Yesterday, Sunway University hosted a Forum on MPs in Conversation touching on Parliamentary Elections and Funding. But this title is misleading – actually the powwow focused only on the issue that pertains to “Financing Politics in Malaysia”. Rasah MP Anthony Loke attended and he represented the opposition. For the BN, we were told that at least four BN MPs were invited but all declined. In the end, former Election Commission chairperson Abdul Rashid filled that slot. And the third speaker was Universiti Malaya Professor Edmund Terence Gomez. In the audience, there were six faculty members from SUBS and a large contingent of first-year students – not counting members of the Bar Council and the public who also came.
Anyway, there were some interesting statements made by the speakers. Abdul Rashid who spoke first admitted that Thailand and Indonesia are more democratic than Malaysia. The other comment he made was that his wish is actually for the automatic registration of voters. My question is, why only now? Why not when he was in the EC?
Anyway, there were some interesting statements made by the speakers. Abdul Rashid who spoke first admitted that Thailand and Indonesia are more democratic than Malaysia. The other comment he made was that his wish is actually for the automatic registration of voters. My question is, why only now? Why not when he was in the EC?
Loke came on next and he talked about how elections are funded, especially from DAP’s perspective. This means that they depended on public donations, fund-raising dinners, merchandise/book sales and own money.
Gomez spoke last and he gave us some good insights on the issue of the monetization of politics – he made the claim that “Malaysia is one of the very few countries where parties own corporate enterprises, a trend known as ‘political business’” (i.e. politicians in government use their power to give party members or business associates state-created rents in the form of licences, contracts, subsidies and privatized projects. Funds to acquire these rents are secured through favourable loans from banks owned or controlled by the state and well-connected businesspeople). Of course, he was right and so was his suggestion that public disclosure is fundamental if the role of money in politics is to be made accountable.
Also, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim yesterday said the “Undilah” video was unsuitable for broadcast as it contains “subliminal messages” aimed at influencing viewers. Yet this view is emphatically different from the statement made by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) that the ‘Undilah’ video was impermanently taken off the air as it has yet to receive approval from the film censorship board. Moreover, the latter does not come under Rais’ ministry but the Home Ministry, which of course, will make a decision whether the clip can be shown or not. The order was described as “normal practice” and MCMC maintained that the decision had nothing to do with the clip’s contents! So who do we believe?
But what is amazing is the fact that Pete Teo was allegedly using subliminal messages to subvert Malaysian minds! Imagine that! Teo is not just an accomplished singer-songwriter, film composer and music producer but that if we are to believe Rais, Teo is also a devious manipulator. I recall reading some research that mentioned that subliminal messaging is most effective when the message being conveyed is negative – so this disproves the concern that Rais may have about the said video clip because the message in “Undilah” is positive, i.e. asking Malaysians to vote. It only reinforces the fact that Rais and people like him have taken sudden leave of their senses!
Also, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim yesterday said the “Undilah” video was unsuitable for broadcast as it contains “subliminal messages” aimed at influencing viewers. Yet this view is emphatically different from the statement made by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) that the ‘Undilah’ video was impermanently taken off the air as it has yet to receive approval from the film censorship board. Moreover, the latter does not come under Rais’ ministry but the Home Ministry, which of course, will make a decision whether the clip can be shown or not. The order was described as “normal practice” and MCMC maintained that the decision had nothing to do with the clip’s contents! So who do we believe?
But what is amazing is the fact that Pete Teo was allegedly using subliminal messages to subvert Malaysian minds! Imagine that! Teo is not just an accomplished singer-songwriter, film composer and music producer but that if we are to believe Rais, Teo is also a devious manipulator. I recall reading some research that mentioned that subliminal messaging is most effective when the message being conveyed is negative – so this disproves the concern that Rais may have about the said video clip because the message in “Undilah” is positive, i.e. asking Malaysians to vote. It only reinforces the fact that Rais and people like him have taken sudden leave of their senses!
1 comment:
I was one of the students that attended, i feel that the purpose of highlighting the importance of funding during elections is to show the difference in 'power' that different parties have when it comes to funding. I do however feel that in this age whereby people are more exposed to information as well as external information that gives us a more general and truthful view, I feel that society is now smarter to see the extent of the parties involved. Though money can run you a pretty campaign, I would like to believe that society including myself would choose leaders based on the values and not the value that they have in their pockets. Interestingly enough, the third speech was about introducing more rules and legislation into the system, though commendable i feel that more rules would not help at all. An American psychologist named Barry Schwartz said that it is not more rules that we need, it is more practical wisdom that is lacking. If humans are smart enough to come up with rules, it is also conceivable that we can bend or go around those rules. We do not need more incentives or punishments to guide our behaviour. Adhering to that old adage would only suggest that we have declined on an evolutionary plane because at the end of the day, if we only choose to do the right thing because of rewards or fear of punishment, we might as well just hang ourselves.
Post a Comment