The hidden hand of underhanded tricks in GE13 — Jimmy Wong

When did politics get so sneaky that Malaysian political parties start putting up fake banners of their foes or sending emails using fake identities?

Who are these hidden hands? The ones who put up banners and buntings using DAP and PAS leaders’ faces. The ones who keep flooding my inbox with lousy arguments against Pakatan Rakyat (PR)?

Why do political parties resort to such play instead of confronting each other on issues of the day? Instead, they resort to sneaky dirty tricks to make the other side look bad. Does it work? No.

What do they hope to achieve with such tricks? That we will believe how bad these parties are? Isn’t that stupid?

In the United States, both the Democrats and the Republicans regularly take out advertisements picking on and criticising each other’s policy points. Why don’t Malaysian political parties do this instead of anonymous attacks?

Have we reached a stage where we descend into such attacks because we don’t know how to debate or are bereft of points? If all you can do is resort to such tricks, how can you even hope or dream of becoming an assemblyman or MP?

The emails with fake identities and the fake buntings and banners have the opposite effect on me. They make me question the people behind them and those who will benefit from such anonymous attacks.

Can you grow up and be mature, like politicians elsewhere? Is that too much to ask for in Malaysia?

If not, you don’t deserve to be voted into public office, you just deserve to be someone’s personal clown.

* Jimmy Wong reads The Malaysian Insider.