80,000 youths turn on lights to 'SAVE MALAYSIA'

It happened in Indonesia, it happened in Thailand. It is now happening in Malaysia. And Singapore, try as it may to resist, will sooner or later have to deal with the same issue of youth-led change. For too long have the authoritarian governments - some say semi-dictatorships - of Southeast Asia had it easy.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak should have smelled the wind of change blowing near but ensconced in the plush, expensively-carpeted corridors of power, he dismissed it. He continued to rule in the tradition of his elitist Umno-BN coalition, setting off a few 'racial' firecrackers now and then to keep the 'masses' in check.

But Gen Y in Malaysia is a different force altogether. An online generation fed on literature where Good always triumphs over Evil and against all odds, they are smarter, much more articulate and conscientious than let's say the 'Flower children' of the 1960s.

And in eyes of Malaysia's Gen Y now, Good is Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat. They are the Gandalfs and Bilbos to Malaysia's youth. Clearly on the opposite side are Najib and Umno-BN. They are the Saurons and the evil Orcs as depicted in Tolkien's light versus darkness epic - Lord of the Rings.

Rise of the Black 505 movement

This then is the situation in Malaysia where the ruling coalition and the Opposition have moved from a controversial ballot to a new and uncharted battleground. The head-to-head fight is gaining intensity and this cannot be manifested more clearly than in Saturday's Blackout 505 rally to protest electoral fraud and to demand new elections.

Some 80,000 Malaysians of various races and backgrounds had flooded the field in Padang Timur, Petaling Jaya. Mostly youths in their 20s and 30s, they dressed in black T-shirts to symbolize the death of democracy due to the controversial May 5 election that many have accused the Najib administration of rigging to cling to power.

The youths showed no shyness or fear in calling for Najib and top officials of the Election Commission to quit and for Umno-BN to be toppled. Waving flags, banners and blowing vuvuzuelas, they shouted their frustration against the ruling regime's notorious corruption and ham-fisted rule.

Not the grand finale at all but the first

The youth-led uprising has left Najib and his administration in a bind. Wavering between using 'scare tactics' and the fear that he might set off an unwanted wave of public resistance if he overplayed his hand, Najib has been conspicuously silent, leaving his lieutenants such as newly-appointed Home Minister Zahid Hamidi to play 'bad cop'.

But instead of working, this strategy has made the 59-year-old Najib appear even weaker, exposing him as a leader with few ideas as to where and how to take Malaysia forward.

"This is not the last or grand finale but the first rally to consolidate all the ones that we have been carrying out. Before this we held many smaller rallies in various places and tonight's rally is to sum up those demonstrations. After this we will travel to other states such as Sabah, Sarawak and other places that we have not gone to yet," PKR women's youth chief Siti Aishah Shaik Ismail told Malaysia Chronicle.

"So far despite all the threats from the police and the authorities, the people are still coming to our rallies and this shows they know this is their country and the government should listen to them. This is why I say this is the beginning because we will not stop until they withdraw the outcome of the (May 5) election."

"I am surprised by the reaction. It is not only from the Malays but from the Chinese and Indians. And 60 to 70% of those who come are youths. This shows that Malaysian politics have reached a high level of maturity where all the different races can accept Malaysian politics."