Of democracy, trust and having halfwits running a country

WHILE the British left us on Aug 31, 1957, Malaysia’s democracy got “buried” yesterday actually.

For the first time in history, we are seeing MPs are marching towards the Parliament, just so they can perform their duties as elected representatives.

Unfortunately, many things happened along the way. Sometimes, I wonder if we actually value democracy in the first place.

When we put our trust on others on matters important to our lives, it is natural to pick the smartest and experienced people to champion our voices.

We board an airplane only because we trust that the pilot knows his or her way around in the cockpit and is capable of making the right decisions during the flight.

People let doctors anesthetize them and perform surgery because we trust that the experts know a great deal about medicine and not kill us while we are unconscious.

In a nutshell, whenever we need to make a decision in a field that lies not within the boundaries of our own expertise, we delegate that decision to people who are more qualified than us.

And that is the smart thing to do! We benefit from this behaviour.

However, politically speaking of course, we have a dullard sitting as the head of the Government, whose only interest is to enrich himself and his cronies at the expense of the people’s suffering.

The next time around, just like how we select the best things and people to enrich our lives, the people should choose the best “public servant” to serve the country.

That someone must also have basic dignity and conscience, something I do not really see from the incumbent.

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organised conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe”- this was the saying from Frederick Douglass, am American social reformer.

I am confident that, in the end, with my trust on God, that Malaysians will prevail at the end and the corrupt will face justice eventually. – Aug 3, 2021.

Pappa Raidu Veraman is the founder of the Malaysian Indian Voice.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.

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