The Lingam video, the Batu Buruk riot, the PKFZ scandal, the massive vote transfer: dominoes. I watch from the sidelines as the dominoes fall, and I wonder at the perseverance of those who speak out against these travesties, and then I begin to wonder at the purpose of bringing to light these scandals. For justice, presumably. But there is no justice in Malaysia. In Malaysia, if you play by the rules of the game, you play into the hands of those who have a strangle-hold on the traditional sources of power.
The ones who released the Lingam video face jail time if they do not give up the whistleblower to, well, whoever. The soft loan of RM 4billion and more has gone largely unnoticed, sunk deep in the morass of more scandals. The blame for the Batu Buruk riots has been laid square on PAS’s shoulders by the powers that be. There is an admission of massive vote transfer into Ipoh, but only an apology has been offered. Little by little, scandals that would’ve rocked a properly democratic country have been swept aside by the government with breathless disregard, mostly because the sheep that Malaysians have become do not bleat loudly enough.
Maybe it’s time to stop exposing scandals, and time to “twist the knife”, so to speak. If you hold the government by the balls in public, if you hold the regime in general accountable for scandals, nothing will come of it. The IPCMC, fruit of a royal commission and probably the most public inquiry into the effectiveness of the Police force, should be sufficient evidence that the endgame will always be steered by government. What seems to be a fact is, in most scandals, there are almost always individuals involved. Individuals, and not groups or parties.
These individuals, the rotten core of a dissipated regime, should be the targets.
My point is, a frontal attack to gain public support will do two things: demonstrate the power of the government over information, and expose your flank. Take the current situation. By trying to establish the authenticity of the Lingam video, the government is implying that the Opposition might be playing dirty.
The government has seized the initiative (again, through the mainstream media), identified the opposition’s exposed flank and has gone for the jugular, in my opinion.
If those who released the video remain silent about the identity of the whistleblower, the government needs only inject the suggestion that the video was fabricated, and the people’s ignorance and credulity will do the rest to dismantle the Opposition claim. If the identity of the whistleblower is released, the government will discredit him/her by whatever means available - and control over the mainstream media will ensure that only the government’s voice is heard by the aforementioned Joe or Jane.
But suppose this recording was used against Lingam or that Chief Judge, in private. Suppose we go for the individual, and then squeeze. That might not win voters, (the government can ensure very few people are convinced anyway - it’s been doing so for 50 years), but the more subtle application of pressure with such a recording can drive a stake in the heart of government. If attrition yields no results (and the opposition has no resource for attrition), then maneuver must be the way the game is played, I suppose.
Just arm-chairing as usual.
Comments (2)
Take down the individuals? Hahaha!
Your article makes alot of sense until we reach the “go for the individual” section. Which makes as much sense as the current defacto law minister of malaysia (which is very little indeed). You take down lingham, the CJ, or even Najib, and it makes absolutely no difference at all. Take down Lingham 100 Lingham wanna beies waiting in the flanks. Take down the CJ? Well lets just say not all the questional judgements in Malaysia are attributed to the CJ alone…
You call this idea driving the stake to the heart? Well maybe in your planet the heart is just one of the organs which have been rendered useless through evolution. But here on earth, us humans actually need it to live… your idea won’t even tickle, not to mention kill…
It’s actually not so far-fetched if you think about the slew of scandals this past year alone. The AP scandal had one identifiable target, Rafidah Aziz. Mahathir’s campaign against Badawi had one identifiable target, Khairy Jamaluddin. The PKFZ scandal has a few identifiable targets, Chan Kong Choy and Ling Liong Sik amongst others.
In almost every case, accountability revolves around one or two individuals. So when the opposition releases information pointing to new scandals, invariably one or two people come under the spotlight. This is purely because ours is a political system run on personalities, not on issues - and the personalities in power are invariably the ones that cock-up.
So this aiming for individuals isn’t anything new at all. It’s been going on for a long, long time. My suggestion is, instead of allowing the government to paint public opposition ‘revelations’ as treasonous propaganda, more utility can be gained by using the information to effect change directly.
Perhaps you’re looking at affecting the system to engender a systemic change - but it isn’t bureaucracy that we’re fighting against. It is the people wrongfully in power that engender the attitudes inherent in Malaysian bureaucracy.
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