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Sunday March 16, 2008

Time to grow up

CONTRADICTHEORY By DZOF AZMI


Mum and Dad are letting go. It’s the teen’s moment, to leave the nest, to prove he’s all grown up and mature.

LAST Friday, the Opposition parties were out in full force, giving speeches, rallying support.

Vote for us, they said, we’re not the Government. They made grandiose promises, they appealed to the spirit of togetherness. They were negative about the current plight of the nation. But, of course, they would say all this – they were the Opposition.

And then they won.

For fire, excitement, and sheer entertainment value, the best speeches during this election were those by the Opposition. Yes, the message and method of delivery should be taken separately, but it’s hard to ignore a talented speaker. You might shake your head at the message, but you smile and clap at how boldly it’s delivered.

Sometimes they sounded less like political speakers than stand up comedians. In one speech, de facto Parti Keadilan Rakyat head Anwar Ibrahim went through half a dozen different accents during an extended “routine” about ministers who couldn’t speak English. He could have just stated the fact in 10 seconds and correlated it with lowered standards in education, but it was more fun to hear him go on and on. At least it made the rain bearable.

Stripped of the rhetoric, the Opposition’s claims were simple: vote for them because they’re not the Government. The Government is responsible for rising crime rates, increasing costs, and slower national growth.

The natural response to this statement should be to ask, what would you do if you were the Government?

They had some answers. We will keep the price of petrol down; we will rid the nation of corruption and cronyism; we will put an end to race-based politics. Exactly how was left a little unclear.

Sometimes, listening to members of the Opposition at ceramahs was like listening to a broody teenager. “If I were an adult,” the speakers grumbled, “I would do things differently.” Of course, most then grow up to become into their parents....

The crowds lapped it up. As the current presidential election race in the United States shows, everybody likes messages of hope. We want to better ourselves. We want to walk the path to mutual social enlightenment. We just forget how hard the hike is, sometimes.

The Barisan Nasional speakers, on the other hand, were hampered by their success in the last elections, in 2004. They couldn’t point out the issues beleaguering the nation and say they would fix them; they were part of many of the problems themselves.

So they chose to appeal to common sense. If you don’t vote for us, they said, then we can’t represent you – we can’t parent you if you don’t let us. They just never made clear why the people should assume they needed parenting.

They also tried criticism. All talk and no substance, they said of the Opposition. Not grown up enough. Unfortunately, this sounded like a challenge at times: You think they’re so good, see-lah what they’ll do if you let them out into the real world.

You know how 49% of the voting populace responded to that.

All the hyperbole and hot air of the campaigns run by both sides was bearable. I was a little more worried about the dirty politics of personal attacks and slurs. Phrases like “MP orang-utan” were used, and at least one MP was accused of being like an adulterer.

Passions were understandably high, and when an Opposition party member said something inflammatory, the people usually ascribed it to the frustration welling up against the incumbent party. However, when somebody from the Government said it, people called it arrogance. Unfair? But then, isn’t it true that those who are in power must hold themselves to a higher standard?

So nobody complained when women Opposition candidates put up campaign posters with touched-up pictures. This was superficial preening at its worst, with the nice new makeup and pretty pink polish. But they looked so pretty, and smiled so sweetly, so most just smiled back in return.

But when a female BN incumbent put up a 9m-high photo of herself that looked like it had been run through a soft-filter turned on maximum, people said, “She’s become a Bollywood star, izzit?” And they also questioned where the money to fund the posters came from – and after that, she could hug all the grandmothers and kiss all the babies she wanted to but the cynical perception was that she was just manipulating the masses through the media.

While the rebellious teenager was excused for misbehaving, the controlling parent was admonished for trying to act in the same way. Parents, the implication was, are meant to be responsible, and should conduct themselves in a manner becoming their status, even if they lose an argument with the teen.

Admittedly, some incumbents did, bowing out of their positions gracefully and with dignity. It shows real class to make it clear that you want to put the good of the people ahead of your own. You don’t storm out in a huff, with nary a word to those who supported you; or hang around fuming that you’re going to make life hard for those who took your place.

But then, it is always easier to find fault with something than it is to fix it. Running a government, local or otherwise, is hard work, doing it well is tougher still. I can imagine some of those voted in this time looking at each other and thinking, “I didn’t expect this – what now?”.

Time to grow up, that’s what I say.

  • Logic is the antithesis of emotion but mathematician-turned-scriptwriter Dzof Azmi’s theory is that people need both to make sense of life’s vagaries and contradictions.

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