My ideal politician
By Farish A. Noor ~ July 3rd, 2009. Filed under: TOM_Main.
(Note: This article first appeared in The Nut Graph, where as usual it’s much better laid out and has pretty pictures — Yusseri)
THE historian’s lament is that he or she is often witness to mistakes of the past, and yet is unable to prevent them from recurring. In the end, the historian is cursed with the Cassandra complex and accused of being a tiresome doom sayer.
At the risk of being black-balled from dinner parties, I would like to restate that our country’s current state of affairs should remind us of our collective errors in the not-too-distant past. For example, just when we thought that talk of a unity government was dead and buried, this wearisome poltergeist has been resurrected to spook all and sundry.
One is forced to raise, yet again, the most obvious of questions: How can we work towards national unity as long as there remain politicians who continue to harp on and on about the myth of racial-ethnic unity?
How can we ever dream of a Malaysian nation that is Malaysian in character as long as we cannot make that simple leap beyond communitarian and sectarian politics?
With age, I have begun to feel that the fight is lost and that our efforts are akin to the absurd labours of Sisyphus. But let us entertain a glimmer of hope at least, and in that spirit I would like to state my own preferences for what I would like to see in Malaysia.
The ideal politician
For a start, I would like to see a Malaysian politician for once.
By this I mean a Malaysian-minded politician who can genuinely claim to be blind to the distinctions of ethnicity, culture, language, religion and gender. A politician who is first and foremost a Malaysian citizen. And whose labour and effort are dedicated to upholding, defending and promoting the livelihood, well-being, honour and integrity of fellow Malaysian citizens, on the basis of a common Malaysian citizenship.
In other words, I would like to see a Malaysian citizen assume the role of politician in this country, rather than have communitarian representatives of sectarian interests dominate the political landscape.
Secondly, I would like to see a Malaysian politician who has the temerity and moral courage to state the simple fact that racial differences are an absurd fiction and have no basis in biology or history. This politician would accept that the ideological device of racial differentiation was introduced to Southeast Asia during the colonial period as a device to divide and rule Southeast Asian societies.
Form for malay, indian, chinese, lain-lain, with malaysian ticked’I would like to see a Malaysian politician who has the courage to admit that, as a nation, we have been conducting our politics for half a century on the basis of a colonial fiction that was fundamentally a lie. And that the time has come for us as a nation to grow up and admit that our settled assumptions about racial identity and difference have to be critically rejected for good.
Thirdly, I would like to see a Malaysian politician who has the courage to say that we cannot allow this country to be divided along sectarian cultural-linguistic lines. A politician who understands that we need a comprehensive, universal and inclusive national educational system that reflects Malaysia’s plurality while also uniting the nation under a common citizenship.
I would like to see a Malaysian-minded politician who has the courage to risk the wrath of his/her constituents by arguing for a Malaysian education model that brings together the diverse aspects of contemporary Malaysian society, culture and history.
In other words, an educational system that will be designed to foster the value of a universal Malaysian citizenship rather than to reinforce the sense of ethnic and religious particularism and differences.
I would like to see a politician who is prepared to have our history textbooks revised in order to reflect our diversity and the contribution of all communities to Malaysia’s development.
Fourthly — and this might be difficult for some of our politicians — I would like to see politicians who understand that politics is not a family business. And that the mantle of leadership of political parties is not to be passed from papa to mama to son to daughter, but left open for the public to engage and contest as well. As an appendix to that, I would also be happy to see a politician who can tell his/her son or daughter: “No, you don’t have to be a politician like me, keep studying and just be a good public servant and citizen, and I would be proud of you.”
Fifth — and this may be the most difficult one of all — I would like to see a Malaysian politician state clearly and with conviction that the instrumentalisation of religion, ethnicity and/or language as a tool for whipping up voters’ primordial sentiments is dangerous. And that we need to return to a national politics that is above all rational, objective and free of emotionalism.
Thus far, however, I have yet to encounter any of the above in terms that I can count as genuine or sincere.
The instrumentalisation of the vernacular language debate, for instance, is a case in point where political parties on both sides of the fence are deliberately standing on their soap boxes and playing to the gallery in the crassest of terms. And they do this at a time when the general standard of English in Malaysia has dropped so drastically that I have to reject academic papers by Malaysian professors who cannot string a single English sentence together without half a dozen spelling and grammatical errors.
This, then, is the absurdity of today’s Malaysian politics when it is patently obvious that our nation-building programme has gone off tangent and the existence of multiple educational streams actively and consciously divides our society further.
In a situation where politicians can talk about national unity while also calling for ethnic-religious unity at the same time, the rational social scientist is left baffled. As a historian of contemporary Malaysia, all I can do is record the insanity and inanity of the times we live in, and to remind my students and readers of the mistakes that were made not too long ago.
Yet academic labour has its own limits, and the limit of rational critique is reached when we arrive at the frontier between reason and un-reason. That uneasy boundary is where I am left standing today, and it is an odd feeling to be a historian recording the collective madness of a nation that has lost its way.
Rather than more bridges crooked or otherwise — built by crooks or otherwise — airports, shopping malls and monuments, we need to build some Malaysians first. And for our sake, I hope this process starts sooner than later.
July 3rd, 2009 at 14:35
Farish … stop dreaming ok. Its like you are dreaming for a goose that will lay you the golden eggs. This is what every anti BN Malaysian was dreaming when they were caught up with the euphoria of PAKATAN RAKYAT.
