Election hype and debates
It is not up to the political elites to decide what is, or what is not, Malaysian culture, especially when it comes to the much anticipated prime ministerial debate.
Three generations have passed; 12 general elections have come and gone; six prime ministers have helmed the bridge of the beautifully built but badly sailed ship of Malaysia; yet, there has only been one government, one ruling party, one business plan and one corrupt hole that those at the top keep digging at the expense of the rakyat.
By Howard Lee, FMT
The general election is just around the corner. At every corner you turn and in every conversation you hear, the election is being talked about passionately.
Regardless of whichever side of the political divide one stands on, the future of the nation is at stake, our fates as well as those of our children and their children hang in the balance.
The Malaysian experiment in democracy had at its core the guiding principles of progress through ‘check and balance’, and mechanisms such as the ‘separation of powers’ and two tiered parliamentary representation built in to ensure a progressive union of the rakyat.
However instead of progress, the experiment has pushed our country further away from its goals.
Three generations have passed; 12 general elections have come and gone; six prime ministers have helmed the bridge of the beautifully built but badly sailed ship of Malaysia; yet, there has only been one government, one ruling party, one business plan and one corrupt hole that those at the top keep digging at the expense of the rakyat.
All this has been garnished by lies after deceptions, time and time again.
I was recently lucky enough to spend two weeks in America, during the last frantic few weeks of campaigning for the recent US presidential election. Though I am no stranger to foreign politics – having been involved in British politics with the Liberal Democrats – being in New York two weeks before the acid test of Obama’s new politics of Hope and Change, was nothing short of an eye opener.
Fortunate enough to be present for three out of the four most important debates in the US legislative term; namely the vice presidential debate, the presidential town hall debate, and the presidential foreign policy debate, I never knew where my threshold for overdosing on politicking was, until now.
Polls in the US
On TV, analysts and spokespersons from both sides of the divide were interviewed on split screens around the clock and across time zones, whilst live debates and polls assessed every nuance, slip, or hidden meaning behind the speaker’s words.
Competition raged amongst the countless TV channels to deliver the most impressive visual presentations of the latest polling figures, not to mention opinion pieces on candidate’s choice of words, narrative style, perceptive strategy, body language, and last and sometimes seemingly least, their stand on the various pressing issues and topics they stood for.
Granted, the buzz surrounding the debate does tend to verge on the side of overkill. More often than not, both parties employ huge resources and go startling lengths to tear apart their opponent with minute details.
But this façade (although it must be navigated with care) does not take away from the ultimate purpose: to inform and to get people talking about each candidate and what policies they stand for.
My daily 15-minute queue for my Sumatran Macchiato in Starbucks saw students of all hues and accents discussing politics; teenagers whining about how uncool one candidate was compared to the other; and a group of high-powered well-dressed business women biting at one of the talking points.
It was a big deal! Whether it was the substance that they cared about, or simply the presentation, they were certainly participating in the discussion.
All that, can be said for every elections, in every democratic nation in the modern world.
It’s definitely applicable to our political reality in Malaysia. But one could be quite surprised to find that the above paragraph is a statement made by an American citizen of Mexican descent in his 20’s named Miguel working as a barman in New York. And it’s not Malaysia he’s talking about.
Ultimately, through extensive debates and the public dismantling of policy; each and every member of the public has the opportunity if he or she wishes to become part of the debate.
