LACE up your clown shoes and put on the red nose, fellow Malaysians, as we are in a circus country. Or maybe it has been one since achieving independence.
If it wasn’t obvious enough before 2020, then the past five years should have taught us a lesson – that we, Malaysians, are animals in a circus, and we are being willfully whipped and tormented by the ringleaders tussling for power in Putrajaya.
Just a few days ago, Pasir Salak MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman dropped not one, not two, but several bombshells during a recent press conference after his dismissal from the Umno Supreme Council.
Maybe he was throwing tantrums. Maybe he felt like he had nothing to lose.
Or maybe he’s just being his good old self, who once dubbed the LRT crash last year as an occasion of two “trains kissing”.
But he revealed that:
1. There were apparently statutory declarations (SD) from Umno MPs supporting PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister, led by Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi last year.
2. Zahid and his predecessor Datuk Seri Najib Razak are allegedly unhappy with Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s appointment as PM, which is why they keep pushing for a general election this year.
3. Tajuddin and several leaders in Umno, led by Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, planned to topple Zahid but failed.
TL;DR – according to Tajuddin, Zahid wants power for himself and is willing to do anything to get it.
“I can guarantee that they’re not happy, because Zahid wasn’t happy that he didn’t get the position – not for the party. He himself wanted to return to power,” Tajuddin said.
Let’s go back to 2018, before the historic election that toppled Barisan Nasional and installed Pakatan Harapan as ruling government with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister.
Dr Mahathir pretty much promised that he would step down in two years and let Anwar take over. But once he was back in office, there were endless slews of power play and evasiveness that it became obvious – there was no chance for Anwar to become prime minister. Ever.
For years, decades even, we have listened to politicians make promises and continue to fail to fulfil them once they’re in power. We lap them up and cheer for them, much like animals in a circus doing whatever they’re told because they are promised treats.
Much like animals in a circus, we have no choice in who leads us – only an illusion of a choice.
The best example of this was the notorious Sheraton Move in the absolutely not-disastrous-at-all year of 2020. And then 2021. And possibly 2022. You get the picture.
In nearly five years, we have seen through three prime ministers – two of them not voted by the rakyat at all, but merely elected because of SDs, letters of support, and endless meetings at Istana Negara.
We had to go along with it, because what choice do we have?
One difference between us and actual circus animals is that those animals have activists fighting for their rights. We do not have anyone but ourselves. We once placed our hopes in PH, and look how that turned out.
At what point do we say “enough is enough”? At what point do the animals decide that they’ve had enough of the ringleaders and break out of their cages?
How far down this abyss does this country have to go before it becomes too late to turn a corner?
Our history books teach us that Malaysia is glorious – escaping the clutches of the British and Japanese. Our history books teach us that Malaysia is resilient and our leaders are benevolent.
And yet, reality teaches us something else. Reality teaches us that our leaders are selfish and ignorant. They care about power and money above everything else.
They do not care about the people. They will happily leave the people to rot amid price hikes, food shortages, floods, and “kissing trains” if that means they can keep their luxurious mansions and thick wallets.
Many have repeatedly said Malaysia is “not that bad”, because apparently, we don’t suffer from natural disasters such as quakes and hurricanes – but big, bad floods, anyone?
Honestly, since when was bad governance a good trade-off for natural disasters?
Is it too much to ask for good governance and no quakes? – The Vibes, June 29, 2022
Nicole Ng is a social media executive at The Vibes
