The last straw….
WHY YOU SHOULD
VOTE
AGAINST
THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMMENDMENT REFERANDUM
Face the FACTS!
- Most MONASH students are politically
unconcerned, most didn’t even vote in the MUSA elections. - However, there is an EXTREMELY
politically active minority, and these are the people who wanted to RULE
the student body. - If the referendum were passed, these
people would only need less than 150 names to FORCE a referendum to edit
the MUSA Constitution and instead of 75%, only 20% of the student
population will be needed to affirm it. - If such referenda are passed, the
politically active (which may include those who initiated them) will
reasonably make up a majority. - Therefore, if the petitioners and
voters are the politically active majority, they may change the
Constitution AS THEY WISH. - Adding to that, this referendum is
done electronically; thus having a high possibility of ELECTORAL FRAUD.
We, the Coalition for the Abolishment of MUSA
(CAMUSA), are against this referendum to preserve the student body’s
FREEDOM from a reasonably certain TYRANNY OF THE POLITICAL MINORITY. If
such referenda were passed, the political minority may, AS THEY WISH, add more
rules and regulations on the student body into the MUSA Constitution.
THE TYRANNY HAS BEGUN. Ask any alumni of our university and they’ll tell you
how hard it is to start a club, endless regulations on membership and financial
requirements to name a few. Adding to that, if you wanted to start a club that
is not to the taste of the members of MUSA and the Monash Student Council, what
chance do you have of forming it? Shouldn’t YOU decide what’s best for
your club?
DEMOCRACY is now being cunningly threatened as they are
attempting to weaken it in its name. Therefore, we, the Coalition for the
Abolishment of MUSA (CAMUSA), are asking YOU to do your part
in preserving our freedom.
VOTE “NO” IN THE REFERANDUM!
CAST YOUR VOTE AT THE MyMONASH PORTAL
(ca-musa@hotmail.com)
September 12th, 2007 at 9:05 am
I really agree with point number 1.
The students of Monash Malaysia have about as much political awareness as that of a cardboard. Albeit a slightly intelligent cardboard box (but let’s not get ahead of ourselves).
I have been a first-hand victim of such idiocy, especially since I myself ran for office in 2005. Our party, STAND had more substance than that of the winning party SOAR. But SOAR won because they knew more people. This is what happens.
Situation 1:
SOAR Candidate: Hey! Vote for me. I’m running for MUSA
Friend: OMG! Really? So cool! I’m so voting for you! Must support my friend right?
Situation 2:
SOAR Candidate: Hey! Vote for me. I’m running for MUSA.
Friend: Oh? What will be your responsibilities?
SOAR: Dunno
Friend: *Thinks for awhile* Okay! You’re my friend anyway.
That’s the sad reality folks. People don’t bother researching the candidates.
In short, MUSA elections ain’t really elections. It’s just a popularity contest.
September 22nd, 2007 at 12:42 pm
It sounded more like a feeling of jealousy to me. I’m not aware about what happened to 2005 election. As long as the people in the office deliver! Which i think they do!
September 24th, 2007 at 7:57 am
Oh. You think so? But I’m not inclined to take the words of “somebody” at face value. If you must make a point, do so without hiding behind a skirt of anonymity. It makes it all the more credible.
For the record, I never said that MUSA ‘05 did a bad job. What I AM saying though is that MUSA ‘05 would never have been in office were it not for the fact that most Monashians in Malaysia have a quite possibly negative political quotient.
Finally, I’m not jealous. I am however piqued at the injustice that is being done. But hey. If Dubya can be the President of the United States, anything is possible.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:42 am
If an actor is qualified to use a stage name. I don’t see a reason why can’t I
And there’s really no need to show my face to confront with you face to face. It’s a statement where its credibility doesn’t deteriorate based on my appearance 
Finally, you have your fair point of view. It just happen that I see it differently. Cheers…
September 25th, 2007 at 8:35 am
That goes without saying. However,
i) My comment is in response to Point No. 1 in the blog entry: “Most MONASH students are politically unconcerned, most didn’t even vote in the MUSA elections.” I am merely supporting this statement by pointing out a personal experience. Your point however has no pertinence whatsoever with Point No. 1.
ii) It is true that MUSA ‘06 has delivered. But once again the reason why this blog is even here in the first place is because the current MUSA council has apparently NOT. And one of the problems that might have lead to such incompetence is due to the fact that Monashians doesn’t know who they should or should not be voting for; they’re just apathetic. Can you refute that?
iii) Stage names are used for films, plays, soliloquys and Shakespearean toffery; not for debates. And if you think for one moment that credibility is not affected by anonymity then you are gravely mistaken. Anonymity makes a person not take responsibility for the things they say. The image I’m getting now is of someone who has got a lot to say, but is not willing to stick his/her neck out on the chopping block to back it all up.
iv) Saying all this really has no real instrinsic value. What CAMUSA has to do now is to take action. Either that or wait out the political year, which will end in a few weeks time anyway.
