Of ruffians and rookies — Tay Tian Yan

Of ruffians and rookies — Tay Tian Yan
November 02, 2010NOV 2 — Do we still need the by-election with these ruffians and rookies around?

The hottest topic at Galas coffeeshops nowadays has been how the local MCA leaders have managed to “knock down” a little brother from outside the state to keep Deputy Minister Heng Saei Kie in office.

And then how the supporters of Teoh Beng Hock were locked up and interrogated for six hours before they were released.

In a community where even the hen that lays the most eggs and the guy that a local girl dates can become wonderful topics of casual gossips, such “major” news events are most definitely not spared from public attention.

Of course, majority of people would not commend the local MCA leaders for saving Heng, but more would respond to the reverberations of the TBH incident as well as the indictments of his enraged sister.

In an election that starves from tedium and a dearth of issues, voters’ emotions are least perturbed, watching only politicians and campaigners from elsewhere making a big fuss out of nothing, as if they are following a dry drama.

But all of a sudden conflicts begin to surface between the lead roles and the plot is starting to get tensed up.

The audience begins to throw in their full participation, picking the good and bad, or the strong and weak guys from the drama, as well as those who ought to be sympathised with or ought to be condemned.

There appears now a focus in the movie-watching, and the audience begins to assimilate themselves into the plot.

So, when the aunts are visiting the market for their daily groceries, or when the uncles assemble at local coffee joints, they can now talk about the drama. Their eyes will be wet with tears mentioning the good guy in the drama, and their fists clenched when talking about the bad guy.

Do you think the election outcome will be distorted if such displays of emotions are allowed to go on?

So, a sudden move by an irrelevant ruffian can bring on a climax in an election, and could perhaps give the drama an unexpected ending.

As such, ruffians and rookies must be avoided at all costs from any political game.

In a similar manner, Titiwangsa Umno division acting chief Johari Abdul Ghani said at a party event several months ago that if the party could secure the full support of the Malays, it would no longer need the ballots of Chinese and Indian voters.

Sure enough, in a constituency that comprises 70 per cent Malays, if every Malay votes for Johari, he would no longer require non-Malay votes.

But obviously not all Malays voted for Umno’s candidate in 2008, resulting in the fall of Titiwangsa into the hands of PAS.

A well-educated professional and leader of a listed company, Johari is no ruffian, but that does not mean he is not a pure-bred racist.

Moreover, in the country’s ever-changing political ecosystem, he is nothing more than just a political rookie.

And this explains why his unpolished remark received only minimal response from the public.

And I don’t even think he stands any chance of getting fielded in the next general election. — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/of-ruffians-and-rookies-tay-tian-yan/