It’s alright to have dissenting views

RECENTLY, some academicians analysing politics in Malaysia have suggested that the dissenting views of Amanah, PKR, and DAP members represent a disunited front.

And that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim may be losing his grip on the unity government because of this.

I am extremely surprised that these analysts drew such simplistic conclusions; they seem to be reading events in a one-line perspective.

In today’s column, I would like to reflect on my experience as a husband and a father of five children, and how disagreements and arguments litter my 39 years of “family politics” and what lessons can be drawn from that in looking at a nation with a government comprised of political parties that historically used to be at odds.

First of all, what has sparked this issue? I believe it began with the “Najib’s Pardon” affair.

Members of PKR, DAP, and Amanah have expressed disagreement with Umno encouraging and supporting the bid to get former prime minister (and former Umno president) Datuk Seri Najib Razak pardoned after he was found guilty in a case linked to the 1MDB financial fraud and sentenced to 12 years in jail.

There have been counter statements by the leaders of each party. Anwar’s response was to make it clear that a pardon would be a decision made by the pardons board headed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

I have written about my stand on this before: I believe the King is a trustworthy man with integrity, not because of his title, but as his own person as exemplified in how he handled the nation’s many political setbacks and the formation of the unity government.

For me, His Majesty has the pulse of the nation and is an experienced monarch.

God willing, my wife and I will celebrate our 40th anniversary in 2024 after marrying at just 22.

Since then, we have had five children – two sons and three daughters – and at the age of 50, both of us became grandparents, blessed with two boys and a girl.

I would say that God has been most gracious in allowing us to have a full life and providing challenges that were not too much for us both to bear, Alhamdulillah.

Now, if someone were to ask me how many times my wife and I have had disagreements, I’d have to say I’ve lost count! Yet, despite so many arguments we are still together in our house in Kajang, Selangor, that we designed together as architecture graduates.

And if somebody were to ask how many times our children defied our requirements, again I would have to say too many times to count – times five! And again, all praises to God, we are still a united family: our children are always with us when we want them and when they want us.

Now, if the question was were there hurtful things said between us, I would say not too many, though I do not have quantifiable data.

It’s OK to argue, but a husband and wife cannot have too many hurtful things between them –even just two or three could be too much for a single lifetime.

Hurtful words cut too deep and some can never be taken back.

Our children have said some hurtful words, especially daughters to their father, but I have forgotten how many and have forgiven them all.

In Islam it is said that no one can smell the sweetness of heaven if parents do not forgive their children. And my late mother-in-law always reminded us that before we sleep every night, we must forgive our children lest we do not wake up from our slumber.

To this day I still remember this.

It is easy for me to do what my mother-in-law said nowadays because I don’t harbour resentment in my heart for the words or actions of anyone at all, whether in the family or outside it.

So how does all this relate to the nation’s politics?

From what I have read, the dissenting views of the members of PKR, Amanah, and DAP are simply their reactions to their observations of the rakyat’s feelings in the “Najib’s Pardon” matter.

The 1MDB fraud case has left a deep scar in our hearts and minds, and although Malaysians are a forgiving people, I think most of us feel it is too soon for Najib to be pardoned.

Anwar has responded with what I would call a fatherly and husbandly way of dealing with dissent among family members: silence, patience and forgiveness.

And I think this is effective.

None of the analysts who view his response as being weak and indecisive can come close to understanding what it is like to be in Anwar’s shoes, or even what it means to lead a country.

I do not think Malaysians would vote for any of these armchair politicians who have not shed the sweat and tears required by politics to forge together, manage and motivate masses of people.

The sooner these analysts measure themselves as the Malay proverb says, “Ukur baju di badan sendiri” – literally, “Measure the clothes on your own body”, meaning that self-awareness is important – the better and wiser they will become in looking at matters from a wider perspective than from their own narrow academic scopes.

Politics has no scope, academic or otherwise. Politics blends the past, the present, and the future within layers of perception, narratives, and ulterior motives, as well as personalities, in order to manage and move a whole country of differing human beings in one direction.

No corporation, no religion, and no university can come close to the management of a country by a prime minister or a president.

Leaders – i.e. dictators – who command absolute “unity” allow zero dissent because they have total control of money and can ruin anyone’s life with imprisonment or worse through their influence on the police and the judiciary.

Now that, ladies and gentleman, is total “unity” – a unity of fear, a unity of absolute cowardice, and a unity of favour-begging.

But in a true, healthy family, the father has a “dissenting-love unity” with his wife and children.

I see the dissenting views among members of the political parties that make up our unity government as signs of a true family with a wise parent knowing always to be silent more than indulging in careless or hurtful responses.

Remember, my dear Malaysians, to be a true family, we must have emotional maturity, rational thinking, and a leader who knows how and when to use silence, patience, and forgiveness.

Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at the Tan Sri Omar Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Studies at UCSI University.

The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.