July 25, 2012
Scare Tactics Won't Work with Malaysian Voters
WHEN will elections be? The ultimate murmurings have been which it could be in September. Who knows whether there's any law to that. But there have been signs which elections have been near. Lately, there has been the lot of speak about comrade infiltrations as good as warnings of May 13.
I find it amazing which some politicians still consider such issues resonate with today's voters. Let's deal with the first issue: Communism. Seriously, is there still the singular person in Malaysia currently who's afraid of communism?
Let's demeanour during the comrade countries. we can usually consider of dual which have been still sticking to which discredited domestic system: Cuba as good as North Korea. Is there any chance of Malaysia apropos similar to Cuba as good as North Korea? It's silly even to ask such the question.
OK, what about China? It's the comrade nation right? From the domestic standpoint, yes. But from an mercantile perspective they've opened up so much, Mao Zedong wouldn't recognize it. Hey, which iPad you're regulating was done in China.
But some domestic elements obviously consider which the Red Scare is still relevant. First, we have the claim which communists have infiltrated BERSIH. Next, we have accusations which those same communists (from Cuba or North Korea, I'm not sure) have infiltrated Pakatan Rakyat. Can somebody tell these guys it's 2012?
I'm not frightened of communistic elements in the surrounded by any some-more than I'm frightened of ghosts. Why? Because I'm not assured they exist.
Second issue: May 13. Yes, tho! se racia l riots were genuine as good as bloody. But they happened in 1969. Its spook was exorcised the long time ago. Any ruins of it were dispelled after Mar 8, 2008.
Yes, there have been citizens aged enough to remember May 13. But they have seen how Malaysia has changed, grown as good as matured over some-more than 4 decades since.These people know full good which the incident currently is nothing similar to which of 1969.
As for the youth of today, even the Reformasi transformation of the late 90s is too distant behind for them to describe to it. Operasi Lallang in the late 80s? They substantially consider it was the gotong-royong exercise. May 13, 1969 that's so distant behind which Lim Kit Siang was afterwards an up-and-coming statesman who had only been elected to Parliament.
What aptitude does May thirteen have to today's domestic scene? Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad put it most appropriate when he said which behind in 1969, if we were to repairs the whim car, we could be certain you're destroying the non-Malay's vehicle. But today, if we throw rocks during the Mercedes-Benz, the BMW or the Ferrari, for which matter, we could really good be destroying the Malay person's car.
The same applies to the house. If we torch the whim bungalow today, we can't be certain whether it's the Malay, Chinese or Indian home. Economic inequality might still exist, but the disparity in wealth among communities has been severely reduced compared to 4 decades ago.
But it's not only which everyone's better off financially today. People have been additionally some-more rational as good as reduction expected to conflict to provocative acts.
Remember the cow head incident? And what about those pig heads thrown in front of the mosque? And afterwards there was arson during the church. None of these potentially incendiary acts led to riots.
Middle Malaysia realises which these have been the desperate acts of the few extreme elements in the society. People curr! ently ha ve been some-more educated, some-more wakeful as good as some-more enlightened. They will not tumble for such machinations.
The legendary Sir Gerald Templer, who fought genuine communists in the early 1950s, famously
remarked which the answer lies in "winning the hearts as good as minds" of the people. And Templer, who was the British High Commissioner in Malaya during the time, completed which by instituting domestic reforms which prisoner the imagination of the people.
There's something to be gleaned from Templer's plan although the fight currently is no longer fought in the jungle but by the list box. You do not win the hearts as good as minds of people by scaring them with threats of the potentially dour future. You do so by giving them goal for the better tomorrow. The bloc which does which most appropriate will be the a single which wins over today's electorate.
Oon Yeoh is the brand new media consultant. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
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