TO some people, such as myself, giving up is always an easy choice. Giving up allows us to run away from facing our problems. But giving up also means the end of everything that we have lived and cherished for.

Politics in Malaysia is messy, so say many of us. As if politics is not messy elsewhere. We demand almost the impossible. In our less-than- perfect life, we want to achieve perfection in everything else, including politics. Perhaps it’s due to our religious belief, perhaps it’s our cultural upbringing, or perhaps it’s merely our inherent hypocrisy.

Many of us see Barisan Nasional as a bad government. It has been perceived as corrupt, too long in power, a bureaucratic monstrosity. Its leaders are too lazy to think, too quick to threaten, too eager to spew race and religious diatribe. It’s the arrogance of power.

We want change and we want it now, so say many of us. We want a better alternative. Once upon a time, we thought we had a solution. It was called Pakatan Rakyat but the experiment was short-lived. To many opposition supporters, the spoiler was and still is the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party or PAS.

Now that PAS is in close proximity with BN, through its most dominant partner Umno, the opposition has come up with a new coalition. It’s a pact called Pakatan Harapan, this time together with the opposition’s old nemesis Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.

Many of us had voted the opposition in 2008. Many more voted for them in 2013.

Will we vote for Pakatan Harapan in this coming general election?

Some of us are tired of the opposition’s failure to oust BN. Yet, we know that BN under Najib Razak has gone from bad to worse, and will probably be even beyond that.

Under his administration, Malaysia is suffering from mega scandals that have caused economic downturn, falling of the Ringgit, loss of income, inflation, etc.

Many of us are angry when we see images of Najib in the mass media, smiling all the way enjoying his comfortable, uninterrupted life as he continues to allow racial tensions, causing more splits among us, fuelling further segregation.

Under his administration, it is as if it’s Muslims versus the rest of Malaysians.

Well, not really. But some deteriorating symptoms are here for all to see. To be fair, racial tensions during Mahathir’s era was bad but not as bad as it is now.

Today, racism has openly and publicly reared its ugly heads.

Pakatan Harapan is the alternative, supposedly. However, some people say its leaders are egotistical and clueless, and they like to squabble among themselves.

Similar to that of the leaders of BN, some of us say.

Hence, some of us are disappointed, frustrated, and jaded. We feel like giving up.

I too feel the same way, sometimes.

However, giving up means not voting for Pakatan Harapan, or not voting at all.

Either action will lead to Najib and his Umno-BN winning the elections, again. And we will have to endure his rule for another five years or even another decade.

There’s a way out of this quandary. With one vote each, we could actually change the government. We don’t know whether Pakatan Harapan will be better or worse but we do know that BN is bad and beyond redemption.

So, the best deal is to have a new government now, and we can argue and debate later. Some friends may think me a born pessimist but I believe even a pessimist can still hope for something better.

Many Pakatan Harapan leaders are good people; some are very principled although we know a few others are no angels. For now they are our best hope for a new government. Any other so-called alternative – sincere or not – is merely an excuse to put Najib back in power.

We have a choice to make. We can choose to give up and say that nothing will ever change, and continue to feel sorry for ourselves. Or we can vote for change. – September 1, 2017.

* Wan Hamidi Hamid is a veteran journalist with a deep love and knowledge of rock music

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.