Yes … here comes the alternative party for the people. Here comes the People’s Champion. Here comes the champion for the Indians!!! H-I-N-D-R-A-F … HOOOO RAAAAAAAY!!!
Talk nonsense! PR is fighting within themselves and its shown to the public. BN is laughing like nuts. HINDRAF now may split up. PAS Youth wants to talk with UMNO Youth. Hadi does not want the MALAYS to lose their 30% edge. DAP is unhappy with Kedah state government, PKR Penang is unhappy with LGE. Kedah MB wants 50% development quota for Malays. LKS unhappy with everything la …
Fact? DSAI is quiet. LKS does not dare to speak up against DSAI on the scrap English issue. Kepala Pusing wants to hammer everyone in Parliament who is a BN member but does not say a thing about Kedah’s 50% quota.
What is that Little Boy MP who held a camera in someone’s house doing? Small boy got nothing to say BUT smoke in Parliament when its a NO SMOKING ZONE! We have politician’s who are embroiled with 2 wives issue, we have 2 Perak frog politicians who are caught in so called bribery issues … we have many more of such stories.
Only person I see who is standing tall is LGE and a couple of others.
July 3rd, 2009 at 15:26
Farish:
As a historian, I am sure you know that what’s happening in our country is not entirely new. Many great civilizations have come and gone because “DIVISIONS” created by human beings. The “divisions” that we see in our country today is driven deeper and deeper by our politicians, each with its own agenda. When there is DIVISION, there will always be CONFLICT.
I suggest that all our politicans see this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg0tOj6GRGY&feature=PlayList&p=C93D328E311223C5&index=7
If they have time, I suggest they read The Awakening of Intelligence by J Krishnamurthy.
To be an IDEAL POLITICIAN, you will have to walk either like the prophet Muhamad, Buddha or Jesus Christ.
July 3rd, 2009 at 17:37
Thanks for always being the voice of reason, political sanity and human decency, Farish. I for one am greatly cheered and reassured whenever I read your essays.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:14
You are one of the reasons i could consider returning to live in this beautiful but insane country. i wish there were more clear thinking and articulate people around. This is just a big thank you from an old fan.
July 4th, 2009 at 23:27
Doc Farish,
I guess we have missed the boat towards a united Malaysia some 50 years ago. Just look at our education system: We have majority of the Chinese sending their children to SRJKC, Indians to Tamil school,does not matter even if the school has 5 students,The Malays to SRK .
Even the idea of a Wawasan school newly brought down the government during Dr M ’s time.
One do not need to be a political scientist to know where the root of the problem is. Our neighbour Indonesia started right and you must agree they are more cohesive than us. So please dont keep pointing fingers at the wrong place and stop playing to the gallery!
July 5th, 2009 at 16:33
Dear Farish,
I would like to voice out my appreciation for this article and of course your point of view. I do share your point of view on this.
Nonetheless, I believe that ideal politicians would only exist under ideal conditions and this is far from what we have in Malaysia. Racial segregation has been ingrained so deeply into the way we do things that any changes that are voiced out against it will more often than not, be opposed. But still, I whole-heartedly agree that politicians back home should continually work towards developing the predescribed qualities.
Being a Malaysian student studying abroad, I have been condemned many times by my peers before for trying to voice out what I see is working here - this includes politicians and the political system being practised in the country that I am now in. Whenever they air the parliament session on TV here, I can’t help but feel a little embarrassed by the degree of civility displayed by the politicians. Sometimes the embarrassment would turn into anger and frustration because I know that our politicians are very well capable of tabling bills and discussing issues with the same degree of rationality and civility and possibly more. I don’t think anyone has to lose a finger for this to happen.
We pride ourselves with having a culture of kindness and mutual respect but the moment the speakers take the floor, all these are flushed down the drain. I write this not because I am ashamed of where I come from; it is the exact opposite. I love my country and I believe my countrymen are able to see past another’s skin colour. I believe my politicians are capable of thinking, speaking and acting rationally. Or rather, I believe that they are people out there who are capable of being politicians who fulfills their roles and obligations.
There is still hope.
July 13th, 2009 at 13:16
Greetings. I happen to come across this article by chance, and I absolutely love the message within the article. True that it speaks of ideals in a close to utopian manner, but hope is where things spring forward from. At least that’s what I was taught to believe in. =P
I’m curious about one thing however. How does one qualify to and become a politician in our country? Pardon my ignorance but I believe education taught and prepared us for almost every single kind of job available, yet I’m clueless when it comes to being a politician. I believe there should be some kind of course, trainings, or workshops to mould young people into a politician, right? I was thinking, why don’t someone promote these information to the young, to give them the opportunity to make a change in our country? I’m sure many would take up on the offer, regardless of age, race, gender, or anything at all. True that there may not be a “perfect” politician, but at least every single one has something to contribute to our country. Or that’s what I believe anyway. We’ve got to start somewhere if we want to improve. Raising awareness through articles such as those in here - marvelous.
Anyway, those are just questions to satisfy my curiosity. I still believe that we can improve with who or what we have, if we sincerely choose to. It’s a matter of making a decision, and sticking to it. At least that’s what I was taught. To everyone, cheers and have a wonderful day~ As long as the sun still shines, we definitely have the opportunity to see changes for the better~ (that’s what I believe) =P
PS. Doc Farish, keep up the good work on sharing pieces of your mind. You’ll never know who you’ll inspire or what miracles may happen simply because you put into words what you think. Cheers and blessings to you~ d=)