Or will the iron fist punch holes in the vessel even before the voyage begins?
The characters in the team assembled under Mahathir Mohamad are so diverse in their backgrounds and perspectives that it’s hard to imagine how they could agree on anything. They stand for so much variety that we wonder if they can agree on where North is. It’s cute and funny, hopeful and sad all at once.
What on earth could possibly possess these grandpas grandmas, uncles and aunts to even attempt such a feat of bridge building? Even if they do not succeed in their stated goals, the lesson we should take from this is that whether we be rich men, poor men, beggars or kings, what unites us is our abiding love for this land we call home.
Isn’t it irony of the highest order that the sprightly old man should come closest to showing us what 1Malaysia politics can be? The young Mahathir wouldn’t even recognise the man he has become. He would have been the first to laugh at this kind of cooperation. That, it seems, is now history and he is intent, as are the others, to write a new playbook.
For those of us over the hill, Mahathir stood as the paragon of all that was mean and oppressive in an apex leader. He was all that and more long before George Bush Junior made famous the phrase “If you’re not with us, then you’re against us.”
We’ve all heard before that leopards and tigers never change their spots and stripes and that jackals and vultures are always waiting to feast on the carrion. However, we are all wiser and smarter than we have ever been. We have, with the click of a button, the wealth of the world’s information in our hands, but what we don’t have is an alternative browser that will show us our backyard for what it is. Censorship has carefully filtered away all the warts and blemishes that would be contrary to the officially sanctioned image.
How can we not notice the resemblance of this initiative to the Najib and Hadi cooperation revealed at the Al Azhar Alumni meeting last December 17? But the campaign to #SaveMalaysia is distinct from that because it doesn’t limit itself to any ethnic or religious subset but instead appeals to the largest possible group of all Malaysians who want accountability and transparency, and are against corruption and abuse at any level of government.
To many of us, such a team is welcome and long overdue, not only for the achievement of their stated immediate purpose, but also for finding inventive solutions to other issues of national importance. The rigidity of current party culture prevents any meaningful dialogue across party lines while searching for workable solutions for all Malaysians. People want leadership, not coercion.
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