There is hope!

Welcome to me first posting & I must admit I have been inspired by me dear matey Tony Yew aka muststopthis. As Led Zep once said, "This is a song of hope", and I have been pleasantly surprised, nay, completely shocked by my friend's rantings on his blog & his social/political activism of late.

We go back a good few years & it was during his one of his initial belly-up business deals he decided to lend his expertise to my then fledgling pub/restaurant (for which I am forever grateful). It was during this time and many debates over one-too-many beers that I learnt of my friend's views on the state of our nation.

You see, once upon a time, mr muststopthis was yer typical apathy-ridden Malaysian. Dare I say it, he was even a staunch believer in the system. To give you a sample, Tony used to recount how he had journeyed the world over during his time with MAS but "nowhere do they have it as good as we do here in Malaysia".

When I used to point out the countless faults of the BN administration, he labelled me a "radical leftist"!!! He even blamed my dad (who is a lifelong unionist) for instilling an "opposition mentality" in me."Why bother fixing something when it ain't broke" was a typical Tony Yew sentiment. Worse, he would resort to the "we can't do anything to change things" argument to underline his couldn't-give-a-shit attitude.

During yet another debate about the validity of voting PAS at the elections, Tony looked at me as though I was suggesting incest or something even worse. He failed to see my point of checks & balances and that the whole purpose was not to give BN a landslide which is an open invitation to treat the rakyat with impunity. The smaller the margins, the more leverage we as non-Malay voters would have in bargaining with BN. Sorry, Tony, but I hate to say it, I told u so - look at the mess we are in today.

Status quo was Tony's middle name.

Forward nearly a decade & something had radically changed. Not only was he concentrating on the injustice of his wife's case but he began to take notice of other pertinent issues. His latest involvement in trying to prevent the demolition of a Hindu kuil in Melaka is a case in point. I am terribly proud of this guy. If he can make a 180 degree turn on his world view, it gives me hope that more & more Malaysians will do the same. Really, I mean, once upon a time, I had written this guy off in terms of his political views (or lack of it). But he has shown that it is never too late, or impossible, to see the light.

Stand up & take a bow, Tony, you are living proof that there is still hope for this nation. If you can change, anybody can!

Apathy can be defeated! muststopthis is proof.

PS: I suppose it is too much to hope your terrible taste in music has improved . . .