#MasaKita: Let’s do this

LET’S do this. Let’s do this now.

Enough with waiting around, hoping for old politicians to lead us right.

It’s time for us to lead ourselves.

Enough with failed, old approaches to solving problems.

It’s time for us to invent our own solutions.

Enough with hateful, old attempts to divide us along lines of race or religion.

It’s time for us to redefine a united Malaysia, and make this country all it can be.

There is a growing call for something new. Something fresh, young, and free from the shackles of the past.

I won’t claim to have any kind of data to know how widespread this call is among the masses, or whether or not an emerging new movement would gain significant traction in, say, a general election.

What I have realised, though, is that asking whether such a movement would win in elections is the wrong question to ask.

People are so allergic to – one might even say disgusted by – the word “politics” because politics in Malaysia has become all about beating the other guy in order to gain money and power.

If you start a movement thinking about how to win elections, you end up only thinking about how to win elections – and then you become part of the problem, not part of the solution.

The only way to break this cycle, and to prevent yourself from being corrupted when you enter the system – as has happened to so many before – is to start off on the right foot: by designing your own system from scratch.

This means rejecting all the traditional ways that political parties are built and structured.

In the current pyramid structure of political parties, politicians see climbing the ranks in a party as a route to lucrative government positions – which in turn are used to feed feudal underlings and further consolidate one’s position in the party.

This has got to go.

If we want to have a new movement that will not simply revert to the old ways upon achieving power (think George Orwell’s Animal Farm), then this key element must be removed and replaced with a system where only those who are willing to enter public service for the right reasons are incentivised to join.

At this point, designing and building such a system basically involves creating something huge almost out of thin air. It’s likely to be a painfully difficult process – but nothing good or worthwhile ever comes easy.

If we want to build a lasting movement that will truly succeed where previous movements have failed, it will need to be a movement rooted deeply in clearly articulated shared principles and values.

It cannot be built on things like racial identity, or the agenda of any individual. We’ve seen these formulas fail time and again.

There will need to be long, difficult conversations among the right people about what it is that truly unites us, and what are the common values that we can truly build something resilient on.

In rejecting old politics, one route is to reject every single element that has been involved with old political players and structures.

In my view, it is not absolutely necessary to follow this route.

There are many people already in politics, especially those in more junior positions, who still have a commitment to values and principles in their hearts.

I think if such individuals choose to continue to be subservient to the existing power structures they find themselves in, then we will probably have to go separate ways (only professionally of course, not personally!).

If they would like to either join this new movement, or actively lead sweeping internal reforms in their own organisations, then let’s work together.

(To be perfectly frank, were there much hope for success of such internal reforms, we would perhaps be advocating that instead.)

After hours of conversation, I realise that trying to decide to aim for GE15 or GE16 is also asking the wrong question and taking the wrong approach.

The right approach is to build the new movement the right way, however long it takes.

If we happen to be ready by GE15, then let’s rock GE15. If not, it doesn’t matter whether it’s GE16,17 or 99. It won’t make a difference unless we build the right movement, for the right reasons.

In the last few weeks, momentum has been growing and more and more players are emerging.

Let’s talk.

If we want to truly break from the past, then our conversations shouldn’t be about how to “split the pie” but about how to grow the pie.

There will be plenty of work and plenty of ground to cover, so there should be more than enough to go around.

If Malaysia is to progress, we will need to find innovative new ways to manage our differences and build consensus.

What better way than to start right at the ground level, by finding a way to bring together the many, many Malaysians – old and especially young – who genuinely want to see this country finally achieve its potential.

We won’t all want exactly the same things, it won’t be easy, and it won’t be fast.

But if we are willing to hunker down, and put principles and long term goals ahead of egos and short term gains, I have full faith that we can forge a movement the likes of which Malaysia has never seen before.

Let’s do this. Let’s do this now.

Nathaniel Tan feels like this is it. He works with Projek Wawasan Rakyat (POWR), and can be reached at [e-mail]. The views expressed here are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sunday Star.