Elections: of self-respect, honour, and principles

 

I have been taught that in the final analysis, life is about self-respect, honour, and principles.

My folks educated me to firmly understand that I have to carry myself with self-respect, but that only comes if I live honourably by keeping my promises. And they imbued in me a set of values that became the guiding principles in my life.

Unfortunately, none of these precepts matter to Malaysian politicians. They are the people we entrust our nation’s future with, yet none of them show a modicum of self-respect, honour, or even live by any discernible set of principles.

Politicians have a pragmatism that they fall back on, which is that “…in politics, there are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests.” It is repeated so often that it has become trite.

An iconic firebrand leader of a Malaysian political party famously said: “…in politics there are no permanent enemies or permanent friends, but there must be permanent principles.” But alas, even in the party he once led, the elasticity and pliability of principles is clear to be seen by all.

For the longest time in my life, I believed what the American civil rights activist, John Lewis, said. He argued that “…the vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democracy.”

So diligently, no matter where I was working in Malaysia or around the region, on election day, I would come home to cast my vote. Sometimes at great expense and inconvenience. I regarded it as my duty, and my inalienable right. Perhaps, the only real “right” I have.

But having lived through four prime ministers in five years, numerous skullduggeries in our political landscape, farfetched coalitions, overt racism, blatant religious threats, and U-turns at every corner, forgive me if I am a little fatigued and sceptical about whether my vote actually counts.

Please, do not mistakenly think I am an advocate for not voting in these state elections. Please go and cast your vote, and do your civic duty, as I will on election day. But will we actually influence anything with the electoral system we have, and more importantly, with the narcissistic, Machiavellian, and compromised politicians on offer?

I sometimes wonder if perhaps I was lucky enough to have bought a winning lottery ticket, and donated the entire sum to the political party of my choice that my potential winnings are far more likely to influence the government than all of our votes combined.

In 1993, philosophers Geoffrey Brennan and Loren Lomasky wrote about the “test of expressive voting.” They worked out that we cast a ballot not because we believe our vote will be decisive, but because it is a personally meaningful, public declaration of our beliefs. It fulfils the fundamental human desire to talk freely and be listened to.

But after all the chicanery in Malaysian politics over the past five years, where you and I are not party to all the backroom deals and horse-trading with our greedy, power-crazy politicians, I have to question if my vote makes a difference.

Our nonagenarian former prime minister predicts a 5-1 victory for the opposition PN coalition. The unity government with its cringeworthy “strange but true” coalition warns of a “green-wave” if this happens.

Our elections have now morphed to games of “would you rather,” in which we have to pick from a set of equally unappealing alternatives. I reckon our elections should be much more than that. Issues are not addressed, inequalities are not dealt with, our faltering economy is scarcely being attended to, local government is shambolic, yet our candidates focus on one thing and one thing only.

Fear mongering that the alternative to them is the proverbial “big bad wolf.” Our politicians, on both sides of the divide, truly treat us like sheeple that can be shunted one way or another, just by feeding us anxiety and terror.

“Would you rather have the green wave in charge?” or “Would you rather have non-Malays dictate terms in our land?” – these are the two repetitive narratives.

There is zilch about good governance, or what improvements they will bring to our communities, or how they will foster racial harmony in a fragmented nation, or how displaced and marginalised smaller communities like indigenous people, the denizens of East Malaysia or even for that matter, the oft forgotten election day “kingmakers” – the Indians, will be protected.

Indians are kingmakers for one day, but then will go back to being enslaved for the next five years.

No “ceramah” deals with this. The PH coalition scares the living daylights out of people by saying an Islamist government will take over if you do not vote for them. The PN coalition offers platitudes to non-Muslim communities by saying that you can “trust” them to look after the interests of all Malaysians, even as they chase away their own non-Muslim deputy president from attending an election rally.

I will go out to vote on election day.

But like many of you, I will not have a spring in my step this time round. And, I am not delusional enough to think that the current crop of politicians on either side of the political divide, actually care about you and me. - FMT

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