A misnomer, and anyone who thinks they should be is either deranged or a whacked in the head. Or am I wrong? I think I am, actually, because perfect politicians exist. Perfect politicians are those able to pander to the most number of people for the longest time possible.
I wonder what political scientists think the lowest common denominator is, in Malaysia. Is it race? Is it religion? Is it ideals such as truth and justice?
I wonder.
In a free and fair elections, I might be able to guess at an answer, as would anyone from voting patterns. But without elections that are transparent, parties can only hope to read the situation on the ground, whatever that means.
In any case, politicians. It’s a wonder that people demand that politicians be faithful, law-abiding and truthful: holding up politicians to any standard, I’ve come to realize, is a futile exercise. Stupid politicians get called out and caught in the act, like Mohd Said from Jasin. Smart politicians get called out and are able to deflect attention from the truth.
(Only true idiot politicians stay out of any entanglements, don’t you think? They are either incurable idealists, naïve or exceedingly ethical, I think. Either way, they don’t last long, don’t you think?)
Which brings me to DSAI. I think it’s stupid to think he’s perfect. Then again, I think it’s equally pointless to demand that he be perfect by pointing out how he’s not. I’ll leave ktemoc to do just that (I don’t know how he/she keeps track of all that past news!)
Instead, I’m wondering what DSAI thinks is the lowest common denominator amongst Malaysians. I think it’s a more pertinent question don’t you think? It’ll define how he acts, and who he panders to.
Truth and justice? He sustained a political movement based on truth and justice. While in prison. Now, that takes effort and genius. It’s a big hit amongst some non-bumiputeras and all non-umnoputeras, definitely, and UMNO and BN’s own excesses make this a very attractive platform, doesn’t it? And DSAI’s many statements, press releases and videos make it clear that he’s pushing for such an agenda.
His most recent statement on the Lina Joy issue gives me pause, however. It’s clear that he’s prevaricating, not because he’s ambivalent about the Lina Joy case, but that he maybe needs to be careful how his opinions are perceived by muslims and non-muslims alike.
It was a careful statement that said nothing in particular, except to hide behind the assertion that Lina Joy should follow “procedureâ€. This will fly in the face of those who remember how he was willing to challenge a purportedly indictment that forces him out of politics till mid-April 2008 .
On the one hand, he challenges law and procedure.
On the other, he supports it.
But for completely different reasons, I’ll have to be fair: he believes that his indictment for corruption was politically motivated. I’m sure he’ll understand if some non-muslims feel that the result delivered on Lina Joy’s appeal was politically motivated. The congruence between Lina Joy’s plight and DSAI’s indictment will soon be forgotten, however. That, perhaps, is a pity.
With all of that said, I keep coming back to the one question I still can’t answer: what does he really stand for, and will he protect my interests as a voter?
Comments (9)
Holey Moley! the follies of our pollies.
Going completely off-tangent here, but it strikes me that given the unhealthy nexus between politics and business manifested in the Malaysian media ownership, I’d say both both our politicians and journos (not forgetting those journo-bloggers who were bumped off the gravy train) collectively, have credibility problems.
Who do we trust more, our pollies, our journos, or for that matter, some of our SoPo bloggers?
I really wonder.
I trust my dear old mum.. hahaha!
As for convergence, hasn’t that always been the case? Even if there never was any convergence, the question of trust is a fundamental one… have you ever met a politician you’d trust with your life, let alone your vote? I haven’t, honestly (which is not to say I’ve met many politicians.. hehehe), but in a broad, anecdotal sorta way, I’ll say trusting politicians is foolhardy.
They’ve got to show us the goods first!
(I sound like a voter from Ijok now, don’t I?)
As for journos.. well. Well. Hmm. Nah, I don’t wanna slander anybody. Our journos are very loyal government servants, though, that’s what I think.
Oh, wait-
Slander people? Nah!
I’m really saying there is a credibility issue with the newsgathering methods and the subsequent framing and shaping public perceptions process .
“government servants” It’s strange. How we always say this so reflexively, when really we know it should be public servants.
boss.. :)
just on the question of abiding by law. i have to say i’ve long been a bit torn on this.
on one hand: i personally take great care to follow laws. got busted for an illegal u-turn once, and have been repentant ever since. very conscientious :P :)
but i think about laws like illegal assembly, isa, etc.. these are clearly unjust laws. i also think about gandhi and MLK.
clearly blind obedience to the law is incorrect as well. but where do we draw the line? if dsai had decided to fight the ruling (could be seen as a pretty interesting decision indicating trends within the party), would it have been justified or not? i don’t think the answer is so straightforward..
in any case, i hope his decision not to - which caused quite a bit of discontent within party ranks - counts for something.
and yes, i agree that there are no perfect politicians (yet). but i reckon it’s our duty to push the politicians we have (or the ones we want to be) towards perfection..
anyway, thanks for the sharing :)
hehehehe.. the last time I heard the word “sharing” was when I was running away from my cell group hahahaha.. ah… memories :D
I’m slightly inebriated, so.. well, anyway. Laws against assembly or free speech aren’t really unjust in themselves, right? I think we got to separate between whether laws are just or not, and between the application and/or motivation of such laws, right?
In a state of emergency, laws against assembly are justifiable in the sense that these laws can be backed by sound rationale. However, what should be question is whether the state of emergency should be warranted in the first place. If I should answer in the positive, then it follows that the laws against assembly are, by necessity, warranted.
DSAI could have fought the ruling of ROS, but the law would clearly be in the ROS’s favour. Proving that ROS’s ruling wouldn’t be applicable to him would require him to prove definitively that his indictment was a miscarriage of justice. If he cannot, then it naturally follows that he cannot stand, under law, for office for.. what is it? Five years?
The law is neither correct nor incorrect I think. Wah, this one must get people with legal background to discuss, man. Anyway, I think the law is neither incorrect nor correct; it merely exists - or something like that LOL.
In any case, I remember this old maxim from some dead guy, who said “Justice is what a sovereign state says it is” or something like that. I’m paraphrasing. The BN has a tight grip on what is just and unjust. They do the talking.. for now, hopefully.
xpyred, am on course and yesterday discussed abt bloggers’ jabber on govt policies, freedom of speech, politicians… and guess what, nobody takes bloggers seriously wahaha.
who does?! it’s all mental masturbation anyway :p
xpyre without d d!
I take thee seriously.:)
I take nat tan seriously.:)
I hope BOth of you don’t take me too seriously!:(
Aiyah, in Malaysia the government takes every single little bit of dissent seriously lah. Almost every month Zainuddin comes out in the national press to tell people not to listen to bloggers lah, internet agents of the Zionist Regime lah, paid stooges of the decadent West lah.. it’s abit more serious here lah, :B LOL
@desi: I take you seriously! hehehe. I take opinions seriously, lah. :D
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