THE year kicked in with some fuss from political upheavals as reported in the mainstream media and I needed an antidote urgently to avoid falling into a depressive mood. In the twisty mindset I was in, I rummaged into my faithful buddy, the Kindle, but every self-help book I flipped looked banal.
With the New Year approaching, and newspaper headlines creating disillusionment against the backdrop of the celebrative mood we were in, I was looking for at least some false hope that the country will live to see a 2019 and that we will see some light.
I interrogated myself with dangerous questions and answered with blatant lies only because I wanted to begin the year with some positivity and finally I ended up writing this, still trying and half congratulating myself for a success that looked too bleak and hideous.
The year 2018 was momentous for Malaysians as we wrested the power to do what was right for the country and ourselves. We decided to overturn, we decided on fresh faces, we decided to give the newbies a chance and in so doing we decided the country needed to be healed after all the bludgeoning and reparation was critical to save us from the numbing annihilation we had gotten used to for decades.
The country and its people rose to the occasion with such potency that it shocked world leaders. In fact, we shocked ourselves too.
The euphoria lasted for some months and we celebrated the victory with such spectacle that shamed even the brightest star in the sky. We then waited for the new entrants to settle down and get habituated in the big shoes they were shoved into before they can start on the gargantuan tasks ahead of them.
We placed our hopes and the country’s fate in the new government which came with a manifesto, led by the most senior politician there can ever be on the face of the earth, we almost decided it was a perfect recipe.
It has been nine months now and save for the black school shoes and EPF for housewives, we have not seen anything else trending in the political circle that can be safely enumerated for people’s benefit. Sure, the courts and the lawyers are busy with the trials of corrupt politicians whose cover was blown and that is taxpayers’ money going down the drain. By-elections have also been keeping the new government drugged on dopamine.
The sceptic in some of us saw the flaws when the new government starting flaking and yet the majority refused to believe what was unfolding.
Time is what we do not have; as while we are waiting for that time to come, we might lose our wager and none of us will have the energy or the fitness to stand up to another round of fracas.
Politics is the only order of the day and it is evolved in complexity to an extent that we can’t even selectively numb our emotions on a bad day. Who did we vote in and who are the people ruling the country? The nation, it appears, is being governed by politicians for politics.
Of late, there seems to be a lot of attention on the rule of law. The most important point to note here is that politicians should govern within their powers and that the same law should apply equally to all.
Let us be reminded that predictability is an equally relevant argument and I am afraid selective blankness is accepted as a norm or a political strategy?
This happens not just in Malaysia but wherever politicians rule; the rule of law has little relevance as the decrees are bent and twisted every which way it suits the day.
Democracy is a vague idea despite it being the cornerstone of politics around the world. Simply put it means a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
On the occasion of the New Year, the new government and its leaders should develop an outward mindset. This basically means listening enough, minus the ego. The needs of the people should be the priority and then comes efforts and initiatives to fulfil the needs. Measuring the impact would be the ultimate and that will serve as the report card.
As they say, one important individual with an outward mindset can impact the whole nation, it is still not too late!
Happy “Newer” Year.
Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
