AUG 20 — It is a dirty political means to spy on MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong's home with a remote-controlled hexacopter. However, I have associated it with something else in thinking.
We do not need the incident to verify how dirty politics in Malaysia is as we already have enough examples to prove it.
Wee is right. The situation turns chaotic whenever there is an election. The saying has been proven by the MCA.
Before the 2008 general election, the sex DVDs featuring party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek were widely distributed, forcing him to resign from his ministerial and party posts, and stopping him from contesting in the election. The backstage manipulator still remains a mystery today.
All kinds of dirty means are expected for the MCA party election this year. I believe that the move of spying on Wee's home is just one of them.
Of course, other political parties are encountering similar situations. A sex video clip allegedly featuring PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali was spread in April this year.
A former bank manager told the Royal Commission of Inquiry into illegal immigrants in Sabah that he was the main player and planner of Project IC, which was meant to defeat Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in the general election through increasing the number of Muslim voters.
On the eve of the general election in October 1990, PBS withdrew from BN and it was accused of stabbing the ruling coalition in the back. Therefore, Umno entered Sabah the next year with an attempt to take revenge.
However, rules must still be followed. The acts neglecting the consequences in the past have resulted in today's uncontrollable illegal immigration problem in Sabah, as well as the intrusion of Sulu terrorists.
Such politics is terrible. Politicians subvert the law and sacrifice social peace to achieve their own hidden agendas. The law seems nominal in front of politics.
In conclusion, due to politicians' personal interests and craving for power, Malaysian politics is dirty and very few politicians are really struggling for the country and the people.
While worrying about the increasingly nasty politics, we must also worry about vulgarisation. Vulgar politics has affected the vision and thinking of political leaders, resulting in them being unable to see the crux of the problem and thus unable to solve national issues.
For instance, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that the frequent shootings in recent days are directly related to the people's demand for freedom. He said that it is the price of freedom.
Relating the people's pursuit of democracy and freedom to shootings is a typical means of fooling the people, confusing the people and shirking the responsibility of the authorities to maintain law and order.
The Ops Cantas Khas launched by the police to reduce crimes is a right move and hopefully, the police can persevere in it and abandon the myth that only crime prevention laws can curb crimes.
Another example for political vulgarisation is populism. Blindly pleasing the people will only increase the country's burden. The Phak Phur Thai's promise to purchase rice from farmers at as much as 50 per cent above market prices in the 2011 general election has resulted in further strain in public finances.
Populist means has become a mainstream in politics. In his response to Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew who criticised that the "1 Malaysia" programmes are meant to please voters, even enlightened Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim also argued that there is nothing wrong to please Bumiputeras and fight for support.
In addition, the country is facing more and more problems but politicians are keen only on facade work, such as the Communication and Multimedia Ministry has put forward the proposal of playing the national anthem at cinemas nationwide before the start of a movie in conjunction with National Day celebrations. Why don't they try to find out how to enhance the spirit of patriotism?
Dirty and vulgar politics reflect the country's political level. Leaders lack wisdom and courage, particularly the wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew. Not everything that Lee did for Singapore was right and sometimes, they triggered controversies, too. However, he had courageously decided the direction for Singapore and made Singapore a high-income country.
Who decides the direction for Malaysia? Should the country continue its transformation or backtrack to the conservative line? How could we not be pessimistic as there are many racial and religious disputes while politics is so feeble? — mysinchew.com
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.
