Whether for good or evil, it is sadly inevitable that all political leadership requires the artifices of theatrical illusion.” – Arthur Miller
THE quiet privacy and dignity of Melaka’s political image has been seized by an assembly of politicians who use bare-knuckle antics to address the “interest” of the people who are still nursing their wounds from real grievances.
Seriously, our expectations on these “prototypical theatrics” are so low that we make no effort to make moral clarity out of it. We ignore them and continue with our daily routines, unaffected by the who, how and why.
This only begets more questions that are not worth writing about.
But as of now, a dual orchestra of assemblymen from Melaka Pakatan Harapan have refused to recognise Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali as Melaka’s caretaker chief minister.
Meanwhile, the people have to choose between an election in less than two months and enduring a localised emergency. Either situation is unhealthy from a bird’s-eye perspective of poor Melaka under siege by its very own politicians.
These politicians involved cannot pretend that they do not know the costs and consequences of what they are doing to a healing nation. This incident has highlighted the biggest deficiency in the political system – the inability for politicians to stay together.
Sadly, the once-grand Melaka Sultanate that heralded the golden period of the Malay Archipelago in the 15th century is being factored as a state with infighting among its own ex-chief ministers.
How far have some of our leaders fallen from this origin?
Even in Sabah, alarm bells are ringing for the survival of Warisan with the defection of Sebatik assemblyman Hassan A. Gani Pg Amir to Bersatu.
Speculation is now rife that other Warisan assemblymen have a price on their loyalty, with a Sabah power broker on a shopping prowl for disloyal politicians.
With this kind of day-to-day news, the real political world has reached a point of insanity that is beyond the remotest imagination of social media’s fake news.
It is all about more money and more power.
We will take a deep collective breath and try to reclaim the romance of our nation and relook our national anthem Negaraku instead as a symbol of our unity.
In 1957, then prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj wanted every citizen to sing a national song regardless that unified people regardless of their background or ethnic origins.
The Negaraku lyrics have transcended time and space throughout Malaysian history. The lyrics are about who we really are.
Credit where due
The last appointments of ministers seemed like a chess game where all pieces were tossed in the air to land in any seat in Parliament. It was indeed frustrating. The myriad flaws in that selection process is still etched in our minds.
We should forget about all that for a while, move away from party symbols, and shift our focus on thousands of other Malaysians who have risen above the common herd and are doing their unconditional best for the people.
Here, I salute Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin who has broken his own track record by vaccinating 90% of the adult population, and has promised Covid-19 booster shots for 8.75 million frontliners and people in high-risk categories. Next year, children under 12 will be vaccinated.
The recent appointment of Shahril Sufian Hamdan, as economic director at the Prime Minister’s Office, is also commendable. Shahril is a Chevening scholar with a political science degree from London School of Economics, and has been a strategy and management consultant at McKinsey.
We remember him as one of the few who did follow up on some of his promises to Kuala Langat voters in the 2018 election, even after he lost to PKR. He was refreshingly honest and humble, and handled his campaign with dignity. This counts for something.
Another leader who needs accolades of gratitude is one of the founders of Parti Sosialis Malaysia, Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, a caring doctor who has changed thousands of lives in the last 30 years.
His main assets are his integrity, intelligence and commitment to society. For standing up for these beliefs, he has been wrongfully arrested, imprisoned and put through solitary confinement.
He has been fighting for the reformation of the Election Violation Act 1954 to monitor campaign fundraising, disclosure of donor identities and plug many other loopholes in the light of the grandiose, autocratic corruption of 1Malaysia Development Bhd. He had said:
The need for public funding for political parties creates a dependency on corporations and thus augments corporate influence over government. This is what fuels corruption.”
A political party that represents the poor will be a poor party with meagre funds insufficient to run the elections. Politics has become an industry by itself. Politicians need continuous cash flow to finance activities during the election period.
Since the Sheraton Move in January 2020, parties splintered apart, mushrooming smaller identical parties with diluted ideologies. Deep-pocketed politicians had exchanged currency with loyalty. They themselves have, via defection, brought some parties closer to an end-game scenario.
This entire system of running elections is costly and may become obsolete for a simple reason. Smartphone and social media technology have significantly replaced physical events. There may be no need for such funds in reaching out to people.
Here, I would like to cite the relentless work of Raja Singham from BAC Education, who has the synergy and the capability to run a “miniature government” with various impact initiatives to help schoolchildren, entrepreneurs, the unemployed, those suffering from depression, the poor, the hungry and others in need.
The food bank provided provisions for more than 2.5 million meals. His latest project – 1 Million Devices – distributed laptops or tablets to underprivileged schoolchildren.
His unorthodox outreach among various marginalised groups is symbolic and endless. The goal of these initiatives under BAC Education and Uplift.my is to fill gaps, help millions and to work together with all stakeholders to build a better Malaysia for all and leave no one behind.
There are some traits we must look for in the coming election. It has to be a candidate who dare to be idealistic enough not to turn a blind eye to injustices.
He or she has to have a clear vision, some serious introspection and a well-thought-out mandate. Honesty and truthfulness are also qualities that are timeless.
Let us relook our representatives and redefine the concept of candidacy, and identify good people for candidacy. We should do it now. We are running out time.
And, for the last time ever, let us not be in a position to choose a better evil. – The Vibes, October 16, 2021
Vasanthi Ramachandran is an author and columnist, and runs the NGO Helping Hands
