Malaysians must learn to notice the difference between political posturing and real championing of the people’s interests.
A LEARNED and articulate friend who’s a veteran in the legal fraternity did not contain his disgust towards the mainstream media during our last lunch meet.
Clearly distracted from the sumptuous spread on his banana leaf, he let it all fly, accusing newspapers of breaching new levels of banality and unfairness.
It was obvious that much of his tirade had something to do with reports on the ongoing Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy II trial and coverage of stories about problems faced by PKR and DAP.
In a gist, his point was: There are so many things going wrong with the country – economic numbers are bad, FDIs are down and peoples’ problems are mounting, etc. – but the media are only focuses on making the Opposition look bad.
Never mind the fact that the topic of discussion during our previous lunch date was what made the headlines then: racist remarks by a former aide to the Prime Minister who has since resigned.
Of course, this comes from yet another of my friends who no longer reads the newspapers but “just skims through them” for the sake of knowing what it is being published.
Like him, many say that they now get all their reliable information on the Internet.
But not this well-travelled and learned friend of mine, though. He confesses to being not Net-savvy and admits to relying on what his friends read and tell him.
As such, he has full faith in highly reputable publications like The Washington Post, which ran a very presumptuous opinion piece titled Why the prosecution of Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim matters to the West.
He also rates another report about an Australian MP condemning the political persecution of PKR’s de facto leader.
Yes, this group of knowledgeable folk share their photocopied clippings to reaffirm what they already know, and verily and firmly believe.
Much to the amusement of our two other regular lunch partners – a retired film maker and a fellow journalist, my banter with my learned friend ended on the usual amicable note by both agreeing to disagree.
The only question that comes to this friend and several others who always seem to get angrier each time we meet, has always been this: When it comes to politics, why do so many academically brilliant and highly rated professionals choose to only see things in black and white?
Surely, they must know that it is mostly grey out there.
And that’s the reality for politics everywhere in the world, not just in this small and insignificant country of 27 million people.
Yes, we could have been a greater and much more respected nation by now, 53 years after independence, if our politicians in power had ensured that the country’s fundamental systems of justice and good governance remained strong, and had done more to unite rather than disunite our diverse ethnic groups.
Let’s be honest about the ills faced by the country. Are they really new problems and issues, much as many of us would like to trace them to the sacking of one man who was one step away from absolute power?
There are none so blind than they who will not see. If we care to look, the root causes of our problems can be traced back almost three decades.
Ironically, personalities who were creators of the problems or used the corrupt systems to their utmost benefits at the expense of the country are still around portraying themselves as saviours.
Racism? Religious extremism? Failed educational policies? Take your pick.
Those among us, who have always seen ruthless politicians for what they are know whom to point our fingers at.
It is tragic that Malaysians are increasingly being divided by political partisanship. On almost every issue we are being forced to take sides and choose which one to defend.
At the core of most issues, the two sides are not really different, but the players are letting us believe that we are looking at night and day. Are we really all that naive?
American writer Mary Beth Rogers said only two kinds of people can afford the luxury of acting on principle – those with absolute power and those with none and no desire to get any.
As she put it, everyone else who wants to be effective in politics “has to learn to be ‘unprincipled’ enough to compromise in order to see their principles succeed”.
That’s the reality of politics and it’s being played out before our eyes. There are no heroes and villains. They can be decent or vile as they come, and we must be able to accept them for what they are.
Politics, after all, is all about power plans and an extended exercise in ego. As long as there are followers, there will be leaders.
Ultimately, all Malaysians, especially the learned among us, need to do is to observe and notice the difference between political posturing and real championing of the people’s interests.
So, when the time comes, just vote wisely. There is no need to continuously rave and rant.
> Associate Editor M. Veera Pandiyan likes this observation of George Orwell: All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.
A LEARNED and articulate friend who’s a veteran in the legal fraternity did not contain his disgust towards the mainstream media during our last lunch meet.
Clearly distracted from the sumptuous spread on his banana leaf, he let it all fly, accusing newspapers of breaching new levels of banality and unfairness.
It was obvious that much of his tirade had something to do with reports on the ongoing Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy II trial and coverage of stories about problems faced by PKR and DAP.
In a gist, his point was: There are so many things going wrong with the country – economic numbers are bad, FDIs are down and peoples’ problems are mounting, etc. – but the media are only focuses on making the Opposition look bad.
Never mind the fact that the topic of discussion during our previous lunch date was what made the headlines then: racist remarks by a former aide to the Prime Minister who has since resigned.
Of course, this comes from yet another of my friends who no longer reads the newspapers but “just skims through them” for the sake of knowing what it is being published.
Like him, many say that they now get all their reliable information on the Internet.
But not this well-travelled and learned friend of mine, though. He confesses to being not Net-savvy and admits to relying on what his friends read and tell him.
As such, he has full faith in highly reputable publications like The Washington Post, which ran a very presumptuous opinion piece titled Why the prosecution of Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim matters to the West.
He also rates another report about an Australian MP condemning the political persecution of PKR’s de facto leader.
Yes, this group of knowledgeable folk share their photocopied clippings to reaffirm what they already know, and verily and firmly believe.
Much to the amusement of our two other regular lunch partners – a retired film maker and a fellow journalist, my banter with my learned friend ended on the usual amicable note by both agreeing to disagree.
The only question that comes to this friend and several others who always seem to get angrier each time we meet, has always been this: When it comes to politics, why do so many academically brilliant and highly rated professionals choose to only see things in black and white?
Surely, they must know that it is mostly grey out there.
And that’s the reality for politics everywhere in the world, not just in this small and insignificant country of 27 million people.
Yes, we could have been a greater and much more respected nation by now, 53 years after independence, if our politicians in power had ensured that the country’s fundamental systems of justice and good governance remained strong, and had done more to unite rather than disunite our diverse ethnic groups.
Let’s be honest about the ills faced by the country. Are they really new problems and issues, much as many of us would like to trace them to the sacking of one man who was one step away from absolute power?
There are none so blind than they who will not see. If we care to look, the root causes of our problems can be traced back almost three decades.
Ironically, personalities who were creators of the problems or used the corrupt systems to their utmost benefits at the expense of the country are still around portraying themselves as saviours.
Racism? Religious extremism? Failed educational policies? Take your pick.
Those among us, who have always seen ruthless politicians for what they are know whom to point our fingers at.
It is tragic that Malaysians are increasingly being divided by political partisanship. On almost every issue we are being forced to take sides and choose which one to defend.
At the core of most issues, the two sides are not really different, but the players are letting us believe that we are looking at night and day. Are we really all that naive?
American writer Mary Beth Rogers said only two kinds of people can afford the luxury of acting on principle – those with absolute power and those with none and no desire to get any.
As she put it, everyone else who wants to be effective in politics “has to learn to be ‘unprincipled’ enough to compromise in order to see their principles succeed”.
That’s the reality of politics and it’s being played out before our eyes. There are no heroes and villains. They can be decent or vile as they come, and we must be able to accept them for what they are.
Politics, after all, is all about power plans and an extended exercise in ego. As long as there are followers, there will be leaders.
Ultimately, all Malaysians, especially the learned among us, need to do is to observe and notice the difference between political posturing and real championing of the people’s interests.
So, when the time comes, just vote wisely. There is no need to continuously rave and rant.
> Associate Editor M. Veera Pandiyan likes this observation of George Orwell: All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.
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