Stink from the Animal Farm

By Stanley Koh - Free Malaysia Today,

COMMENT The FIFA World Cup has hijacked the national focus, turning it away from the equally noisy field of politics.

Those of us who have managed to unglue our attention from the South African stadiums would have noticed that in the domestic arena, the promised political transformation is indeed taking place, Malaysian style.

Our politicians are becoming more creative with words. They are getting better at saying what they do not mean or using colourful strings of words without saying anything at all.

“The Barisan Nasional is strong and well accepted by the people,” said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak about a coalition that almost lost a general election and did lose eight of 11 by-elections.

Indeed, our political landscape is turning out to be a tribute to George Orwell’s Animal Farm—and not only because of the Doublespeak and other kinds of strange speaks that we hear. Among our politicians, we have frogs, insects, snakes and rats, to mention just a few.

Of course, political language is the expression of political thought. Thoughts are the forerunners of speech and actions. Thoughts corrupted by lust for wealth and power will produce corrupted speech, devoid of honesty, integrity or truth.

But this is Bolehland. Politicians, especially the BN elite, speak mostly to the gullible. They are not bothered about those who see through their deception because they believe—or have conditioned themselves to believe—that the doubters and sceptics do not make up a significant number.

Within the BN itself, any component party is free to use deceptive political rhetoric suited to its needs as long as the power formula is maintained.

For instance, Umno probably has no problem with MCA’s philosophy of the humble ant as long as the second largest component party is subservient and obedient and continues to play its robotic role without question, serving the U-Must-Not-Object queen ant.

Since MCA has decided to adopt the ant image, perhaps Umno deserves the honour of being the nation’s distinguished white ant.

From ants to cats: “It doesn’t matter what coloured cat it is, as long as it catches mice,” Najib remarked to emphasise the role of a smaller coalition within BN.

Political frogs and rats

Yet the ruling regime is still strong, its strength derived from Umno’s superior strength, which it acquired by hijacking the key pillars of democracy and imposing an assortment of draconian laws.

For all the weaknesses and failings of the farm house, many Malaysians are still not equipped with enough political education to comprehend what would constitute a positive and progressive Malaysian value system.

If that assumption is false, how does one explain why, for example, Malaysian voters support a lawmaker who turned into a lawbreaker guilty of bigamy?

Why do voters continue to support adulterers, murder suspects and political frogs and rats? Has money become so important to Malaysian voters that it can buy their belief in the sanctity of human rights, press freedom and other democratic principles as well as religious and traditional values?

Unless the awakening among Malaysians continues and spreads, the animal farm is not likely to get any less smelly. With clumsy slogans and a repertoire of hollow promises, the propaganda machine tirelessly spins illusions even David Copperfield may be incapable of.

Can Malaysians be able to transform the animal farm into a prosperous nation? Will the propaganda machine lose steam because nobody is listening anymore? Can this happen before the next general election? How much longer can Malaysians tolerate a culture of kleptomania that is fiercely protected by rent-seekers and mentally crippled cronies?

Only the future will provide the answers. But times have changed and are changing still. There are signs that Malaysians are increasingly reluctant to be treated like ants, or to be led by the nose like buffaloes, or to let sleeping dogs lie over incompetent and corrupted leadership.

Voters will deal with both humble ants and white ants in the next general election. The animal farm will have to be sprayed with pesticides to stop the rot. And the Prime Minister may not have to worry about politicians shooting themselves in the foot because many will be given the boot.

Stanley Koh was the former head of research at MCA. He now writes for FreeMalaysiaToday.