The Other Malaysia

Looking at the state of Malaysian politics and society today, at a time when the nation is caught in the grip of a collective anxiety over questions of identity and its future, it is heartening to note that so many of the efforts at nation-building, reconciliation, the fostering of a sense of nationhood and common belonging is coming from ordinary people from all walks of life. Almost all of the efforts we have seen thus far - be it in the form of defining the meaning of Anak Bangsa Malaysia to the healing of collective wounds and sensitivities - have been individual efforts initiated by Malaysian citizens who still believe in the Malaysian project and the idea that Malaysian identity ought to be founded on the notion of a common, universal and equal citizenship for all.

Such positive developments, however, are set back by the lame and insipid developments on the political front; most notably the turgid pace of reform in some of the political parties of the country, including those parties that claim to be founded on the basis of reform itself.

Most recently we have witnessed the pathetic spectacle of political parties totally unable or unwilling to undertake the task of reform in their own ranks, and failing to admonish errant members whose actions and speech seem to contradict what the parties stand for. We are told that this is due to political necessity and fed the same excuse that politics is a ‘complicated business’ where egos and personalities need to be massaged all the time. Then there is the other familiar excuse of pragmatism backed up by the equally lame argument of having to pander to the communitarian sensitivities of their vote-bases and constituencies.

Politicians, however, ought to be reminded that politics is all about the art of the possible and to open up new opportunity structures all the time. Even in the most desperate situation, the able politician is capable of finding ways of compromise and negotiation. And in instances when parties flounder due to the behavior of errant individuals, then parties will have to decide in the name of the good of the party and its image.

After all, consider this: If there was a Capitalist party that discovered one of its members to be a Communist, the Capitalists in the party would simply lay down an ultimatum to the member and tell him/her to make one of two choices: Either conform to the ideology of the Capitalist party or leave and join a Communist party. So would it be with a Communist party that harboured an errant Capitalist member. So would it be with any other party on the planet, for heavens sake.

Yet the failure of PKR to deal with issues of ideological consistency and conformity with/to party principles leaves the mind boggling. After all, political parties are composite entities that require wilfull participation of members who believe in the same things. Its not a dinner party.

All of this points to the now evident weakness of the man who has become the emblematic leader of the PKR himself, and who was the icon and idol for so many- Not least an entire generation of first-time voters who saw in him a new hope for the future. The ‘New Politics’ that was bandied about in March 2008 was meant to be a departure from the old mode of patronage-clientelist personalised politics and the ‘buddy-buddy’ network of the past. However as some senior PKR leaders themselves have come to admit, it appears that not everyone is equal in PKR and that some are more valued and protected than others.

The damage that this has and will cause to PKR cannot be gauged at the moment, but the lustre has begun to wear off. Perhaps the first blow came when the much-lauded and over-hyped ‘takeover’ of the country scheduled for September 2008 never materialised; akin to standing in the heat waiting for the space shuttle to take off and only to be told that the darned machine wont fly because the astro-toilet system cannot flush. A series of similar letdowns and non-shows have disappointed us all, and with that so have the admiration and respect waned. I am not the first and only one to say this, but others have noted too that the party now seems to be a case of all ’sound and fury, signifying nothing’ - to quote the leader’s favourite playwright. The Maharaja has lost his charm. The mojo has gone. And the party stands naked, exposed for what it is.

Ho well, time for Malaysians to recover their will and agency on their own I suppose. And that may not be a bad thing considering the appalling performance of our politicians of late.