Influencing the electorate the wrong way

Indiscriminate welfare payments, racism and bigotry appear very effective at moment in influencing people and galvanising support. But are these the right things to do?

COMMENT

By TK Chua

The by-election results in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar did not make the problems confronting this nation disappear overnight.

I, therefore, wish to remind the victors not to be smug and arrogant. They probably have not been able to fathom the magnitude and the severity of the problems yet. To those defeated, this is not the end, unless they themselves are now wallowing in self-doubt.

The problems we face as a nation are protracted and complicated. I believe not all, especially those in the rural areas, are able to understand. Hence, many are not able to relate the nation’s problems to their economic plight. Many are not able to see how their future will be adversely affected if the problems continue to persist.

Smart but treacherous politicians then come along hawking to them the easier things to understand. They give them instant gratification, sell them insecurity and promise them a rosy afterlife and paradise.

Hence, BR1M and other welfare payments, despite their long term adverse implications on human development, are becoming so popular. Overcoming make-believe insecurity with racism is now the norm while promising heaven and hell in a society that is insular and poorly educated appears to be the most convenient thing to do.

However, “things as they are” is different from “things as it should be”. Indiscriminate welfare payments, racism and bigotry appear very effective at moment in influencing people and galvanising support. But are these the right things to do?

It is my sincere belief that politicians and political parties must believe in something, not just dishing out things that the people are indoctrinated with.

Did the by-election results tell us everything is hunky-dory or did it tell us that the people were made to believe the wrong things?

This is where Pakatan politicians must make a conscious choice. Do they want to compete in welfare payments, racism and bigotry which are more effective at the moment or do they want to compete in prudence, inclusiveness and modernity which are a hard sell given their long gestation?

I get the feeling that Pakatan politicians are losing patience fast, more so after the death of Tok Guru Nik Aziz and Karpal Singh. But no matter what, they must try to do the right things, not by competing in doing the wrong things. It is an irony to compete racing to the bottom!

TK Chua is an FMT Reader