Young Malaysians must reject nostalgia politics harder

 

How do we know when a general election is turning its head around the corner?

One of the indicators is when politicians and leaders start the talk on nostalgia. When they start to reminisce about the “good old days”, then it’s time for the people to also start preparing themselves for campaigning season.

You might not have noticed this if you are a little bit younger and have probably only experienced one, or at most two, general elections.

If you’ve gone through more than three general elections, then you would notice it glaringly. But the funny thing is, most people still fall for it and can’t seem to see past it, and that is a problem.

Let me give you the first example. How many times have you heard one of our politicians talk about ethnic, moral and religious purity?

The discourse will revolve around how the different races are being threatened and that only certain political parties (or politicians) can stand up for their rights.

In reality, however, it is probably more important to focus on the social and economic situations of everyone as a whole.

If we focus on the economy, whereby we try to curb inflation, manage the cost of living, and provide an adequate base salary, then a lot of the imbalance when it comes to the socio-economic situation of the races will be taken care of.

Muhibah talks

Another example that I can probably give is the “muhibah” (societal harmony) myth, where the politicians talk about the importance of harmony and multiculturalism in our society as the spirit of being Malaysian.

This is kind of true because we do want to create a Malaysia that is harmonious and multiculturally accepting and understanding.

However, that would mean we ignore the complexity of the country’s social contract and how our society was formed.

It becomes a very sanitised public narrative which, in the long run, will create all kinds of interracial and intercultural friction. We can already see that happening today as things start to unravel.

In real life, I think we need to address how our social contract was formed and acknowledge the problems to solve them.

We need to take our country’s ethnic relations much more seriously because we are nothing if we don’t come together and realise that, in the bigger picture, we are all Malaysians first. Treat the problem and not the symptoms.

The reason why nostalgia works in politics is that it is much easier to rile up the people (voters) with feelings and emotions rather than actual issues.

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Slogans and one-sentence statements being uttered or posted on social media feeds can stir up fast emotional engagement. However, it doesn’t do anything for actual progress.

Real solutions, anyone?

It’s harder to actually build a campaign by crafting real solutions for real problems.

Try coming up with workable solutions for tax reforms, building a high-income economy, addressing inflation, and energy transition.

It would mean actually doing some thinking and work. But to be honest, would the people (voters) also want to spend time thinking about these things?

In my opinion, nostalgia in Malaysian politics isn’t just done because it is easy, and neither is it a harmless exercise.

It is a calculated and thought-out political strategy to trigger emotions and to dodge actual policy and administrative accountability. It’s a smokescreen to distract the people from thinking about and engaging with the actual issues.

What we really need to do as a nation, both the politicians and the people, is to understand that genuine patriotism and nationalism are not about idealising and romanticising nostalgia.

Instead, we need to have the courage to confront current reality and its problems. The best people to actually do anything about it now are the youth of Malaysia.

Young Malaysians are entering an adult society where the cost of living is skyrocketing, being a homeowner is unattainable, and newer forms of work like the gig economy aren't being treated properly.

Yet, our politicians and leaders are spewing out narratives that remain stuck in the time of their parents decades ago.

Youth must step up

So, the youth need to make the politicians and leaders hear their voices. They, and really all of us, need to reject this form of theatrical politics and demand better leadership and governance.

Let them know that Malaysians are not the superficial people they think we are. We demand more workable policies based on reality and issues instead of emotions.

The only reason why the politicians are still doing whatever it is they are doing is because the people aren’t demanding enough of them.

So, they feel that they can continue spewing nostalgia and emotional rhetoric because nobody is rejecting it. So, young Malaysians (and everyone!), please demand more before the actual campaigning starts. - Mkini

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ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academic. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.