By T.K. Chua
Seriously, I think Malaysian politicians are fast degenerating and mutating into a group of nincompoops. When they are incapable of providing solutions or proving their credibility, all they do is to attribute it to God.
Blaming the lack of faith in God is now a major explanation of our national woes. Swearing on the holy books or asking God to be their witness is now the favourite antic used by politicians when confronted with intractable scandals.
Many do believe that God and religions have a vital role to play in our hearts and minds, as guardians of our conscience, the morality of our behaviour and the enduring values of our conduct.
It would be ideal if all humans were born the same, all god-fearing and all obedient and complying to His will. But the reality is we are not. We don’t even have a common belief in god or a common religion to begin with, although we have often heard that all religions love what is good and hate what is evil.
Perhaps this is why in addition, to godly doctrines and principles, men need enforceable and evidential rules and laws, and science, to organise themselves.
It is just too convenient and too simplistic to blame price rises on traders who do not believe in God. In fact, it suggests laziness and a lack of inquiring minds among leaders and decision makers. Ultimately, we could all blame our failures or attribute our success to god, can we?
Sometimes it is too convenient to use expressions like “god be my witness”, “I am saying or doing it in god’s name”, “I am god fearing”, “there is life here and thereafter”, ”god is watching” and “I will account to or answer god some day”. This is appealing to sentiment and galvanising public opinion. It proves nothing of one’s sincerity, honesty or godliness.
Only in our hearts we would know we have done right or wrong. That is why god is only interested in our hearts. When we want to bare our hearts, we should only do so with our god, not with other human beings.
With human beings, we must depend on evidential rules and science. We must be able to substantiate and prove our claims. We must match words with deeds. Any haunting claim is mere hot air.
So, please, politicians, be professional and methodical. I think other countries now laugh at how we handle national discord. China was once declared the sick man of Asia. It took her many years to turn around to become great again. Malaysia was once ahead of many countries in Asia. I have a sinking feeling that it is falling fast and may soon find herself behind.
T.K. Chua is an FMT reader
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