NOVEMBER 15 — Many Americans have been spending this past week doing some soul searching since the elections which brought real estate mogul and reality television star Donald Trump to the White House as the nation’s 45th president.
Many are questioning what electing a man who was the most divisive presidential candidate say about themselves and their fellow Americans.
Trump preyed on people’s fear where misogyny and xenophobia were the flavours of the last one year — or at least that was what the hardly impartial mainstream media and Hillary Clinton’s supporters would have you believe.
However, one cannot overlook the things that came out of his mouth on banning Muslims, the insults and the negative characterisation of Mexicans as well as his time tested views on women.
How does a country that elected its first black president (or half white president depending on which colour spectrum you prefer) go from Barack Obama to Donald Trump?
Could it be a vote against the ruling elite as many pundits now, with the benefit of hindsight, suggest? Would Bernie Sanders have been a more successful Democrat candidate compared to Clinton — seeing that both Sanders and Trump represent Washington outsiders and speak the language of the common man?
That’s for the Americans to answer but Trump’s election does raise questions that resonate right here at home.
Look at the leaders we have elected. Many are out of touch with the fears and sufferings of the people. Examples? Advising struggling Malaysians to drive Uber and eat cheap nasi bungkus; to suggest shorter working hours for civil servants so they can hold second jobs; to lecture college and university students to cook their own food because the government has failed to keep the cost of living at acceptable levels.
It is almost mind boggling when organisations with the wives of senior leaders as their patrons, that are famous for glitzy parties get millions in funding but health and education experience budgets cuts.
These examples may explain why the popular vote always seems to go to the opposing side, as they seem to know what buttons to push, and their speeches and policies resonate better with the people.
Just like the Americans and the Filipinos before them, electing an outsider, someone who is not part of the system and was a strong critic of the system seems enticing to many people. Activists, doctors and educators — not career politicians — seem to do well during the polls, and perhaps will continue to thrive in the coming election.
But going back to xenophobia, Trump’s win also brings issues of race and religion into the forefront — taboo subjects that are discussed behind closed doors and in whispered tones.
Over here, demonising minorities has been the chosen platform of many politicians — including many in the ruling party.
They say they don’t mean what they say, but know that playing to the gallery and finding a bogeyman is the best way to earn the ears and votes of many among the marginalised and struggling.
However, questioning anything to do with the practice of the official religion and the implementation of its laws that could affect business and the rights of minorities are treated as a federal crime.
The use of street thugs to act as counter insurgents against regular Malaysians calling for free and fair elections and a more equitable distribution of wealth, is pushing another red button.
Or worse, those who lecture on the tenets of unity and bringing Malaysians together but introduce policies and laws that cause divisions not only among ethnic communities but between the haves and have nots.
But what does it say about my friends, colleagues, neighbours and even relatives who continue to vote and support those who preach division?
Does this mean they are also bigots, racists and elitists or are they just trapped in this mentality that experience in governing trumps everything else — including the promise of a fairer administration, economic prosperity and an end to ethnic divisions?
At the end of the day it is about having good people who genuinely want the best for this country and its people, where our strength lies in our diversity.
Perhaps Malaysian voters may decide to take a leaf out of the example set by their American counterparts to vote against a system that still sees poverty among the ethnic majority, racial polarisation and a frustrating impotence to meet our full economic potential.
Or they can stay the course and steer clear of the devil they don’t know.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
