Liang Wen Dao (梁文道) on democracy

What an occasion to have Liang Wen Dao (梁文道) coming to Penang to give a talk about the current political situation in Malaysia. However the discussion was in Mandarin. I feel obliged to make a little more effort, rather than a simple share on Facebook, to spread the ideas and thoughts discussed in this session. So here I am doing my best to summarize the talk in English, in the hope of other Malaysians, who don't know Mandarin, can also know a little something about the talk.

                                                              

Background

He was born in Hong Kong, and was raised in Taiwan though. So, he get to witness the whole process of change of government in Taiwan, from Guo Min Dang to Min Jing Dang, around 90's. He is now living in Hong Kong, writing lots of articles about many things, including politics, and makes appearances in a few talk shows in Feng Huang TV channel. I firstly knew him from the show discussing about books on this same TV channel, in which he is the host.

His own initiative

First of all, the talk isn't sided to any side, even it seems to be sided to PR. The talk is more about democracy, and its development and tendency. From the video, there was a member of PKR, named Lee Kai Lun (李凯伦). In fact Liang came to Malaysia to support his friend, Lee Kai Lun, and certainly not because Lee invited him. He did mention that, he also feels a little inappropriate to talk about Malaysian Politics, as an outsider. But he also said, he cares about the current situation, as he has many Malaysian friends.

Changing atmosphere

He visited Malaysia many times, but this time he felt very different indeed. During his stay in Penang, he saw many people so enthusiastic about the election and all. It reminded him of the time in Taiwan, when Guo Min Dang was just about to fall. He also said, he heard about same stories, same atmosphere, from his Korean friends, when Korea was undergoing the change of government. 

Examples from Taiwan and Korea

He himself also admitted, changes will certainly cause some degree of troubles, such as commotion, confusion, bribery, etc. But without changes, these problems are gonna surface, sooner or later. Both Taiwan and Korea have gone through hard times, when their political structure was drastically changed. Changes may be hard, and sometimes blood will shed in the worst case scenario. But this time, Malaysia can be different from all the other countries that had gone through  the similar changes. By learning from the history, changes can be done faster, but certainly not instantly. 

Shouldn't be too optimistic

People shouldn't be too optimistic about PKR. Change won't be perfect, and takes time. Just like bribing a cop instead of getting a summon. People in Malaysia are still very used to bribe the cop. It is a habit, and hard to get rid of. But the point is not getting rid of the habit right away, but to realize that it is a bad habit. And PR isn't perfect either. There are PAS, DAP, PKR, ex-BN members, ex-NGO etc. in PR. There are so many different voices within, and different views about their own ideal government. To work in harmony, there is still so much to do.   

People's worries

There are still many people worry about what will happen after the election. Violence? Will the army give respect to the new government, if PR is the new government? As the majority of the audiences are Chinese, a concern about Chinese becoming minority and having less and less influence was also raised. Liang's answer is we shouldn't worry about it. Liang is  particularly furious about Malaysia current government using the fear of other ethnics taking over the country, against each other, such as talking shit about Malays in front of Chinese, and talking shit of Chinese in front of Malays, etc.., building unnecessary sense of threat among Malaysians. It is just not right. 

The fear of becoming an Islamic country

Apart of the fear of other ethnics, there is also a fear of Malaysia becoming an Islamic country among Chinese. I think Liang's answer on this issue is brilliant. He said, the fear is non sense. What do we mean by Islamic country? Turkey's model of Islamic country? Or Iran's model? Or Indonesia? Or Kelantan's model? There are so many different forms of Islamic country. We shouldn't look solely at the states governed by PAS. And becoming an Islamic country isn't necessarily a bad thing. What BN said about religion and all is yet again, to create fear among us. Exactly what I think too. I think Islam as a religion, is distorted in the mind of many Chinese. Chinese tends to relate many negative things with Islam and all. We really need to get rid of all these misconceptions about each other.  

What if PR loses the election?

Many might notice too, that many opposition leaders are old already. It seems like this is the only shot we have to change government, like the famous slogan, "Ini Kali Lah!". But even if BN wins again, they will no longer be a powerful one-sided government anymore, and they gonna have to make many future policies together with the opposition. He said we shouldn't be angry and all, if BN wins. Many people do have high hope on PR, but even if losing, we are on the right path towards democracy. To quote him,

In democracy, minority must obey majority, but majority must also respect minority.

                                                              

I have to admit, Liang is my idol. My thoughts are heavily influenced by him. So what he said or I said here might be bias. Judging by his shows I watched and whatever he said in his shows, and judging by all the books he read, I really think he is wise man, and his point of view, his thoughts are well formulated, hence trustworthy. But on the safe side, we must always be skeptical. 

In the end, I just hope I didn't distort whatever he really said or meant during the talk.