Grandiose narcissists rule amid bitter political struggle in Malaysia

 

Kcurtsbmud…. sorry! No, that’s not Greek, Spanish or Arabic. Just read it backwards.

That’s how I felt when I read about the antics of a senior civil servant from Kedah who decided to name the government-funded stadium after himself, but with the name spelt backwards.

In a moment of grandiose narcissism, Padang Terap district officer Hakim Ariff Md Noor, renamed the local mini-stadium “Ffira Mikah.”

In his response to the outburst on social media, Hakim Ariff slipped into a moment of ostentatious stupor and claimed the name was a blend of Arabic, Spanish or Greek.

“It has nothing to do with my name. It has implicit meaning. It was proposed during the administrative meeting,” he reportedly said.

“In Spanish or Greek, ffira means something great whereas mikah in Arabic means angel.”

Yeah, right. And narakrap means the most gracious and wisest of them all.

From the same PAS-ruled state, its Menteri Besar Muhammd Sanusi Md Nor suddenly announced a discovery of RM60 billion worth of rare earth elements (REE), intoxicating Kedahans into a frenzy of pretentiously grand dreams for their future.

Obviously, they are all now in a state of hangover from that bash after realising that it was just another of the many grand announcements without proper plans or permits. It could well be a non-starter.

Earlier the same leader, who some say could be having a grand long-term plan to reduce the numbers of non-Muslim places of worship, announced it was against Islamic policy for the state to fund non-Muslim temples.

He was probably speaking in a state of spiritually drunken stupor as he forgot for a moment that this is a constitutionally secular nation, and his salaries and allowances also come from taxing the infidels whose activities involve legalised gambling and alcohol consumption.

Earlier, we had Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Annuar Musa, calling for a “Grand Coalition” of the party including those in Sabah and Sarawak with Perikatan Nasional (PN), in a bid to have a strong grip on the driver’s seat that they have wrested.

It was obviously another one of his high-sounding plans to legitimise the PN government which is under constant attack from a good number of Malaysians for “stealing” their mandate in GE14.

Not to be left out, the opposition got into the act by calling for its own “grand opposition coalition”. It was mooted by the smallest party in Pakatan Harapan (PH) Pejuang which is led by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

It was quickly backed by Amanah, the second smallest party in the coalition. It said cooperation among the opposition parties was needed if they wanted to make any headway in GE15 expected next year.

Obviously, it is overambitious, especially when these parties could not even muster enough support to vote out at least one of the 30-odd ministry budgets, let alone get just 15 MPs to stand up to have a bloc vote done during the first reading of Budget 2021.

Of course, the unforgettable Cabinet member who once had the word “Menteri” written on the face shield of her PPE as she went around spraying disinfectant against the coronavirus in the streets of Ampang, made another announcement last week.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said they would be spending government funds to convert the scene of the Highland Towers tragedy into a historic site.

She wants Malaysians to commemorate the tragic event that killed 48 occupants of the condominium on Dec 11, 1993, which is described as a dark day in the history of Malaysia.

So here we are, being led by politicians and senior government officers in a bubble of grandiosity when millions of Malaysians are worried where their next meal is going to come from.

I sometimes wonder if they actually know and can empathise with those struggling to make ends meet on the ground. Or if their officers who keep them informed of the electorate’s demands choose to tell them only the good side of things.

As we know, people experiencing grandiose delusions often describe larger-than-life feelings of superiority and invulnerability. In short, grandiosity is an exaggerated sense of one’s importance, power, knowledge, or identity, even if there is little evidence to support the beliefs.

They should know that this big word is defined as “impressive and imposing in appearance or style, especially pretentiously so.”

The keyword is pretentious. Basically, it’s just a façade even when everything is wrong on the inside.

Add narcissism to this, and you will be seen living in an opaque bubble. Published researches have documented that grandiose narcissists are characterised by high self-esteem, a sense of personal superiority and entitlement, overconfidence, a willingness to exploit others for self-gain, and hostility and aggression when challenged.

In Malaysia, grandiose narcissists seem to have attained leadership positions in politics and government. The problem is that leaders with these characteristics have numerous negative effects because of their flamboyant nature.

They have used this to become good political actors and managed to convince at least half of the population to believe their showy actions.

My only hope is that all Malaysians who have a hand in deciding who leads us will snap out of these illusions of grandiosity and help bring the pompous, showy and pretentious politicians down to the ground with a thud.

The nation sorely needs down-to-earth and unpretentious leaders at all levels in politics and the civil service. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.