An honest politician is hard to find

I met a few friends last month. It was August, so the conversation was naturally still about politics. But since it was August, post-election euphoria had given way to political punditry. Everyone has an opinion.

There was a common thread in our conversation. Many of my friends have opinions on how a politician should act. They thought politicians like Lim Guan Eng and Rafizi Ramli are competent enough, but needed to polish their PR skills.

My friends preferred politicians to keep some things private, and only air in public things that are perceptibly palatable. There are times, they said, when politicians should speak up, and times they should “shut up.”

Some of my friends seem very adept in the PR game of a politician. They say that Lim should be less aggressive, for he might rile up Pakatan Harapan’s wobbly Malay base.

They say that Rafizi should also be less belligerent in challenging Azmin Ali for the PKR deputy president post, since a loss would cut short his political career.

This made me curious.

Politician’s PR game

Our conversations before the 14th general election were the exact opposite. We lamented how honesty seemed like a lost commodity in politics during the reign of Najib Abdul Razak (photo).

We said people like former ministers Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Hishammuddin Hussein and Khairy Jamaluddin were more intent on keeping their political careers alive by staying silent about the massive corruption scandals. We moaned, we grieved, and we howled.

But now my friends seem more eager to accept "polished" politicians than those who are forthright and honest. They seem to prefer politicians who only speak when it’s politically advantageous, and avoid anything that could destroy their political careers.

They want careful players who are cautious of stepping on other’s toes if it would inhibit their chances of getting to the top.

I am having a hard time accepting this. I actually do not like politicians who are shrewd enough to charm audiences to their will. Or those who remain silent when it could damage their political careers, and only speak when the tide is in their favour.

How would we, as common people, benefit from politicians adept at fooling us with their polished PR?

Playing to the gallery

Here’s what I really think. I don’t think good politicians can always say the things the public wants to hear. Politics and nation-building are filled with conflicts and pushback.

If politicians appear to be able to say what the public wants to hear all the time, it also means they’re keeping silent when it matters.

Let’s be frank. "Good PR skills" really just means playing to the gallery. If a good PR game is your main concern, then it’s not too far-fetched to say that you are more intent on building your own political career than doing what is right for the country.

In other words, consequential politicians are those who care less about a good PR game than what is right. They want to do what is right more than they do what is popular.

And when doing what is right is unpopular, then they are ready to sacrifice their curated personas and embrace the unpopularity.

I think all of this matters to our democracy. We must rethink how we want to be included in nation-building as a people.

When we ask politicians to have a good PR game and not "air dirty laundry in public", we are essentially asking them to exclude us from the democratic process. We regard democracy as simply a transaction and nothing more.

‘Take my vote, leave me alone’

We say democracy, to us, is limited to casting a ballot every four to five years, and once we have chosen our MP and assemblyperson, then they should go off and solve all our problems by themselves. In other words, take my vote and leave me alone.

But surely that way of understanding democracy is insufficient – and perhaps even dangerous. It is much better to know the raw but ugly picture of what the situation really is than to only desire the smell of roses and the sight of butterflies.

It is better to know the skeletons in the closet that, for instance, drive Lim mad, than to pretend his predecessor’s mess was not as big as it seems.

It is better to know of the betrayals in the largest political party that so upsets Rafizi than to pretend the party functions robotically. It is better to know the reality than to demand a veil of ignorance.

For years, Umno had been masters of the PR game. Say nothing for long enough and the problems will go away, Daim Zainuddin once said. He knows that a good PR game can distract the people.

Najib’s good PR game got him to the top. The men and women who surrounded him also played a similarly impressive game that kept so many unsavoury things from the eyes of 30 million Malaysians.

But I prefer honesty.

I can understand why my friends think the way they do. I guess sometimes we do get tired. We’re already struggling every day to make ends meet. We don’t want to know more of our country’s problems, and face the mammoth task of building a democracy.

The truth is that most politicians do care about PR skills. They hide the lows and showcase the highs. But every now and then, we get a few politicians who dare to speak honestly, even if it means walking into the fire.

The least we could do is not to ask them to shut up. Because what they’re doing is including us in the democratic process when we’re too tired to do it ourselves.

And I’m sure they get tired too.

JAMES CHAI works at a law firm. His voyage in life is made less lonely with a family of deep love, friends of good humour and teachers of selfless giving. This affirms his conviction in the common good of people: the better angels of our nature. He tweets at @JamesJSChai. - Mkini