The donkey dressed in a suit

 

Politicians caught with their hand in the cookie jar should stop pretending they are aristocratic feudal lords and that they are simply stealing in service of us peasants.

Two of the most common defences when politicians are charged with corruption are (1) they only wanted to help other people, and (2) none of the money went into their personal account, or even if it did, it was not for their personal benefit.

Under feudalism, one’s intentions always override established processes and procedures. If your intention was simply to do good, then there is no need to concern yourself with process and procedure. That can come later. After all, those are just formalities.

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In a feudalistic society, an MP is not just a representative of his people. He is a type of feudal lord who has an obligation to help the less fortunate in his domain out of a sense of noblesse oblige.

Auda Abu Tayi, played by Anthony Quinn, spouts a famous line in the classic Hollywood movie “Lawrence of Arabia”:

“The Turks pay me a golden treasure, yet I am poor! Because I am a river to my people!”

That line would see his tribesmen break out in loud cheers.

Many of our politicians believe they are their own versions of Auda Abu Tayi.  They claim to be rivers to their people.

Millions, maybe even billions, of ringgit might flow into their hands, yet they claim to remain poor, because like rivers, they only know how to give, and give, and give.

If they have taken anything of value, it is never for themselves. No, no! Everything they have is intended to be given back as charity to their people.

They are lords, after all, and lords do not need anything from anyone. Some may not even need a salary. It is only the little people that delight in things like salary and money. The lords, on the other hand, only delight in doing charity for their “little” people.

In a modern democracy, where feudalism is no longer practised, one’s intentions, no matter how noble and pure, cannot override established processes and procedures.

Intentions are subordinated to established processes and procedures. No matter how good your intentions are, if you believe in modern democracy, you can only express your belief within the limits of established processes and procedures.

You are not some sort of lord or hero to personally jump into action to save the day whenever the little people are in trouble.

Rather, you are supposed to see yourself as a skilled worker – one who works in parliament or in government offices – to build and fine tune a robust, efficient and intelligent system that will be able to respond to the needs of the people.

If there are Malaysians who do not understand the distinction between feudalism and a modern democracy, it is probably because we did not undergo the kind of transition from being a feudal society to one with enlightened ideas in the same way Western societies did.

Colonial powers, however, did not run their colonies according to the tenets of these enlightened ideas.

In pre-independent Malaysia, coolies in our tin mines, indentured labourers in the rubber estates and peasants in the hinterlands probably had no idea what representative democracy meant.

Is there any wonder why the system of representative democracy often looks like a sham in once colonised  countries?

How is it supposed to work when the system applies concepts and theories that are unnatural and foreign to the experiences of the vast majority of the people?

Will it be a surprise if a newly independent former colony reverts to its old feudalistic ways despite retaining the appearance of a modern democracy?

When you are asked to choose between a primitive tool you know how to use and an advanced tool that you do not, can you be blamed for preferring the former?

Yes, we did learn about representative democracy, but as useful as theoretical knowledge is, nothing beats first-hand experience.

Theoretical knowledge merely gives you the appearance of knowing something.

A donkey dressed in a suit is not a gentleman. It is just an ass with an illusion of standing.

Corrupt politicians are much the same. They merely give the appearance of being selfless heroes.

In reality, however, they are thorns in our flesh. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.