Would you attend a politician’s open house?

 

Open houses are not peculiar to the Malays. During festivals, they and the other races welcome family and friends to enjoy home-cooked traditional delicacies, exchange pleasantries, and hand over hampers, duit raya or ang pows.

Festive open houses held by politicians have also been around for decades, and are organised by leaders from both sides of the political divide.

Despite what they may claim, these politicians cannot deny that there is always a political element in welcoming the public to their official home. The politician will declare that it is the opportunity for the rakyat to meet their leader, shake his hand, and celebrate the festive occasion with him.

The member of the public may claim that he wants to meet the leader, gawp and gape at his home, and enjoy a free meal, but he will have to take his place in the queue and be prepared to stay in line for a few hours before he gets to meet the host.

Others may say that since the open house is funded by the taxpayer, they are only going because they have already paid for it.

When Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim dismissed allegations that his government had specially targeted the PAS-led states of Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu to hold the Malaysia Madani Aidilfitri open house, he cannot possibly think that all the people will believe him..

These states will soon hold their elections, and Anwar needs as much help as possible to garner support among the Malays for his unity government.

It is his right as the prime minister to hold the open houses, but it is also the right of the taxpayer to question him and demand answers. They are correct to say that the money spent on the six events could be better utilised to benefit more people.

As is normal practice, politicians from both sides of the divide have started to cross swords over Anwar’s open house.

Takiyuddin Hassan, the PN chief whip, said Anwar was using an annual Islamic event to achieve the government’s political objectives. He forgets that his party, PAS, and his coalition, PN, would do the same, if they were in power. Moreover, he appears to ignore the fact that the open house is a Malaysian cultural concept and is not religious.

Takiyuddin said Anwar was wasting public funds, and the rakyat may agree, because instead of one open house, there are six open houses that have to be funded (although those held in PH-controlled Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan will be hosted by the state governments). You may recall that Anwar’s pledge was to reduce unnecessary wastage.

In response to Takiyuddin’s remarks, Anwar’s political secretary,  Kamil Munim, blamed the PN chief whip for his hostility and for attempting to score brownie points.

Irrespective of what these men say, the rakyat have been spoilt by decades of indoctrination to accept free food, especially at events. In some places, people will only attend a function if they know that free food is served. Free food has become synonymous with Malaysians.

In the past, BN component parties would attract crowds with free makan, even at overseas events. The amount of food wastage is sickening.

Free food at the open house is a misnomer. Someone’s got to pay for it, and very often, it’s the taxpayer. The politician will not dig deep into his pockets to pay for the meals for 30,000 free loaders.

Of course, there are a few who go to an open house because of the “celebrity factor”, to take a selfie and shake hands with the host. They do not mind having to queue for hours and, in some cases, they still cannot meet the VVIP, who may be tied up with some other guests.

However, in the case of the six Aidilfitri open houses, is it not better to use the funds to benefit those who really need them? - FMT

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