.  When it comes making policies, race is still a major factor of consideration.  For example, a certain group of politicians which belong to a certain race still feel insecure about the government recognizing Unified Examination Certificate of a certain community in the public education institution. Our politicians of all races and religions must work hard to pursue interest of all races, not just a certain politician of a certain race pursuing the interests of his or her own race. We are still divided along racial and religious lines.  How can we be more united is a great challenge to our new government.

Thirdly, our natural resources like our lands and rivers, mineral resources, and the air space need more thorough and far-sighted planning that involve equal distribution of wealth among all races and people from all strata of our society so that our economy is sustainable and self dependent in long term.  We can do a good job if we work harder at practicing meritocracy as widely as possible.  Our neighbor, Singapore, is good example in this respect.

Fourthly, since manpower and intellectual ability will determine how well we are going to survive as a nation, we really need to look into doing education that will produce the brightest people (and keep them) to run our country.  By all means, curb the brain drain.  When it comes to education, our politicians should not compromise on giving our people the best quality and resources.

Fifthly, steps need to be taken to return the original rights to the nation of Sarawak and Sabah.  The agreements signed when these two nations participated in the formation of Malaysia need to be honored.  I believe these two nations, given the rights to manage our own resources; we can eventually become an advanced and prosperous country like Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.  I had been to the first three countries in the last twenty odd years and I see prosperous they are.

Bearing all these important aspects in mind, as disciples of Jesus, we can play important roles in nurturing this new Malaysia.  I would like to propose the following suggestions and ideas.

Nurturing a New Malaysia

In Malaysia, Christianity is only made up of about 9% of 33 million populations.  Islam occupies about 60%.  Muslim population is growing not only biologically but also in terms of conversion.  It means Islam propagates and converts the non-Muslims.   For Christianity, all efforts of all the different denominations combined in our outreach and missions, our growth is always between 9% and 10%.  It has been maintained in that range for more than 20 years now.  At least, ever since I became a pastor back then.  Even in Sarawak, with a population of 2.7 million, the only state with Christian majority of about 42%.  The percentage is maintained between 40% and 42% also for more than 20 years.

In such a religious environment, what can 9% Christian population do?  We must thank God for the great effort of our former missionaries coming from all over the world.  They had done their best and left a great spiritual heritage with us.  I can say it most passionately for the case of Sarawak.  For most denominations here, with the political climate we have now, we are growing stronger in terms of many new churches from all denominations which have been built. Be it at the national level, or at the state level, we can definitely make a difference for Jesus in terms of nurturing a new Malaysia.  I pray that God in the person of Jesus Christ, in His mercy, will empower us to do the followings:

Firstly, as united prayers from all denominations have made such a powerful impact, we must persevere and pray for the above good changes to happen in His timing.  Let us pray that no changes will happen at the expense of another race.  Let us pray that our politicians both from the ruling power and the opposition to become more and more matured; and they always focus on the needs of the rakyat in particular and the national interests in general.  By all means, our prayers pursue God’s will be done in Malaysia for all races.

Secondly, though different denominations have different doctrinal stands, we must by all means work together through our top leaders like bishops, archbishops and presidents to express our Christian stands on religious, social, economic and political issues and matters on improvement of our national policies.  There can be unity in diversity. The present inter-denominational platforms like the Council of Churches Malaysia, National Evangelical Christian Fellowship, Sarawak Association of Churches and Sabah Association of Churches can be further enhanced and mobilized to come together to pray and building a close relationship among the top spiritual leaders so that they are united to build bridges with the government to participate in the nation building in terms of proposing holistic policies.

Thirdly, I suggest the respective denominations to form their fellowship of elected state assembly men and women, and the members of parliament to sit down with assigned pastors for bible studies and prayer so that they are trained in discipleship and grow in Christian maturity.  They are equipped intentionally to stand against temptations of greed, corruption and all forms of immorality.  They will become great models for the rakyat to emulate.  Eventually, through the close relationships among the top spiritual leaders, they can use the above platforms to call for an annual convention for all our elected Christian politicians.  One of the important purposes of this convention is definitely to find ways and means to contribute to our national building. The other purpose can be for sharing of common ideas and interests, mutual support and understanding, and working towards a greater solidarity among all elected Christian parliamentarians and state assembly men and women.

Fourthly, churches of different denominations must look into producing scholars who are well-versed in Islam so that we can have meaningful cooperation with Muslim scholars and their top spiritual figures to work on both Muslims and non-Muslims to live together peacefully long term.   Scholars and top spiritual figures of both sides must build bridges with one another so that we reduce our misunderstanding about each other’s religious teaching and religious conflicts among our followers to the minimum.  If we do not do this preparation now, when there is a religious conflict, it might be too late.  When damages are done, repairs may be difficult to do. 

Fifthly, Christian spiritual figures and Muslim spiritual figures must be encouraged to sit down and fellowship with one another on different religious occasions.  We are doing this now. It can still be further enhanced so that it is practiced as often as possible, and at a greater scale.  They must be seen to do so, so that our followers can see the fellowship before their eyes, be it through media publication or life telecasts through televisions and internets.  When the top spiritual figures of both religions are seemed to relate to one another in harmony, our followers will emulate.  If we can visit one another and share our lives together, the chances for religious conflict to happen in Malaysia will be reduced to the very minimum.

Conclusion

How this new Malaysia is going to be does not depend absolutely on those elected politicians only.  They are elected to serve the rakyat and the nation as a whole, in a parliamentary democracy like Malaysia.  They are flawed human beings, they are not perfect, and they will make mistakes.  No matter how brilliant, capable and powerful they are, their ideas are limited, their influence cannot penetrate every corner and society in Malaysia.  They need the rakyat to support and cooperate to implement their national policies.  They may devise laws to check on us but they themselves are also very much under laws.  Therefore, the church as a whole can complement the government by obeying her in implementing all the just policies.  Areas where the government goes wrong, the church must be courageous enough to voice out for the betterment and well being of the overall rakyat.  The government, on the other hand, should be humble enough to listen to the voice of the church.