The social media outrage directed at establishment politicians like Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Ahmad Maslan has come to define the attitude of the Malaysian public toward our elected representatives these days.

It’s good that our politicians appear to be paying attention. But ministers like Joseph Kurup show how misguided they are when they complain that social media is disrupting national harmony and causing disunity. Unity between people and government is not the same as unity amongst the people themselves, and it’s the latter that would be the more desirable if a choice had to be made.

It’s true that the activity on social media shows that the people themselves are polarised, but only on the issues. We can ignore the pro-Umno blogs and Facebook pages; they are insignificant in the grand scheme. What social media has done, largely, is to unite us in the notion that something is very wrong with the government, that something reeks to high heaven, offending the noses of decent Malaysians everywhere.

The current state of unity amongst the rakyat, despite our difference stances on issues, stems from the commonly held belief that our government is squeezing the lifeblood from us. It is very telling, as PKR’s Rafizi Ramli has said, that the most glaring figures from the Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Budget 2016 speech are that families are taxed an average of RM19 per day under the GST and receive only 14 sen a day on average under BR1M.

Our leaders lately have been calling for more self-restraint from us in our social media activity. In part, one must concur. After all, spreading unverified or untrue news can be detrimental not only to the government, but in some cases to ordinary, innocent people. The case of Chua Lai Fatt comes to mind. Chua was born to Indian parents but was adopted by a Chinese couple in Klang. Overzealous members of the public accused him of being a phantom Bangladeshi voter during GE13 when he went to exercise his birthright to vote.

But our leaders have no locus standi to call for mercy when it is starkly clear that we must monitor them without fail to keep them accountable. Sure, our language could be more genteel and our approach less than that of a ravaging horde. Nonetheless, the rakyat must act as a watchful guardian over the public servants we employ until they learn to be accountable to us.

Ideally, the government and the people should not have an adversarial relationship. Ideally, the people should be able to trust the government with the task of developing the country while we do our best to succeed in our chosen paths in life. Ideally, we would not have to look over their shoulders to point out when they are going off course. Ideally, the government listens and acts upon the wishes of the people.

It may be hard for our ministers and deputy ministers to swallow harsh criticisms, but if they consider themselves fit to be leaders, they must recognise the yearnings and frustrations behind the insults and correct themselves accordingly.