Malaysia’s Response to Trump’s Win
At no point in time did it occur to Pakatan leaders that they just might achieve more if they were civil to others, regardless of whether they were addressing their political opponents, the public or each other.
Mak Khuin Weng
Judging from social media reactions, many Malaysians were appalled that Donald Trump won the elections.
This is hardly surprising as online polls suggested that Malaysians favoured Hilary Clinton. Even DAP’s Lim Guan Eng called Donald Trump dishonest some time back and likened him to Barisan Nasional politicians.
And like BN, Trump is now in power. The 45th President of the United States. Other parallels include the fact that Trump won the electoral vote, but not the popular vote.
Statesmen Act
Our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak issued an appropriate congratulatory message and established cordial relations right away.
Actually, Najib has every reason to distance himself and his administration from Trump given all the anti-Muslim rhetoric Trump is known to spew from his mouth.
Trump has also stated he would abolish the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, so there would be no lucrative trade deals happening anytime soon with the United States of America, unlike the multi-billion Ringgit investment Najib scored with China just a week earlier.
Nor should Najib be on friendly terms with the US because it was just a few months ago that the US Attorney General raised the spectre a lawsuit linked to 1MDB and linked Najib to the whole sordid affair.
Indeed, many world leaders were rather cautious with their congratulatory messages to Trump precisely because “Trump’s victory heightened uncertainty about transatlantic relations,” as Donald Tusk, president of the European council and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European commission, puts it.
Despite all this, Najib maintained a level of professionalism and acted as a statesman with the congratulatory message to Trump even as he pursues better deals and a closer working relationship with China.
Mock and Blame
There were no congratulatory messages from the opposition to Trump for his win. Where BN leaders can demonstrate civility and restraint in their response in order to smoothen relations, Pakatan’s leadership was largely mute.
This uncertainty in how to react is similar to Pakatan’s initial muted response to Najib’s huge trade deals with China, and also perhaps due to their own earlier mocking attitude and opinions of Trump.
Indeed, the early reaction was a continued narrative of Pakatan’s low opinion of Trump from DAP’s Ong Kian Ming, who opined that Trump’s victory would inspire more racial politics locally.
This preference to mock and blame others is not something new, as Pakatan has been employing this narrative repeatedly over the years in local politics.
A recent example would be how the Penang state executive councillor Lim Hock Seng blamed the federal government for not allocating enough funds to fix the state’s flood problem while refusing to touch the one billion ringgit that Penang has in reserves.
Lim Guan Eng even mocks the public by saying, “Bagaimanapun, kita bersyukur kerana tidak mengalami masalah catuan air seperti yang berlaku di beberapa negeri lain. Masalah kita hanyalah banjir kilat yang masih gagal dibendung.”
They also employ the same mocking tone with each other for not being able to sit down together to work out a strategy, as is the case when Pakatan realised that they must cooperate or potentially lose to BN in the coming state elections for Selangor and Penang.
At no point in time did it occur to Pakatan leaders that they just might achieve more if they were civil to others, regardless of whether they were addressing their political opponents, the public or each other.
Work Together
Just as Najib can demonstrate his adaptability to embrace Trump even though their political ideologies differ greatly, Pakatan leaders too should find a way to reconcile their differences with each other and with BN.
I believe Katy Perry said it best when she revealed her parents voted for Trump even though she supported Clinton.
“Tonight my parents voted for Trump, but you know what? We will still all be sitting at the same table for Thanksgiving. And this is the moment we need to remember: that we all love our parents, and we all love our children… today is not just a finish line. It also marks the beginning of all the work we must come together to do.”
There has to be reconciliation once the polls are done, because the alternative means Pakatan will continue trying to kill each other politically while BN establishes dominance in Malaysian politics for another 50 years.
