FEBRUARY 28 — In the old days, Semenyih was the place you passed on the Foh Hup 566 omnibus to Seremban.
For the past month, every politician possible has made the trip, to underline that the by-election is a contest between Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional/PAS, and not about what’s his face with the other face. The candidates are mere proxies.
On display, a poll which excludes the candidates’ relevance, instead showcases Pakatan’s eagerness to leverage the federal government’s might, and on the other side, Umno’s banality. True democrats are nauseated.
Raises the question, how to differentiate Pakatan from their predecessors in power?
This is not to forgive Umno or PAS for the unceasing race-baiting, Nazri Aziz has established he has no qualms pouring toxic dirt to win a few votes. The Umno secretary-general has set an admirable low, which even Umno’s history through its lofty hate values struggles to match.
Then there is Tourism Minister Mohamaddin Ketapi — who fills Nazri’s previous portfolio — who withdrew a RM80,000 pledge for a community hall, after being informed it can be construed as vote-buying.
There are two possibilities; one, the minister knows funds to a community days before polling can affect their vote but does it anyways because as federal government, why bother with the opinion of enforcement agencies which report to your government after all, in summary, morally repugnant; or two, he does not know, which proves he is a numbskull not fit to sell used golf balls under an umbrella by the side of a club.
Either way, Malaysians are cheated of leadership.
Oh yah, his excuse was that the people wanted it, so he obliged.
He’s not a solitary figure in this madness. There are hospitals, tolls, school refurbishments and other possibilities from state and federal government promised by state leaders and ministers in Semenyih. Just coincidences.
Desperation row
The ministers have all made a beeline for the state seat with two faces, sleepy hollows at the Semenyih and Beranang old town sides, and the middle-class to upper middle-class pockets near Kajang and on the road to hillside Broga — surreal, the Crops For The Future building and Nottingham University Campus.
Fifty thousand odd votes determine whether there’ll be a burial for Selangor Umno, or evidence of a mounting groundswell nationwide against Pakatan’s perceived indifference, incompetence, petulance or impotence — take your pick.
Umno-PAS wait in the grassy knoll to sniper Pakatan in the impending Rantau by-election, where Umno President Mohamad Hassan welcomes another round of Pakatan in-fighting to identify a candidate — which party, and then to which party leader to choose.
It will be less than a year of Pakatan in power when Rantau happens, and four more years are theirs to have, but it will be a nervy administration rife for further volatility from within and without if they lose in Rantau after a Semenyih debacle.
So, the Selangor seat matters a lot, even if the two potential winners — Muhammad Aiman Zainali (Pakatan) and Zakaria Hanafi (BN) for the record — are massively forgettable.
What is not on for democracy, is for Pakatan to do what BN did all the time, screw ideas or ideals and instead rely on governmental machinery and inducements to win.
Moral leadership amiss
But it is expected.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, in his first stint, once promised a public university for every state to win an election.
Together with Anwar Ibrahim, they promised the moon to enough politicians in Sabah to overthrow the state party in 1994.
Umno Baru, Umno Najib and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) might as well share the same slogan: “Been promising everything since 1981.”
The real surprise is that DAP, Amanah and my party PKR, or at least their leaders, have ceded to this ethos.
To them, it is OK to promise in order to win. Principles can be upheld in off-election periods.
The reasoning behind the inducements are equally warped.
Observe.
The healthcare ministry cares for all Malaysians, and Semenyih is in Malaysia. But when Semenyih healthcare needs are prioritised with needed facilities accelerated in conjunction with the by-election, it is unfair.
Eventually, when this by-election has concluded, there would be a litany of promises to Semenyih, perhaps not to be delivered in defeat.
To the Pakatan veterans the question is, this was done to you in the past, to unfairly beat Pakatan candidates using the might of the BN government, how does the present manoeuvres by your colleagues today sit with your collective consciences?
Semenyih, what could have been
The unfortunate passing of the late Bakhtiar Mohd Nor, left Pakatan’s 50 seats facing Umno-PAS’ 5. A Pakatan defeat would leave the opposition with 11per cent of the Selangor State Assembly. It is not devastating, not even a dent.
But it was an invitation to try Malaysia Baharu’s politics in the hamlet. As Pakatan has six seats past a supermajority.
If only they did.
Without inducements, rich with principles. Honesty about the manifesto promises, and their struggles with them. Tell the people in plain language what Pakatan learnt from these tribulations. Lean on the superior management of the richest state for 11 years by the same coalition.
Issue statements to bar party operatives from buying victory, and instead campaign for votes. Fund-raise locally, let the community empower the campaign. Speak about Kajang Town Council (Majlis Perbandaran Kajang), on how it can be improved by the involvement of serving councillors and in two years by elected councillors.
Desist the temptation to flood the area with newly-painted party four-wheel-drives resplendent with the candidate's face, it is an unnecessary opulence in a traffic leaden old town. The short lane of Indian shops are reminders of how the loss of plantations must ache in the homes of ex-workers fighting for a place in Malaysia. The lack of young people in the towns emphasise the lack of jobs here.
To show effort, not wealth would have been appropriate. To accept the invitation. But they did not.
Now, they are left with being a poor copy of their adversary.
Even if Pakatan wins, it won’t stop the chit-chat that BN style campaigning, not principles and convictions, powers the coalition’s machine now.
The last 566 bus used to leave Puduraya station at 10.30pm. It’s tempting to say Pakatan has missed the bus on this one. But it is not they who have missed the bus as much as they preferred large government cars under their care. They can go to Semenyih anytime.
True, but they have by choice distanced themselves from the everyday people. They are the true majority not only in Semenyih, but in every seat in the country.
In a way, these by-elections are snuffing out any romanticism left in Malaysian politics.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
