So the biggest thing that happened last night in Singapore was something that was happening to our neighbouring country. The Malaysian General Elections was going on; I wish I had followed the elections more closely so that I could have a better understanding of the issues, but I didn't. My loss. What's worse is that I don't know what sources are trust-worthy - the local news have covered it, but their coverage seems unsatisfactory, especially when I look at the backlash on Facebook with regards to the results.
There's a lot of unhappiness surrounding the results. There are rumours flying around about tampering of the votes. A blackout happened, foreign workers were dragged in, and there's that thing about the Chinese tsunami as well. On Facebook, some of my Malaysian friends have made clear their stand on the issue, and some have also turned their display picture into black empty spaces - to symbolize the blackout that happened, I guess.
I can't comment much on the elections, but I can comment on democracy in general and the role of the government in our society. The thing about democracy is that it assumes that the people know what's best for them. It also assumes that the campaigning process is a good representation of the candidates. This assumptions fail in reality.
The former is clearly not true - how smart is the average person? Think about it. Okay, I'm being a bit condescending, but in all seriousness, not many people are able to consider the implications of policies being put forward. Moreover, even though debates over issues are conducted, they rarely boil down on cold hard facts, but are won by emotional rhetoric, a biased representation of one stand and a gross exaggeration of the other.
As for the latter point, I guess what we can say is that it's difficult to get to know a candidate in a genuine way through campaigning. How do we know that he's not simply putting up a false front? And let's assume that it isn't a false front; that he is nice, and he means well. How does that make him a politician who will put forward good policies which are beneficial to the country?
The rawest iteration of the government is a body which facilitates the lives of people - they enact policies which made for a good economy, a solid defense, and a good education system. It should also ensure that no one is left behind, looking after everyone and making sure that progress is shared by all. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the process of election will not necessarily put the people who will do this job best into office, and because of this, the country suffers.
We get politicians who make decisions based on unfounded promises they made during their elections. We get politicians who make decisions that seem like common sense, but are in actual fact counter-productive.
What I wish to see are politicians who are intelligent, smart, and will do what's best for the country. If the scientists took over politics, I'm pretty sure we'll see a nicer picture. Instead of elections, it'd be nice to see an alternative system where people are selected for jobs based on fit and capability. Maybe they can be selected by their peers, or some sort of panel of experts from different industries.
To attract the right talents, they also need to be paid comfortably, and here's where I think the Singapore government is doing a good job (albeit their current scale is a bit high). To attract the right talents, you need to pay top dollar or else they'll go where they can earn more. It's not about being greedy, but I guess about being comfortable? We need to pay our politicians competitively. Moreover, it does alleviate the extent of corruption - if you give them the means to live comfortably in a legal way, they won't have to result to less than desirable means.
So yeah, in my ideal world, we'd have a system which allows the right people to ascend to the right positions and run the country in the best way possible. There's a lot of holes in that statement, and it's over-optimistic, but like I said, it's "ideal". Hopefully, somewhere along the line, someone can turn this system into reality.
For now, I hope that the people of Malaysia get some sort of explanation from the elections committee on the discrepancy surrounding yesterday's results. Elections work (to an extent) because it's the will of the people, and I guess you can't argue with what the majority want. But when you start messing with the process, then who's will are you enacting? You just don't mess with the people, man, you just don't.
Maybe my views are ill-informed, but oh well. Love one another. Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment