The topsy turvy political scene — Hafidz Baharom

(MMO) – There is a need to focus on the hilarity of Malaysian politics these days, especially when you read the headlines and wonder what the heck is going on.

While non-Malay Muslim politicians are telling their Malay Muslim brothers and sisters not to dine on the equivalent of a frog tartare buffet only to be rebuffed by repeat choruses Enigma’s “Return To Innocence” to justify themselves, how can you not note the irony?

With promises of reforming education being done through a decade dedicated to reading, to the removal of examinations, to black shoes and even trying to get hotel pools to allow swimming lessons, it seemed as if the Moscow Circus is not the only one in town.

Couple all this with the want to put textbooks on tablets – because all families with kids can afford tablets, and all teachers definitely know how to use a tablet, and all schools are equipped with the bandwidth to allow 300 to 400 students to use tablets at the same time – it seems reforming education is not exactly going the way anyone thought it would.

Similarly, bring up the payment of the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) and everyone who are servicing a housing loan, a car loan, one credit card or more, and 2.5 kids moan not being able to afford paying back.

Of course, this same bunch moaning the cost of living did not even notice that they were paying additional cash for petrol had it been floated weekly as it had before, with a 30 sen per litre surcharge for the past three to six weeks.

Of course, this same bunch decried the government increasing funding to Jakim to almost RM1 billion yet did not notice the budget for next year by Pakatan Harapan saw the same religious institution getting higher funding even after the change of government.

Meanwhile, the business sector is jumping ship, France has voted against allowing palm oil which will trigger the EU doing the same, Japan is supposed to issue Samurai bonds for Malaysia while it gears up for the 2020 Olympic Games, while US and China continue to play economic games in the region.

At the same time, Sabah and Sarawak are today trying to show their autonomy by contesting the whether they have the authority to not enforce an open air smoking ban. You would think they would have contested this when the Ministry of Health added national parks to the band.

After all, are you really going to send someone up Mount Kinabalu to issue a summons on people smoking 4,101 feet above sea level?

There are multiple layers that need fixing from national unity, to finances, to even policy reform which will require one thing that nobody seems to want to do – sacrifice something. We are in a situation where people are demanding a mile without giving an inch.

On one side, you have a victimised mentality who believe they have sacrificed everything. On the other side, a side that believes they deserve everything and more because they are entitled to it by the accident of birth.

And both sides, believe that this current government must now do everything to cater to their wants, not their needs.

It is as if the endgame was to just elect a Pakatan Harapan government, put a token donation into the Tabung Harapan, and this would give Dr Mahathir Mohamed and his allies the One Ring or the Infinity Gauntlet, and solve everything with either the swing of a giant mace or the snap of his fingers.

JRR Tolkien and Stan Lee would both be amazed at the Malaysian ability to do fiction, while George RR Martin would just take credit by looking at Malaysian politics and its similarity to his Game of Thrones series, minus the sex and incest – which was probably censored by our censorship board along with whatever mention of sausage cutting and same sex scenes.

Thus, with the year closing, the one thing Malaysians need to do more is this – laugh it off, shake it off, and just roll your eyes at the absolute silliness that will go on and continue to go on for the next two years as political allies jostle to boost their numbers to justify their leadership, while waiting for their time to come.

Just sit back and enjoy the fact that we are actually watching our own Game of Thones parody taking place on the political scene. Winter might come, but at least right now, we are still stuck in the beginning of Season 1.