DEAR brave Malaysians,

terima kasih! Thank you! Xie xie nie! Nandre!

We made it. We did the unthinkable. We finally kicked Umno/Barisan Nasional out. Hopefully, this is the last we hear of them.

My name is Amran Ariffin. If you can still remember me, I’m the one who came back from Perth to help in Pakatan Harapan’s campaign, and wrote a very long letter asking for your support. You have done you part, and now, it is my turn to express my gratitude, to each and every one of us, brave Malaysians who voted Umno/BN out on May 9.

First and foremost, thank you to all Rakyat Marhaen. You did it. You put aside your fear. You put aside your doubt.

You put aside your personal interests. You put aside your ego. You put aside the colour of your skin.

You risked your friendships. You risked your family relationships. You risked being boycotted by your villagers and neighbours. You, Rakyat Marhaen, won the elections for all Malaysians, not the politicians, not the parties, not the personalities. Always remember that. You won the 14th general election for us. You are not weak. You are strong. You can kick any government out.

Thank you for your selfless bravery.

Thank you to all hardworking PH supporters. You went the distance. You spent your time, energy and money for a cause that you believe in. You never wavered. You never gave up. Not even when I told you in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam, three days before GE14 that Umno/BN was leading by a big margin.

You campaigned till the wee hours on the last campaign night. You helped ferry voters to polling stations the next day. You volunteered as polling and counting agents. You never stopped, not even after polling day was over. Thank you for your valiant effort.

To all politicians, thank you for facilitating the rakyat’s wish. We appreciate your efforts in coming together to defeat Umno/BN. However, let it be known that you are just the facilitators of change, not the change itself. You are just the agent of change. To hear some of you thumping your chests and screaming your lungs out that “my parties, my think tanks, my Invoke” won the elections is just nauseating.

In new Malaysia, we, the rakyat, are the boss, and you, the politicians, are the servants. Make sure you never forget that. Thank you for facilitating our aspiration, but please know your place.

Thank you, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, for leading us. If there is anybody who can claim that he or she won the elections, it is you. Not in a million years would I have thought I’d say this. Growing up under “Mahathirism”, I’ve always believed that you are the one responsible for the mess we are in. You built this nation, but at the same time, you ripped her soul apart. For this, I sincerely believe you are the best doctor to diagnose and cure our nation’s many illnesses. Thank you for bringing us all together, but never, ever repeat your past mistakes.

Raja-raja Melayu, in the words of the new Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief, you are an utter disappointment. Before the elections, some of you, especially the Johor royal household, openly campaigned for Umno/BN, despite portraying yourselves as being above politics. In your very own words, there is nothing wrong with the ship, only the engine. No sir, the ship is sinking and you are in it. You used your meek muftis to tell us Muslims to vote for Umno/BN instead of “Kafir Harbi”, even though there are no such people in Malaysia.

Even after the rakyat clearly showed that they are smarter and don’t give two hoots about your opinion, you still wanted to flex your muscles. You made us wait two days to have our new prime minister sworn in. You cut a back-room deal and made weak leaders your chief ministers.

Let it be known that the rakyat are watching, and don’t think for even a second that we will ever forget this. If you were doing your part as you would like us to believe, there is no way Umno/BN could have taken us, the rakyat, for granted for so long. As the Malay saying goes, you let them “beraja dimata, bersultan dihati”. For that, no thank you.

Again, to all brave Malaysians, from Pendang to Perth, thank you. Celebrate new Malaysia. Participate in new Malaysia. Share ideas. Embrace differences. Support each other. Ride on each other’s strength. Love each other, for they are your brothers and sisters. This is our Malaysia, our new Malaysia.

Again, thank you for reading. We finally won. Alhamdulillah. Now, let’s start the healing process. Salam. – May 28, 2018.

* Amran Ariffin reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.