Politicians must be careful to live up to expectations. If they try to promote their image through orchestration, they must also face negative publicity when countered by others. One’s image is ultimately a reflection of one’s real character. We can’t fake it for long.
Generally, politicians love to appear pleasing, helpful, compassionate and frugal to the public. Some may take every opportunity to show these attributes even though they are not part of their real character.
While it may be soothing for them to be portrayed in a good light, they should also be prepared when they or their family members are caught wearing designer suits, carrying luxurious handbags or driving expensive marques.
Sometimes, politicians like to visit hawker centres to be with the people, fly economy class to show they are frugal, and go out of their way to help a poor person in distress just to show how much they care.
The thing is, do they do this every day or every time? I am sure it is okay, in fact enjoyable, to eat at a hawker stall occasionally if most of the time they can afford to have sumptuous meals in classy restaurants or at home. They don’t really “endure” the hard life, so to speak.
Giving up privileges for others to see is painless if they enjoy lots of hidden privileges which the public cannot see.
Malaysians should learn to be discerning and not allow politicians to pull the wool over our eyes.
Sincere politicians will show their real character over time. It is our job to observe and assess them for consistency and reliability. A flash in the pan will not count for much. Neither should we be impressed by random and piecemeal acts of kindness or frugality.
Sincere politicians are tenacious in their cause. They are preoccupied with the public good rather than trying to do favours for individuals. They are focused on departmental efficiency and prudent policies that are applicable to many rather than pretending to save a few cents by trying to forgo their entitled privileges.
The rakyat must convey this message to our politicians: we want them not to miss the forest for the trees. We want them to concentrate on the “vital few”, not the “trivial many”.
We want our politicians to apply the Pareto analysis to find the 20% of issues that are causing 80% of the problems. Travelling by economy class, eating at a hawker centre, not using official cars for private business, and going out of the way to help one person in distress are examples of the trivial many, not the vital few.
There is a saying, how many poor people can politicians help if policy failure and societal neglect churn them out by the thousands. How many politicians think holistically of long-term sustainability?
TK Chua is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.