We have no formal education on politics in schools. And yet we are all expected to take part in it and make decisions about our future with it.
DEMOCRACY, as we understand it in Malaysia, means every eligible citizen can cast one vote for one person or party at the federal level and one vote at the state level. There is supposed to be another vote at the council level but we do not practise that, not since I became eligible to vote decades ago, anyway.
Now, every man and woman can vote regardless of race, religion, culture, wealth or education level. Also, quite recently in Malaysia, when a boy or a girl turns 18 years old, he or she is automatically registered as a voter since the Undi18 Act – the Constitution (Amendment) Bill – was passed in 2019.
What I would like to discuss today is this question: Are all of us qualified to vote for a future that will benefit all people in this country?
The answer, at the end, is disturbing.
I will explain.
There are citizens who vote purely along racial lines because of a race supremacist construct they have been taught. These citizens rally to the call by political parties who sell the narrative that their race is under threat by others, and only a race-based party can save their culture and tradition.
At first I thought that citizens who think like this come from an uneducated background, which to me means those who never went to public schools or, at the present time, only minimally educated after Form Five. But I have come to know professors also support this race narrative. Not only that, my own circle of professionals also support this untrue and unverified idea.
Then there are those citizens who believe politicians who say only a religious party can save the country from threats posed by people who are not of the same faith, and that this party is even the door to salvation in the afterlife. Again, I see minimally educated people as well as people educated to the highest level subscribing to this idea of religious supremacy in politics.
Then there are those who listen to their YouTubers who bring them a simplistic narrative of lies, half-truths and pure fantasy, all made easily digestible with images of motorcycle convoys and inspirational songs, be they patriotic or religious ones. We all see this happening online.
And there are the educated citizens who value principles above all else. This group does not understand – and does not want to understand – that politics is the art of working with different groups of people. And in politics, they can be very difficult people! So compromise, strategic retreats, or meaningful silences must come into play.
Politics is about timing. Politics is about optics. Politics is about the manner of delivery. A leader might have one message but has to deliver it in different ways to different audiences. But these citizens who value principles above all else do not want to listen to leaders playing to the gallery, they only want “honest speech” and “honest responses”.
I have to laugh when I hear this. Running a country is vastly different from running any organisation of private ownership. Politics is the realm of the possible. The first rule of politics is to make friends with everyone and the second rule is to trust no one. In one election, parties can argue against each other but after the dust settles, they have to meet over kopi and decide how to forge a possible working relationship.
Who then qualifies to be a citizen with enough knowledge to make difficult choices?
Our universities do not have any courses on this most important of subjects and yet we allow fresh graduates to vote. Our schools do not have anyone qualified to explain the ramifications a race-based or a religion-based choice could have for the future of our country.
There is no simulation of political practice in our education system at all. How then do we produce a more critical and balanced voter?
I say it is high time that at the very least a basic course or two on politics be taught. I say that it is high time that we open the doors of our higher educational institutes to all political parties to explain their approaches, ideas and plans for Malaysia. I say it is time that open debate be held at universities and secondary schools since our 18-year-olds can now participate in politics.In fact, I would take it further: I say that the public must have a “licence” to vote, just like a marriage licence. Just like how there is a course you have to take before marriage (if you’re Muslim), there should be a political course to attend to obtain a licence to vote.
It must be free and people must be allowed to attend it not just once but as many times as needed to understand what a democracy entails. It’s the least we can do to make sure people are qualified to decide the future of this country, and the future of our children.
What would the syllabus be like for such a course at school, university or public levels? I will cast the first line of thought trails in future columns.
Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at the Tan Sri Omar Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Studies at UCSI University. The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.
