Stop taking Malaysians for fools

 

Are Malaysians becoming insensitive to political falsehoods? Do they not know whether things uttered, especially in political debates and campaigns, are true or false?

To put it bluntly, do people no longer care about the truth? Or are they being taken for an easy ride especially when top politicians effortlessly (or is it shamelessly?) condemn certain actions of their former parties and colleagues where they held key positions at one time?

Obviously, voters may understand perfectly well that certain politicians are lying, and ignore falsehoods when they are pointed out. However, I reckon many choose to tolerate being lied to without holding it against individuals or parties which they support.

This is a major flaw in most Malaysians and it is turning out to be the nation’s worst enemy, causing the country’s image to take a severe beating. And the wrong leaders are taking charge to decide what’s best for us.

We all know that when Pakatan Harapan was in power, among the major reasons that they only lasted 22 months was its blatant disregard for its much touted manifesto, which was treated like a mere piece of paper by Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Of course, this was besides the Sheraton Move that was spearheaded by a push for Malay-Muslim supremacy by Bersatu and PAS mainly while Umno was on the periphery in a bid to get back into power.

Most Perikatan Nasional leaders obviously have very short memories or they are pretty confident that the voters forget easily, going by their public declarations.

Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement a few days ago stands out, when he said PN is not like PH when it comes to lying. This is laughable, as he was the president of Bersatu which held key positions in the PH government for 22 months.

“We are not PH. During its time, it promised many things but then Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the manifesto does not need to be abided by. We won’t lie to Malaysians. When we’ve made a promise, we will fulfil them. Our religion demands it,” he said.

Muhyiddin held the key position of home minister and had direct access to Mahathir, I was told. Just what were he and all his Bersatu leaders doing when Mahathir was blurting many unacceptable and preposterous reasons for not keeping PH’s pledges made before the last general election?

And then Muhyiddin said he, not Mahathir, took the step to form Bersatu, as he wanted the struggle or “jihad” against kleptocracy to be effective, which had to be with a strong group on a political platform. However, this was quickly denied by an aide to Mahathir.

But to claim that his struggle was a jihad against kleptocracy made no sense as he worked with the alleged kleptocrats to bring down the PH government, paving the way for him to become prime minister.

Also joining this bandwagon of demagogues was PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, who touted PN as a coalition of non-extremists and a party that can cure Barisan Nasional’s weaknesses.

PN and BN have made their candidates sign statutory declarations (SDs) stating they will not leave their parties if they win while PN made its candidates sign anti-corruption pledges in a bid to convince poor Malaysians that whatever is happening now will not recur.

As a voter, it insults my intelligence that they are doing the same things all over again despite Malaysians knowing these documents have absolutely no value.

As for SDs, they can be countered by new ones to nullify their earlier declarations, as a couple of Warisan representatives in Sabah did recently. Even a RM10 million penalty clause in contracts between the party and candidates has failed to deter the party hoppers.

There have been thousands of memes, TikTok clips and posts in other social media platforms that expose the double speak of many leaders and yet they continue doing this as if Malaysians do not read or listen.

Having said this, what makes Malaysians accept the lies, treachery and political stupidity in our midst? How is this possible? How can lying demagogues find traction in societies with proud histories of democracy and honesty?

In Malaysia, and maybe in most other societies, support for certain leaders remains stable no matter how much people realise that political statements were lies or inaccurate. That, sadly, is the truth, at least for now. - FMT

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