LETTER | Baby Boomers, Gen X must set course for future generations

LETTER | It appears that the generation of Baby Boomers and Gen X are still trapped in a gilded cage of the ethnically defined era and politics from that time.

At some point, the Millennials and Gen Z are going to escape that cage and start a transformation in voting behaviour and alliances. Hopefully, when it happens, the country is not bankrupt by then.

Baby Boomers and Gen X should take on the responsibility and start restructuring things.

Voters, comprising mainly of the silent Baby Boomers and Gen X generation, are now split almost equally between two political coalitions.

For many elections, voters in the rural or outside the urban areas are always ‘blamed’ by mostly urban voters - who generally voted against BN in the last few elections - for voting and returning the coalition to power despite the various scandals committed by the same politicians that are slowly destroying the country.

The blame is repeated in every election that the BN coalition wins. It is like urban voters have adopted the lifestyle of blaming and complaining.

Blaming and complaining about everything but yet nothing changes. Many went on to blame and complain about the political situation, which some said was ‘hopeless.’ Meanwhile, ‘fighting’ between ‘corrupt’ politicians who just want power and don’t really care about improving society, continues.

They complained of nepotism and favouritism in education and the workplace that prevented hardworking, honest and high achievers from rising in their achievements and careers.

They complained their creativity and ability to express ideas are stifled. They complain everything in the country tended to be orientated around race.

Besides blaming and complaining, have the Baby Boomers and Gen X done anything to change it?

Do we blame the politicians for their failures to explain the scandals and corruption happening when firstly, the majority of the urban voters themselves failed to really understand the issues let alone explain them in simple form to a less educated person?

How many urban voters can recall and explain how 1MDB raised their monies, what they purchased, how the monies were moved around the international financial systems and where they went and their final destination?

This might be a tall order at present because Malaysians generally don’t read a lot. They tend to take in just the headlines and make an assumption especially when the headlines fit into their preconceived notion that all forms of corruption in the country are undertaken only by politicians in the BN coalition.

If the older generation wishes to set the country back on its trajectory of growth and achieve prosperity for all, regardless of race, firstly, they should first understand the why and how corruption happened and is permeating every facet of our daily lives today.

They need to help and reach out to as many people as possible for them to be well informed of all the various scandals emitting from the corridors of power and vote out the people that are not judicious with public monies.

Reach out to the people in the rural areas and take the initiative – missing from all the opposition candidates – to explain to them the scandals reported and how such scandals and corruption, if left unchecked, would destroy their children and grandchildren’s future.

Try not to personalise these scandals and corrupted acts but explained them in normal layman's terms from a moral and ethical point of way.

Any attempt to personalise the explanations with reference to politicians from the BN coalition is likely to result in quick frowns from long time supporters of BN as character assassination and have the credibility of your explanations questioned.

Let rural people be the judge of the acts being reported based on simple explanations and not those explained in mainstream media with flow charts and technical descriptions.

Rural people or even those outside the main urban areas, do not aspire to have highways crisscrossing their areas or have major malls built around the outskirts of their town.

What they needed are proper, accessible and affordable healthcare, uninterrupted utilities like electricity and communication lines and clean water.

If bombarded by news about how corruption will destroy the country and its future generations, they will get turned off and most probably switch off.

Let rural people be the judge of which politicians and from which party or coalition they should vote in the next and future elections.

It is the responsibility of Baby Boomers to correct what they failed to do and set the country back on its rightful path by getting everyone, from the urban to the rural people to vote for honest politicians who care and really worked for the rakyat and the country and not for their own selfish interests.

Can they do this before it is too late? Stop the blame and complaints and excuses that it is beyond you and what is not your responsibility.

It is your responsibility to leave behind a country that is peaceful and prosperous for your future generations and it is in your hands and not those of politicians.

If Baby Boomers and Gen X continue to gripe instead of act on it, for sure your future generations will inherit a country worst than when it first gained independence 65 years ago.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.