To Forgive and Forget
9 October 2003

This article was published in Malaysiakini as 'Politicians should not fear public scrutiny' (Friday, October 10, 2003)

It has been raining continuously for the past five days in the Northern region of Malaysia and there is a persistent gloomy mood in the atmosphere here. However the darkest note of the week came not from the weather, but from the statement made by our Prime Minister in Bali, as reported in The Star on the 9th. of October, 2003 in the article entitled 'Dr. M: Unfair to dig up Arnie's past'. By saying that 'it was unfair to dig up nasty things committed by somebody in the past in a move to deny them the right to contest for political posts', Dr. Mahathir has unwittingly summed up the sad but true political situation in his own country.

Politicians make up the most crucial component in the governing body of any country, be it a democratic society or even an autocratic system to a certain extent. These are the people who outline the policies of the administration and determine the style of governance that will affect the lives of each and every citizen of that particular country.

Therefore, politicians should consist of people with the highest integrity and standard. Their intentions should be pure right from the start and they should practice the ideals that they expound.

When a person decides to enter the arena of politics, they should realize and accept the fact that eventually, the public will scrutinize their past thoughts and actions. People would naturally expect only the best from their politicians and therefore it is their right to analyse the background of their future leaders carefully before electing them into power.

A person, whose intention of becoming a politician is to purely lead the people, should not be afraid of public scrutiny. Unless they have an ulterior motive, politicians should openly and voluntarily allow people to assess their past.

Human beings are by nature imperfect and each of us has our own faults. There is nothing wrong with divulging our past if our main purpose is to provide an honest leadership for the people. The public knows how to assess the past faults of our politicians. They are the ones who should decide whether these faults are acceptable or not. If it is a serious fault, the people have the right to reject these politicians before they cause more problems later on. People have a natural tendency to forgive and forget, and thus politicians should do the decent thing on their part by being as honest as possible.

Therefore it is quite alarming that after 22 years in power, Dr. Mahathir is seen to be discouraging the practice of transparency in governance. It is an irony to note that he was the one who initiated the policy of 'Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah' back in the early 80's when he first came into power.

Our politicians have enjoyed the clemency of the Malaysian public for years. As we know, Malaysians have a greater tendency to forgive our politicians for their mistakes and we seem to have very short-term memory when it comes to the follies of our leaders. Perhaps it is because of this particular virtue of our people, that politicians here tend to be more arrogant and narcissistic compared to their foreign counterparts.

When a scandal or corruption hits an organization, which is within a certain Ministry, we seldom see the Minister concerned stand up to accept full responsibility and attempt to offer his or her resignation, like what happens in countries such as Japan. On the contrary, there will usually be the initial denial and the promise of further investigations, which usually ends up futile with no action taken. We never hear our politicians apologize for their various discriminatory comments made during their tenure despite criticism from the various affected parties.

Surprisingly, these are the politicians who usually get elected repeatedly and maintain their Cabinet positions successfully year after year. Are we such a subservient society that we dare not stand up to our leaders and question their actions? Should we not judge our leaders by the results of their work, rather than their charisma and popularity?

To forgive and forget is an honourable virtue. But to practice it to such an extent as to overlook the wrong doings of our policy makers is unforgivable. To discourage people from digging up the history of our future politicians is to encourage more dubious characters to become leaders of our great nation.

The rain clouds are beginning to disperse and the flood waters in the Northern region is starting to recede. However, I am still unclear as to why our beloved Prime Minister gave such a negative comment in Bali. Is it because he has just realized that most of the policies he introduced back in the 80's have now become redundant? Is he afraid that people will start questioning the effectiveness of his policies during his term of office as Prime Minister?

Is he afraid that his much harped about 'legacy' will be wiped out once people start to enquire about the outcome of his policies?

I remember that I was able to easily write 1500 words essays on policies such as Dasar Pandang Ke Timur, Persyarikatan Malaysia, Kepimpinan Melalui Teladan and many more during my secondary school days. I felt so confident in those policies that my essays were usually loaded with positive points about their advantages to the nation. However it is sad to say that I can no longer write such long compositions with so many words.

My view on these policies now is restricted to only one word, which is FAILURE.
It is partly the fault of Malaysians that by virtue of our forgiveness and forgetfulness, our politicians have always breezed through their careers. We should realize that each of us has a right to continually question and assess the politicians whom we voted to lead us. Politicians are chosen to serve the people and not the other way around.

On the other hand, our leaders should learn to listen to the feelings and needs of the people, instead of dismissing every criticism which is directed at them. I am sure for every comment that the public made, there are some constructive ideas useful to nation building.

PELITA NEGARA

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