WITH Malaysian politicians bickering for power during the twin crises of COVID-19 and an economic downturn, the public have gone weary and livid over the erratic behaviour of their elected representatives.
Moving forward, a veteran political activist opined that the public and leaders need to break away from “adversarial politics” if one wants to see Malaysia progress instead of being stuck in doldrums.
“We should overcome our adversarial approach when it comes to politics. For far too long, such mindset has greatly affected our country.
“Both sides of the political aisle are guilty of this. They are too focused on taking the hard and fast line, having little concern over what matters most for the country,” Chandra Muzaffar told in an interview with FocusM.
Currently, both ruling Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan are not only at odds with each other but also suffering from infighting following Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s abrupt resignation early last year.
Pakatan has been seen in a disarray, especially PKR, after its longtime deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali defected to Perikatan, taking with him several of his key loyalists.
PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been criticised for cozying up to Umno to grab federal power, creating factionalism with the Opposition coalition.
On the other hand, Umno has been at odds with its ally Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) over alleged disproportionate power shared by allies, with former Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak leading the team opposed to Perikatan.
Elaborating on the political mess, Chandra said that “adversarial politics” has been dominant in Malaysia for the last few decades, which has resulted to the situation right now.
“Unfortunately, a lot of non-governmental organisations (NGO) and the media practise the same approach. We’re seeing right and wrong using simplistic mindset,” he stated.
Such mindset, he added, was hampering Malaysians from embracing political maturity, where personality cult supersedes issues that matter.
“We’re just paying lip service to the public where in reality, we are obsessed with certain personality,” Chandra lamented.
Citing an example, Chandra said that few decades ago, political parties were having problems getting people to contest in elections as many were averse to public office due to the limelight and heavy responsibilities attached to it.
Education, character building and COVID-19
“But things have changed in the last few years. Everyone wants to get in due to the perks and power that comes with it,” he said.
Chandra said the problem could have been caused by the education system itself, where it currently places too much emphasis on self-interest.
“It’s about a contemporary pattern of living, where people have become more self-centred partly due to the economic system.
“Our academic system is about acquiring skills to meet market demand, not much on value system anymore. Do we really see our educators talk about character building?” he queried.
Offering solutions, he said that politicians should do some soul-searching and focus on why they were elected to the job, which is to serve and provide the best to their voters.
Chandra added that politicians should also learn to accommodate diverse views and opinions, from allies or adversaries alike.
“People need to get educated on respecting differing opinions. With that, more emphasis must be given to politics based on values and principles, not power grab,” he stressed.
As for the education system, Chandra suggested that schools should find ways to integrate character building in the education system.
He added that such basic human values could be incorporated in subjects such as History, Civic Studies or even Geography.
“For example, in Geography, when a student is taught about a capital of a particular nation, we can talk about the value system they practise in the country.
“We can adopt the good values from that particular country such as their concern for the environment and climate change.
“In turn, our future generation can find ways to balance between development and protecting the environment, realising our goals of living in harmony with nature,” Chandra mentioned.
As for History lesson, the activist said teachers should teach students on the significance of certain historic events, instead of harping on dates and the personalities involved alone.
However, Chandra acknowledged that such changes will take time to happen but stressed it was inevitable as COVID-19 has forced the global community to rethink on how one approaches life itself.
“The pandemic is a clear sign that human beings need to readjust on how we deal with life, particularly on the medical aspect of things.
“It has also taught us on how we need to be sophisticated in dealing with viruses and our relationship with the environment. whether we like it or not,” he remarked. – June 28, 2021
