Saturday, February 21, 2009

The Philosophy of Malaysian Politics

Bewildered in Malaysia, perplexed in Perak, stupefied in Selangor
— no wonder the masses are agitated


By Ooi Kee Beng
The Malaysian Insider
February 22, 2009

Extract of the article above:

[Quote]

In truth, the political game in Malaysia has reached the level where intrigues and hidden tactics are the order of the day, where the mass media, the police and the judiciary are no longer expected to act professionally, objectively, and with integrity.

Politicians, even leading politicians, are certainly not expected to act like statesmen, and in a non-partisan manner.

Under such circumstances, no one really expects any proof to be reliable or made readily available. Indeed, proof becomes rather superfluous where faith and trust in the institutions of state are in short supply.

Perception is everything in politics, and in Malaysia, where the BN has been in power since independence and controls — and has consequently compromised — all the institutions of government to varying degrees, any episode that hurts the opposition is invariably believed to bear BN’s fingerprints.

No evidence either way, be it in the Perak crisis or the Wong case, or even in the many politically charged criminal cases being heard at the moment in Malaysian courts, is taken at face value by the public.

Malaysia’s addiction to conspiracy theories is quite incurable, fed as it is by dose after dose of bewildering episodes and partisan posturing.

It is not only Perak that is suffering a constitutional crisis. The whole country is mired in a misguided democracy. — Today


[Unquote]

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The writer is a Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
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Source: The Malaysian Insider

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

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