September 26th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Hello Eddie,
1. True. Students in the Sunway campus can’t seem to get a grip on student democracy. But whose fault is this? Answer carefully.
2. I don’t think this blog is about whether the current council has delivered or not. I personally think they’ve done an admirable job, especially for women’s issues, but then again, what can you expect with a feminist at the helm. I think this blog is really about some frustration at the lack of opportunity to exercise rights. But again, whose fault is that?
3. Applies to CA-MUSA too, wouldn’t you say? The whole basis of this blog’s arguments is anonymity, so I don’t think that should be an issue.
4. If CA-MUSA is upset with the current council, they really ought to be doing something more credible to voice their discontent. As it is, all they’ve been doing is posting up angry, anonymous letters (back to your third point). How can they expect to be taken seriously? Hence my conclusion that this whole exercise is little more than a rant.
Finally: who do we blame for the status quo of empathy among the students? You state that this blog is here because the current council has not delivered, but I think you also said this issue stretched back to when you ran for elections. Are not those who stand by and watch an apparent “injustice” just as guilty?
September 28th, 2007 at 3:54 am
1. Unfortunately, I cannot answer this question. Admittedly, MUSA cannot be blamed for this. Or can they? Have the current AND previous generations of MUSA done enough to instill enough patriotism in our students? I don’t know about the other batches, but I can safely say that MY MUSA batch (of which I was one of the School Reps) did not. It really is a vicious cycle.
One such example was a complaint made about our former cafeteria. However, instead of looking into the matter, let alone do something about it, the council instead defended the cafeteria. I think that this is not right. MUSA should be for the student body, not against.
So the student body feels that their needs are being ignored. As a result, they don’t see a point in being politically astute, simply because the people whom they vote in don’t seem to be solving their problems.
I have already graduated from Monash, but my juniors have been telling me stories about the C&S Officer. Of course, I wouldn’t know the other side of the story, but my friends have been lamenting that the C&S Officer has been going on an ego trip, and making life very difficult for the various clubs. This, in my opinion, is dangerous. The Clubs and Societies form the backbone of Monash. The soul and centre.
2. “I think this blog is really about some frustration at the lack of opportunity to exercise rights. But again, whose fault is that?”
Pardon me for being blunt, but the fault belongs to MUSA. The whole reason of MUSA’s existence is to ensure that the rights of the student body are met. The rights to have an enriching 3 or 4 years in Monash while they pursue their degree. So if the rights of the students are being repressed, then something is terribly wrong.
3. Yes. CAMUSA too is being anonymous. But can you blame them? Have the student body been given proper and legitimate avenues to voice out their grievances against MUSA? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who monitors the Monitors?) If they have, then you must question why aren’t taking them. Perhaps there is a flaw in the systems? Perhaps because nobody listens? I wouldn’t know. So what is left for them, aside from donning ski masks and blowing themselves up in the library, this is their next alternative.
4. Once more, back to point 3, do the student body have the proper avenues in which to contest the “system” by which MUSA is run? Looking at a parellel in our nation, why are there so many angry bloggers that hit out at the way our country is being governed? Quite simply because there really is nothing else that they can possibly do, aside than watch helplessly as their beloved nation goes down in the doldrums. Thankfully, Monash hasn’t reached that stage yet, and I fervently pray that it never will. But CAMUSA has proved to be one of the many warning lights that have gone off that something has to be done. And quickly. And if nothing gets done at the top, then the bottom won’t be able to do anything either.
And a word to CAMUSA: It is also time for you all to put your money where your mouth is. I have noticed that while you have been messaging me telling me that so-and-so has replied to my comment etc., I have yet to see a response from yourselves. As a spectactor, I can only say so much. But the ball, invariably, is in your court. And in any case, MUSA will be stepping down in a couple of months anyway, so one must question whether it really is worth the effort at this current point in time.
September 29th, 2007 at 1:47 am
Hello Eddie,
I have to say, I feel I have a lot more in common with you after reading your reply. It’s not that I fundamentally disagree with you, but rather I understand most of what you’re saying. I’ll get to that in a bit, but before that…
Yes, CAMUSA, please put your money where your mouth is.
