NOVEMBER 19 ― The word allocate has for many years been rattling around the back of my head. It was not so much a word that I have used either in writing or in speaking, but rather one that I associated distantly with the political process. In a ham-, or should I say (to avoid any controversies in Kedah) a chicken-fisted sort of way.
I have not really wrestled with the meaning of this word until today, when the news was dominated by the revelation that Najib Razak, a convicted criminal, had made an application for land, in his capacity as a removed prime minister, that was said to be worth RM100 million.
He is reported to have said in The Malaysian Insight that “there was nothing wrong in asking the government to allocate him a piece of land.”
That agitated my dictionary. The word allocate again.
I then had no choice but to turn to the oracle. I can report that a search on Google with the words Malaysian politicians and allocation, returns 32.6 million results.
Among the most popular compound with that word are “special allocation”, “MP allocation cookie jar” and my personal yet unfulfilled favourite “equal allocation.”
Words matter and what matters most is that everyone should understand what they mean. In our political language, the word allocate has for decades been used to shabbily describe the carving of our national pie among those who wield power.
Allocate. Emotionless, without empathy and without even a nodding acquaintance to what a meaningful denomination of resources means.
So, what does the word mean? This is how the Shorter Oxford Dictionary presents it relevantly: “Authorise payment for, assign, allot, devote.”
All those words are absent any moral substance or compass, which expresses the perfect union between the government of Malaysia and the word.
Surely, nothing should be “allocated.” Rather, not every penny should be measured in aim and aid. That is proper government. Not so here.
That said, while I am on language, might I say something to the plan to gift Najib Razak this land worth RM100 million? It is, make a sentence out of: “the election, will, the land, crap, Najib, giving, lose, we.”
For anyone in power who cannot comprehend this puzzle, I am happy to allocate my resources.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
