GE13: Sounding more like a broken record

Politicians have been saying the same thing for the last five years and nothing a politician says can be fresh.

They don’t realise that in the end a politician is a politician regardless of political affiliation. Politics is not black and white. It is not angels vs devils.

One Man’s Meat by PHILIP GOLINGAI, The Star

BLAH blah blah blah blah…, blah blah blah blah blah…, vote for me.”

On Monday, I was at a ceramah in a block of flats in Ipoh Barat parliamentary constituency.

After 10 days of listening to politicians since Nomination Day, they were beginning to sound like that.

Surrounded by about a 200 mostly working class crowd, I was getting bored listening to the speaker who is a nationally known politician. What he was saying was the same.

At the ceramah I felt as if I had died and ended up in a hell where I had to listen to Psy’s Gangnam song over and over and over again for eternity.

Politicians from his political divide have been saying the same thing for the last five years.

Malaysia has been in politicking since the political tsunami of 2008 that nothing a politician says can be fresh.

The politician who took a holier than thou attitude sounded like my mother.

Instead of nagging me to attend Sunday mass, he nagged me to vote for his party.

Yawn. Yawn. Yawn.

Bored, I tweeted: “I’m at a ceramah. After 10 days of listening to politicians, they’re beginning to sound like this: blah blah blah blah blah blah. #GE13”.

About a dozen Tweeters replied, echoing my views.

A friend tweeted: “It is getting a bit boring. Politicians talking about the same stuff. I wanna hear something interesting.”

Encouraged, I tweeted: “In the end, a politician is a salesman. He wants you to buy his dope and vote him to be a YB. #GE13”.

That was the last ceramah I attended in peninsular Malaysia.

I attended a ceramah when I flew back to my hometown in Sabah on Friday.

I was in Papar town about 30km from Kota Kinabalu. There were about 50 people in a house in a village not far from town. And from the number of people attending the ceramah (they look like they were his family members and friends), I knew this assemblyman wannabe would not be a YB.

Though I sleep, eat and drink politics, I’m tired of the rumours that I’ve been receiving since parliament was dissolved.

Actually, social media rumours are quite entertaining.

What is tiresome is the people who believe them.

While Malaysians were casting their votes I received unbelievable messages.

For example, over 5,000 voters in constituency X had their finger smeared with indelible ink. It happened from 10pm to midnight. Every single smeared finger is worth RM6k!!! Please go out and vote so politician X will not lose.

I told the person, who sent the WhatsApp message to me, to do the math – RM6,000 x 5,000 voters is RM30mil.

“I also nyaris tertipu (I almost believed it),” he replied.

Want another example? I bet a few people believe this rumour as they really want to believe in what they want to believe.

Via WhatsApp, I received this: “Dr M has departed from Subang to Europe. Reason he seek medical treatment.”

At around noon yesterday, The Star sent an SMS: “Former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad casts his vote at SK Titi Gajah, dispelling opposition claims he left the country last night.”

Today, I’m sure I will receive more outrageous SMS, tweets or Facebook and WhatsApp messages.

If you ask me what I will not miss the last five years is how a segment of Malaysians have the “you are either with us or against us” mentality. They are so self-righteous that politics is like a cult to them.

To them, only their brand of politics is clean. To them only their politicians are clean.

I kind of laughed when some of these “clean” politicians ditched their party on nomination day and contested as Independents.

So how now? Before Nomination Day, these were “clean” politicians. But after Nomination Day, instantly like Maggi Mee, these politicians became “dirty”.

They don’t realise that in the end a politician is a politician regardless of political affiliation.

Politics is not black and white. It is not angels vs devils.

For the last one year I have lived a life postponed. I could not plan for a holiday.

Probably the most asked question in the last one year was “when is GE13?” About 99% got their prediction wrong.

Today, I’m hoping we will live in a less politically intense Malaysia.

I checked Twitter and there were Malaysians who were experiencing political fatigue.

For example, @Rekka86 tweeted: “Really can’t wait to get over GE. I think I’m done hearing so much news, the uncountable number of flags, banners, posters, ads everywhere!”

But the prediction is we will not get back our life after GE13. It will be politics as usual. We have awakened, politically.

I wonder when is GE14.