Writing the wrongs of the ‘right’

Don’t worry, Malaysiakini readers. I’m not about to bore you rigid about the recent riotous and ridiculously failed attempt by the ‘far-right’ wing of Australia’s current government and its attack-dogs in the mongrel media to rid themselves of a prime minister who was too moderate for their tastes and replace him with one of their own.

But I can’t resist at least briefly expressing my elation at the fact that the victory of the at least middling Scott Morrison over the dire Peter Dutton and his political and media accomplices appears to be yet another promising sign that the wrongs of the rabid ‘right’ are coming back to bite them, and with a vengeance.

Vengeance they very richly deserve in the US, by way of the most vivid example, where, far from draining the Washington swamp as he promised, Donald Trump finds himself up to his wallet in alligators. 

This follows the convictions and guilty pleas of increasing numbers of his close associates on criminal charges, and the outrage of the majority of right-thinking as distinct from ‘right’-thinking US citizens at the racism, religionism, NRA-ism, protectionism, anti-immigrant, anti-environment, super-predatory capitalism and above all the fraudulence, fakery and flakery of his ‘madministration’.

And in the UK, vengeance is being wreaked on the far-right of the ‘Con’ - as in ‘Conservative’ government - and not only all the UK citizens it conned into voting for Brexit, but also the rest of the population that it failed to fool into supporting a move that is proving so catastrophically wrong that it should by right be called “wrexit”.

But, as I hear you students and fans of democracy cry, at least Australia, the UK, US and a great many other comparatively free countries have relatively egalitarian, equality-of-opportunity-for-all left-wing oppositions to offset or outright fight the wrongs of ‘right’.

And I couldn’t agree more. In fact, as a glance at the latest global tables ranking indices - such as wealth distribution, social services, freedom from corruption, liberty of the press, citizens’ life-satisfaction and flat-out happiness - tend to be highest in locations where the left is strongest. Like New Zealand, for example, and most of the Scandinavian countries. 

Perhaps Malaysia is headed for a similarly happy state of affairs now that its citizens have finally thrown-off the six-decade burden of the BN regime in favour of Pakatan Harapan. 

Of course BN was so far further wrong than merely ‘right’-wing in the conventional democratic sense. 

So far off that it was actually more what could be termed right-wring, in that its so-called ‘three pillars’ of its rule - royalism, racism and religionism - which in combination with the ruthless repression of truth, opinion and protest, were employed for wringing as much plunder out of the country, and as many freedoms, rights and ringgit out of the people, as possible.

With the triumph of Harapan, and its apparent if presently far from completely realised intention of restoring constitutional liberties and the rule of law, this sordid right-wring situation has hopefully been relegated to history.

But in my opinion, and those of many like-minded friends and colleagues, the Malaysian government still seems too riddled with potential for typical right-wing-style wrongs, and too bereft of truly common-people-friendly left-wing talents and tendencies to be anything like as progressive as possible.

For a start, there appear to be way too many people in Harapan, not to mention the civil service, with BN genes in their chromosomes, or the BN bug in their bloodstreams, or both, even in the cases of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed and his presumptive successor Anwar Ibrahim.

Then there’s the fact that, while great credit is due to Mahathir for his past successes in curbing the excesses of the nation’s 11 sultans and virtually countless royal relatives and retainers, these are still far too numerous, and too privileged according to both lore and the law.

Just as Muslim clerics, mosques and Islamic institutions of every conceivable kind are considered superior to their counterparts of other faiths.

A predictable remark, some might say, on the part of the avowed agnostic I am. But my personal enjoyment of freedom from religion doesn’t blind me to the fact that others are entitled to not only to believe in and practice their faiths but to do so equally freely.

Of course, in writing against any or all of the almost endless catalogue of right-wing wrongs, I’m all too aware that I have no power whatever to totally rid myself of them all, let alone to try stamping them out in Malaysia, Australia or the rest of the world.

But, like the many great Malaysian academics, activists, agitators, legislators and even voters that I admire, I figure it’s well worth going on fighting for right against the wrongs of the ‘right’ with all the time and energy I have left.

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DEAN JOHNS, after many years in Asia, currently lives with his Malaysian-born wife and daughter in Sydney, where he coaches and mentors writers and authors and practises as a writing therapist. Published compilations of his Malaysiakini columns include "Mad about Malaysia", "Even Madder about Malaysia", "Missing Malaysia", "1Malaysia.con" and "Malaysia Mania". - Mkini