Face matters this election

Face matters in politics because it is associated with a particular person, his deeds, or the party with which he is affiliated.

COMMENT

Perhaps only Asians truly appreciate how much face matters in our culture as few Westerners are able to fully comprehend the issue. Giving someone face is valued as much as filial piety, or respecting our elders.

When you visit someone’s house, it is polite to eat or drink whatever has been set before you even if you are not hungry or thirsty. Even a small bite or sip is better than nothing. Refusing to do either will make your host “lose face”.

If you are in public and an older relative says something that is factually wrong, you refrain from correcting her in front of strangers or friends as this would bring her the utmost shame. You only correct her when the two of you are in private, thereby saving her embarrassment and preserving her dignity.

But face is not just about good manners. In physical terms, someone’s face is how you recognise him or her. A photo of a person’s face connects that person with past deeds, whether good and bad.

In the current political climate, face matters. It matters a lot because it is associated with a particular person, his deeds, or the party with which he is affiliated.

A large number of elderly Malaysians reportedly do not care about the manifestos of individual parties. They grew up with one symbol, and that is the symbol that they tick at the ballot box every five years. This time around, many old-timers are confused. Some veteran DAP supporters have asked for the DAP rocket logo as they can only see PKR’s.

Politicians meanwhile come and go – many voters may not even recognise their MP’s face. The leader of the party, though, is a different matter.

For years, the individual opposition parties were reluctant to abandon their logos. When the decision was forced on them by the Registrar of Societies (RoS), supporters who had long urged their politicians to unite under that symbol were delighted. For them, the RoS decision was a blessing in disguise although many veteran politicians had mixed feelings.

PH’s political opponents are no doubt secretly happy. They know that Malaysians are used to the individual party symbols, and the ruling party likely hopes the electorate will be confused, especially when they find their party logos missing from the ballot paper.

Given the short campaign period, voters had receive a crash course on which symbol to cross, especially if they support the opposition.

That task was made easier by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is leading the opposition charge and whose face is known to nearly everyone. But then came the Election Commission (EC) which ruled that Mahathir’s picture could not be used on campaign materials. This has led to posters and billboards featuring Mahathir’s picture being defaced.

The electorate cried foul, especially since the picture of Chinese leader Xi Jinping has appeared on billboards beside MCA president Liow Tiong Lai while Mahathir’s picture has been banned.

But these acts have only brought more attention to the unfairness and bias of both the EC and the RoS. In fact, a survey has revealed that PH’s ratings have increased while Umno-Baru/BN’s have dropped. This about-face in voting patterns, especially for Malay voters, is unprecedented!

Mariam Mokhtar is an FMT columnist.