Lu lagi, lu lagi!

Last week, I was in Jakarta on a working trip. The work was mainly corporate in nature, of which is very unfamiliar terrain for me. But it's good to explore new things once in a while.

Of course, being a highly intuitive journalist (oh yeah!), I decided to look around for stories that I could tell back home in Malaysia. Hence, the topic for this week's column.

Malaysia has just concluded it's 13th General Election and I was still in the mood for all things political. So I decided to check out what was brewing in Indonesia.

The love-hate relationship that we have with our distant cousin nation (really more of like a direct irritating sibling, I have to say!), has always interested me.

However, I have to admit that their brand of politics isn't very familiar to me. Maybe it's because they're a more sophisticated republic and have had several revolutions that it surpasses my understanding.

Unlike Astro AWANI's executive editor, Noor Azam Shairi, who is completely proficient in all things Nusantara, and some say even Singapore!

He recently introduced to me the works of the more contemporary poet Wiji Thukul when all I've ever known was the 1960s work of Soe Hok Gie.

But I do keep abreast with things in the archipelago and some of the basics, I do know (for example the previously mentioned works of Gie and, of course, their 'Ganyang Malaysia!' stance).

And I travel there a lot for their more energetic and vibrant arts scene compared to Malaysia. Films and music concerts are my main fare there, aside from their delicious Nasi Kuching and Nasi Goreng Gila.

But back to politics.

Indonesia is preparing for their next general election which will be in 2014. What's interesting is that they have direct presidential election, uncommon in Southeast Asia and totally alien in Malaysia.

It's interesting because in the recent election we had here, Barisan Nasional had actually gone with a campaigning strategy that put Prime Minister Najib Razak as the face of the campaign.

I'm sure everyone is still familiar with his slogan 'Sokong saya. Undi BN." Some might even say that it was solely his popularity that allowed BN to win with their simple majority.

Recently in Indonesia, a popular saying known as the 4Ls has been hot on people's lips, especially among the young voters, and it goes, 'Lu lagi, lu lagi!' (You again, you again!).

This coming election seems to be a frustrating one for the Indonesian voters because they have grown sick of the same old players plying the way to be the republic's president.

People like Megawati Sukarnutri (PDI-P), Wiranto (Hanura) and Prabowo Subianto (Gerindra) have either held the highest office, contested it or been second in command, before.

Their faces have been featured in the republic's presidential polls for more than a decade and the people are dying for a breath of new politics.

It doesn't help things when one of the main issues in Indonesian politics and governance is corruption. Neither does it help that these old players aren't actually known for their fight against it.

Looking at the discussion going on in the Indonesian media, there have been a couple of new faces that seem to be favoured by the young voters.

Joko Widodo (PDI-P), the young Jakarta governor, has strong support and is seen as one of the favourites to be nominated as a presidential candidate.

Other symbols of Indonesian new politics include current Trade Minister, Gita Wirjawan, and the former chief justice of the Constitutional Court, Mahfud MD.

I spoke to Indonesian political researcher, Candra Hamdika Rahman, in Jakarta and he says that Indonesia definitely needs to have new leaders for the good of a healthy democracy.

Listen to what Candra has to say:

Compare this situation with Malaysia and it is surprisingly similar, as Malaysian voters seem to yearn for a breath of fresh air in our politics and governance as well.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, although only in his first term as the country's premiere, cannot really be considered a new face in Malaysian politics. But he has been trying to make changes.

It began during the nomination when he decided to ditch many of the old faces and fielded fresh ones that many of the voters had never seen before.

And now that the cabinet has been announced, many of the ministers and deputy ministers seem to be new faces too (new to those in the Peninsular, but not exactly so for those in Sarawak and Sabah!).

And the fact that Pakatan Rakyat managed to win so many seats denying BN's two-thirds majority in Parliament is another testament of how Malaysians are yearning for new politics.

While in Jakarta, I also managed to meet up with Astro AWANI's favourite political analyst, Karim Raslan, who helps to put things into perspective for both Indonesia and Malaysia:

Clearly, in any country, politics and governance will always have to move on and continue to progress as its people progresses too.

The old will always have to make way for the new and the status quo will never be assured of being the status quo forever.

And a healthy democracy needs progress and change. In fact, a healthy democracy encourages and allows for progress and change.