How to stay sane now the Opposition has gone mad

Erna Mahyuni, Malay Mail Online

Congratulations are in order for the Malaysian Opposition for delivering nearly as many facepalm-worthy moments as Barisan.

The latest apparently is to recommend Tun Dr Mahathir’s return as prime minister.

First, have all our politicians died? You cannot seriously expect us to believe there is no one else to recommend?

Even better, the recommendation is for Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah to be deputy prime minister.

What a combination, a relic and a pushover. Thanks, Pakatan, you’re pretty much assured of alienating a lot of your voting base.

Is it too much to ask, really, that we have fresher, younger, less-tainted-by-previous-actions candidates?

Both sides keep relying on the same old faces year after year to the point I predict after the next general election, we’ll be seeing a lot of elected reps dropping dead like flies.

Look, we’re Malaysians—we hate walking and most forms of exercise and most of our favourite dishes are heart attacks on plates.

There is so much hand wringing going on, the usual “Oh no who can I possibly vote for now? All the choices are terrible?” and the smart alecks who want protest or conscience non-voting.

I will make myself very clear—if you care anything at all about the country and want any right to complain about it, vote.

Don’t give me fanciful nonsense about why you shouldn’t. You don’t vote, you don’t get to complain. End of story. If I can buy a pricey plane ticket and endure my mother’s nagging just to go home and vote, you can manage it too.

In the meantime, while we wait for the circus and intense madness that will come with the election period, figure out how to stay sane.

You could develop a drinking habit—sadly alcohol is expensive and even mentioning beer makes a certain demographic froth at the mouth.

You could perhaps start working out. Calisthenics, high-intensity interval workouts, running, yoga or perhaps walking. With the prices of petrol and public transport ever rising, we might all have to consider just walking to work.

In my case, I’ve started new language courses on Coursera and hope to finish this time and have also started listening to K-pop. It’s strangely relaxing listening to strangers singing and not understanding a word they’re saying.

I leave you with this song by Huh Gak, Only You which I particularly enjoy because the chorus is mostly about the singer admitting he’s an idiot. Remember, don’t be an idiot this election and not vote.