Healing the sick: Now you don't see it, now you do

 

SATIRE | They gathered in hushed reverence, not with the usual discordance of yam sengs or champagne corks, but with just air bandung in quiet awe of the miracle workers of their community leaders.

The leaders were no ordinary Joes. They included the maestros of bureaucracy, the geniuses of red tape, and the experts of public policy.

With a flick of the wrist and a flourish of the pen, they could conjure solutions out of thin air. Or at least, they could conjure the illusion of solutions.

Five days ago, the community was treated to one of its finest performances. After 18 years of pleading for a hospital - yes, a basic hospital for 800,000 residents, the magicians unveiled their latest trick: now you see it, now you don’t.

The hospital vanished before it was ever built, swallowed by the twin excuses of “no money” and “no land”.

Initially, the government claimed that finding “suitable land” was a challenge. Although it had more than a dozen years to identify a site, it claimed that one previously chosen location had fallen through due to high costs.

Another site in a new township was then dismissed as too far, and the search for an alternative supposedly dragged on.

But money, it is said, is a great leveller. Land for data centres could be found without problems, and forest reserves could be de-gazetted for commercial projects. However, when it comes to people’s welfare, it is a tricky problem.

Voila!

But not this time. With elections looming and fortunes dwindling, something must be pulled out of the hat.

In a matter of days, some magic or illusions would even make David Copperfield’s illusions look “amateur”, was staged.

For real, the land “appeared” (yes, after 18 years of waiting) and all the excuses disappeared!

“We found the land,” the leader said, but refused to say how it was found, perhaps a magician’s secret? Was it all “covered” or did it suddenly emerge, or were those tasked with identifying a plot of land napping like Rip Van Winkle?

But it was a masterclass in prestidigitation. Who needs to go down to the ground to search when illusionists are available? Fortunately, the hospital beds are not places where you can sleep on promises.

The land appeared, the hospital would be built, but when? Procrastination is a prominent feature when announcements are made, but the time to go to the ballot box is not far away.

Hence, it could be expedited, but then again, so many promises have not been fulfilled.

No findings, no guilt!

Digressing, there was yet another illusion three years ago. A high-ranking officer had claimed that his brother used his account to trade in shares, and we, the lesser mortals, were told to accept this explanation.

No, it was an old Indian rope trick that got him off the hook. Lots of persuasion and the long arm of the then-prime minister to exonerate him.

There was a repetition of this shameful episode a few months ago with the same principal actor. The only difference is that the findings have been buried or lost in the bureaucratic process, and perhaps with the help of yet another conjurer.

Truth never far behind

No findings equal no guilt! It would be, as Sherlock Holmes remarked to his assistant, “Elementary, my dear Watson,” just as simple as pulling out a rabbit from the hat for seasoned artistes.

Just as magicians and illusionists seem to materialise whenever issues that truly affect the community are raised, there are also the likes of Holmes and the Watergate duo, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who peruse records and documents with a fine-tooth comb.

Hospitals can vanish before they are built, excuses can appear and disappear like smoke rings, and ropes can lift the guilty skyward while the public is told to applaud, but when prying eyes are fixed, the truth will emerge.

Each sleight of hand is performed not with cards or rabbits, but with words and figures - statistics twisted into props, promises dangled like scarves, and explanations stretched thinner than tissue paper.

However, they do not get past the truth seekers who want to see justice and fair play.

For years, the people have been treated not to governance but to theatre: disappearing hospitals, reappearing land, brothers who trade shares in accounts they never touched, and officers who ascend ropes of political favour to escape accountability.

The tricks are clever, the illusions polished, but the cost is borne by the people - the ordinary citizens who wait for hours in hospitals, who expect fairness, who deserve honesty.

But those days are slowly numbered as citizens continue to ask all the right questions and demand that their money be spent for the right cause.

What it needs is the truth, spoken plainly, without smoke or mirrors. It needs accountability instead of acrobatics, integrity instead of improvisation, and leaders who deal in facts rather than tricks.

What the community demands is not another disappearing act or conjured promise. It does not need bureaucrats rehearsing their next illusion or politicians perfecting their sleight of hand.

Because in the end, no amount of magic can heal the sick, build a hospital, or restore trust. Only truth can. - Mkini

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R NADESWARAN says this is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the products of the writer’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.