After being in a hiatus for a certain period to prepare for the general elections then, I am given the opportunity to write for Kwong Wah again.
While thinking of a topic to deliberate on, I recalled an article which I wrote in July 2015 entitled, “Politics isn’t only about winning elections.”
Three and a half years after that article was published, I still believe that the mentality of politicians still hasn’t changed that much despite the political changes that have happened in Malaysia.
The actions and words of many politicians still explains how important staying in power and winning elections is to them. – Negotiations in forming a government, the possibility of forming a unity government between different parties, the lobbying for ministerships, jumping from one party to another.
As much as how typical politicians’ behaviour remains, the mistrust of the people towards politicians remains as well. The recent general elections has shown that the people have become disappointed with the political process. They have become disappointed with the typical politicians and are looking for something new.
Hence, they have bet their chances in Pakatan Harapan and the Malaysia Baru, in hopes of achieving something better for the nation.
Putting their bet and believing that the Prime Minister and Prime Minister-in-waiting is a changed man; they wanted to see changes in the nation. The people expected the duo would lead the nation to positive changes. With due respect to them, let us be reminded that the political heroes of today are the same people that were criticised and condemned in the past.
Both of them rose as a star during the early 80s, where Tun Dr. Mahathir became the PM in 1981 and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was elected as the Member of Parliament in 1982.
During that time Francois Mitterrand is elected as the French President; Princess Diana was married to Prince Charles, subsequently Prince William is born; Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th US President; MS-DOS operating system was released by Microsoft; the first CD Player was sold to consumers and Pierre Trudeau was the Prime Minister of Canada.
Since then, Francois Mitterrand, Ronald Reagan and Princess Diana have passed away. Prince William is now married with three children. MS-DOS was replaced by numerous other operating systems and is now obsolete. The CD player is now in decline with the invention of other data storage formats. Even Pierre Trudeau’s son is now the Prime Minister of Canada.
Not only Dr. M and DSAI have surpassed those periods, but it seems like it is the beginning of their legacy. But whether the legacy will last or not will depend on their actions for the next few years.
I believe a good political legacy needs a mentality whereby, ‘politics isn’t only about winning elections.’ Political actions and decisions should not be based on whether it will benefit any individual or party in the elections. As Taipei mayor, Ko Wen-je has stated in his campaign video, “Do the right thing, do things right’.
When we decide to do the right thing right, that includes making decisions that may be unpopular but important for the nation and the people. This period of change is a good time to advocate to reject extreme elements and push for real political reforms; and not merely to make their opponents look bad, to show that they have fulfilled their election manifesto or just to change the colour of school shoes.
Malaysia Baru should mean to lay a foundation for a new generation of leaders to continue moving Malaysia forward. And that begins from a good political culture.
During the general elections, my campaign was all about creating better politics. It is driven by issues and serious debates; not political gossip, reckless political attacks or character assassination. Politics should be all about generating positivity. This is what the new generation’s politics should be all about.
Thus again I reiterate, politics isn’t only about winning general elections. Therefore, though the general election is over, I will continue the revolution of crafting better politics. And the first step is to bring it into Gerakan.
To move Malaysia forward, we should move towards new and better politics.