DURING the 1980 general election campaign, the late Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) who was the then Singapore prime minister told a rally that governance “is not a game of cards”.
“This is your life and mine,” the republic’s first premier who reigned from 1959 to 1990 told a rapturous crowd. “Whoever governs Singapore must have that iron in him or give it up. I’ve spent a whole lifetime building this. And as long as I’m in-charge, nobody’s going to knock it down.”
Doubtlessly, LKY who is widely regarded as the father of modern Singapore was a visionary who transformed a backwater with almost no natural resources into a thriving global metropolis.
To this day, not just Singaporeans but people from the whole world – including Malaysia which ‘parted company’ from the former due to communal tension on Aug 9, 1965 – still look up to his no-nonsense leadership style that has built a solid foundation for the city-state.
Perhaps Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh as well as Muar MP Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman should also take a leaf from LKY’s wisdom that governance is not a “game of cards” and political leaders need to steel themselves or have the “iron” in them.
Recently, Yeoh in a media interview disclosed how she felt “hurt” over Syed Saddiq’s labelling DAP as a “lapdog” to UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Yeoh is one of DAP’s four Ministers in the unity government.
Syed Saddiq is the founding president of MUDA which was pro-Pakatan Harapan (PH) until both sides fell out over the party “being left hanging” in its quest to be admitted into the ruling coalition.
Emotionally “hurt”
In response, Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman said his criticism of DAP and other former allies stemmed from his concern about Malaysia’s trajectory.
“To my friend, Hannah Yeoh, this is not about me nor our friendship; this is about the future of Malaysia,” he penned on his Facebook page. “I respect you & your thoughts. Allow me to share mine. I worry for Malaysia’s future. A future where corruption is normalised by the political elites.”
It is time for Malaysian new generation leaders to deeply ponder over LKY’s pearls of wisdom from 44 years ago that there is no room for sentimentality and personal feelings when the fate of the country is at stake.
To quote a line from The Godfather, “nothing personal, it’s just business”. In this case, the “business” is the lives and livelihood of over 30 million Malaysians.
So, instead of whining and moaning about personal feelings, the likes of Yeoh (and to some extent, Syed Saddiq) should look into the merits of the allegations of their political rivals and – if necessary – remedy them.
To be fair, Syed Saddiq’s claims that PH has turned its back on fighting corruption has merits, particularly about treatment for those who “stole billions” as well as the money lost in the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) scandal.
Faced with such damning accusations, there are two options for Segambut MP Yeoh: (i) rebut untrue claims, if any or (ii) do some serious soul-searching about her party’s current trajectory, including escalating the matter to her party’s top brass as well as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
If LKY were in Yeoh’s shoes, he would have done the same with his signature steely determination, bereft of any lingering personal feelings on the issue. For Yeoh, there’s no third option of allowing her emotions to get the better of her.
As LKY rightly pointed out, governance is “not a game of cards”.
Being emotionally “hurt” with words from a political adversary should not be in any politician’s vocabulary. Far more importantly, they must make sure that they do not “hurt” the people in the long-run through their action or omission.
It would do Malaysians a whole lot of good for every political leader to learn from LKY on this. – April 12, 2024
Main image credit: Hannah Yeoh Facebook/Malay Mail
