Of conversions, capal and batik

 

What the prime minister wears is of deep concern to many Malaysians.

His penchant for wearing slippers or “capal” seems to irk a lot of people. I myself prefer loafers but men my father’s age seem to prefer open slippers like his. And, as sprightly as the PM is, he is closer to my dad’s age than mine.

His regular “baju Melayu” outfits and songkoks are also sometimes questioned. I find his ensembles quite fetching, actually. He often chooses soothing pastel colours and dons his “capal” to attend cabinet meetings, or go about his official duties, and sometimes he even receives foreign dignitaries in these outfits.

Of course, there are many supporters of his Malay costume, and in equal measure, detractors who would prefer him to wear “normal” office attire. I do not find his “baju Melayu” offensive in any way. I would be concerned if I saw him in Arabic garb, like some politicians choose to wear, simply to accentuate their Islamic credentials.

Speaking about accentuating Islamic credentials, I think the prime minister’s decision last week to personally conduct the solemnisation ceremony of a Hindu who opted to embrace Islam, was disconcerting.

I realise that the PM and his coalition might be troubled about the opposition PN gaining traction with Malay-Muslims in the aftermath of the recent elections. So, he will feel the need to ramp up his image to show the populace that he can be trusted to look after the majority Malay community.

But for a sitting prime minister of a multireligious nation, which is experiencing unbridled religious fervour and fear, this decision was poor.

For Anwar Ibrahim, the Malay-Muslim, being invited to conduct this solemnisation ceremony would have been a source of great pride. And, for the former Hindu man, it would have been such an honour that the prime minister himself had inducted him into his choice of a new faith.

But for Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia, doesn’t this act send out the wrong signal?

He is expected to navigate this complex nation out of destructive religious narratives. We are a nation with a massive trust deficiency within our communities, and a country that has fractured into distinct regions that seem to be divided by race and religion.

I have a friend who jokingly sent me a note that the prime minister’s solution for the often-marginalised Indian community is easy – “Don’t worry, I will personally do the conversions.”

It was said in jest, but his witticism definitely struck a chord with me.

There is a meme making its rounds arguing that designated religious officials can do what the prime minister did – the solemnisation ceremony. But on the other hand, the prime minister’s job of managing our economy, reducing the burden for the “rakyat,” reducing tolls on highways, offering the country a better education system, getting a more efficient civil service, etc. cannot be done by any religious officials.

So, why doesn’t the prime minister concentrate effort and energy on the tasks where he can make a difference that matters, instead of pandering to political Islam? Fair question, I reckon.

Speaking of an efficient civil service, a misnomer at best – efficient and civil service – this week, the natural resources, environment, and climate change minister announced that the temperatures at government offices and premises will be set at 25 degrees Celcius to help reduce Malaysia’s carbon footprint.

And as such, all civil servants are now allowed to wear batik to work every day.

So, the government is reducing our carbon footprint by increasing the temperature by 1 degree from the current 24 degrees to the new 25 degrees. On its own, the experts will say it is a decent decision.

Of course, if the air-conditioning actually works in many of these government offices, this would be a fantastic gesture. But I have been to many of these offices where the chiller units have not been serviced properly and they just pump out hot air, and are terribly uncomfortable for us, the customers.

Successive governments have been lackadaisical about the maintenance culture in our government buildings and projects. The KL International Airport Aerotrain service is the most glaring example of shoddy maintenance leading to an embarrassing dilemma now at our main gateway-in for tourists. And, let us not even go anywhere near discussing the state of the Penang International Airport.

Maybe batik is the answer for our wonky maintenance culture.

I cannot help but wonder why the prime minister and his team are not focusing on the real issues facing the country. Instead, they just make populist moves. The Malaysian voter has slowly, but surely, become more sophisticated. So, sophisticated that they have gone back to basics.

The basics of food security, job opportunities, the quality of education for their kids, the cost of living, the rising cost of healthcare, inflation and such. Investments from abroad are necessary. Decent international relationships need to be forged, and our people need to be fortified to be able to support these investments with skills and aptitude.

Our prime minister should be leading trade missions all over the world, while whipping his team into shape by getting them to structure sound economic policies, and build concrete actionable plans.

If not, our country will just morph into a nation of conversions, “capal,” and batik. - FMT

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