1. I believe that there have bee instances whereby the members of the Council are left to believe that they are left to their own devices, since no-one’s going to check up on them. Somebody’s got to be holding them accountable; the students really should be doing so.
I would argue that it’s a mix of Mahathirism and the UUCA that has made students so apathetic. More of a political culture in Malaysia than anything else.
But that’s why I would back the more immediate reform of having a political party system, as there is in the Australian campuses. If the students won’t be vigilant about student union affairs, then the opposition can at least be.
As for the C&S Division… Well, the current administration has really been out to give more autonomy to each Division. They say they’re only following the constitution when they give this independence. But huge numbers can crush, and if more people stood up, you’d find things will change.
I’ll give you an example: I had an issue last year as well. I wanted something done about it by the council, but noone backed me up on it, despite the fact that there were some 40 of us affected. They’d say, “I have to study.”
I believe that student apathy has created the conditions we have today, and not the other way around. And I think that apathy amongst the younger generation has roots that go even deeper than Monash.
2. I agree that the council has to take up the issue of rights. But I also think that with so much apathy going on, the job is made much tougher.
As you have cited in your example of people who will just vote for friends - how do you begin to change a mentality like that? Can it really take less than a year?
As it is, this is why I’m surprised that CAMUSA launched its platform campaigning against the referendum, because if anything, I thought that might allow for more room for student rights and voices.
3. So a person’s right to anonymity depends on their causes?
I think they could stand for elections, and start their unexplained-and-no-hard-facts “democratic system” up, if they really had an issue.
4. I have stated repeatedly that I find CAMUSA’s objectives admirable, if it is to encourage real debate about student rights. Which is why I’ve bothered visiting this blog. But I find their arguments at the end of the day have no real substance (money and mouth, CAMUSA!). If their arguments actually had some substance, I’d truly jump on the bandwagon. But instead, with every new posting they come up with, I become convinced it’s just a rant, a revenge of sorts for some supposed past injury.
It’s true the current council will be stepping down in a couple of months’ time, but if this is really about the MUSA structure, then it shouldn’t make a difference to their objectives. Of course, we will only know if it is down to a personal grudge based on whether or not they (CAMUSA) are active next year.
Kudos, Eddie!
September 29th, 2007 at 8:27 am
You’re right. Looks like we do have a lot in common. Why don’t we iron out some major issues and put them up for discussion.
i) It seems that apathy is the biggest enemy of the political scene in Monash. Or any other establishment for that matter. How can we combat it? It is true that the cultural basis of Malaysia has contributed to this apathy - as you’ve said, the mix of Mahathirsm and the UUCA. And yes, we can count ourselves lucky if this problem can be rectified over the course of a few generations.
Excuses like “I have to study” is simply pathetic. If these people have chosen to make their studies the main priority of their Monash life, then why bother running for MUSA especially since it’s going to eat into a lot of your time. Unfortunately, that’s the current mentality in Monash right now. It’s just a place where people go in, get a piece of paper and then bugger off.
ii) Another major problem that MUSA faces is internal strife. Of the 4 MUSA batches I’ve encountered (Matthew Fernandez, Gerald Ong, Eric Teng and Dahlia Martin), the two most successful batches were invariably Matthew’s and Eric’s. Why? Because they were tight. They were united.
A friend of mine pointed out something really pertinent over coffee last week. The current MUSA batch is facing a great deal of turmoil and civil strife. Admittedly, Gerald’s batch went through that too, but the turmoil was ‘inefficient’ and ‘uncoordinated’. In this present case however, we have two very coordinated ‘factions’ going at each other; it’s like elections never ended. And while this goes on, it is the student body that suffers the most.
iii) I hope CAMUSA doesn’t go on next year. Simply because they will find no need to. Despite your claims that this CAMUSA blog is nothing more than a rant, no other MUSA batch I know fared so poorly to a point where it elicted such a response.
However, there is one thing that still intrigues me: we may very well be under the impression that there is a group that wants MUSA abolished, when actually it may only be one person behind all this. After all, nobody knows exactly how big this group is. I’ve said it many times and I stick by my belief: anonymity usually is detrimental to credibility.
Whatever the case, my time is over in Monash, and I’ve said my piece. I can only hope that things take a turn for the better.
Good luck, Another, whoever you are. And perhaps if you wish to discuss this issue further (even for the sake of the discussion), you can reach me at this.is.eddie@gmail.com
Cheerio!