Looking for a Barbie doll world

We should all know by now that we don’t live in a perfect world.

EVER since the unity government was formed in November 2022, it seems that it can never do anything right. This observation is not from the Opposition coalition, mind you. This comes from ordinary Malaysians airing their views in columns and comments.

I’m amazed at the number of perfectionist armchair politicians we have.

The conclusion that I draw from these reactions is that these people are unhappy with the present leadership and this particular government.

Of course, they are extremely unhappy with, or even frightened by, the current Opposition, that powerful (mostly) one-race bloc that flaunts its religiosity as justification for its many incredulous suggestions directed not only at the government but the people of Malaysia too.

So the Opposition is a “no-no” while the unity government is just a “no”?

I have a problem with perfectionists. Our education system teaches us to “go for perfection”, ignoring the fact that perfection can only exist in a Barbie doll world.

In that pink-saturated world (featured in the surprisingly deep movie, Barbie), there are no problems, there’s a party all day long, and laughter all night after that. There are no bills to pay, children to scold, neighbours parking in your driveway, cats pooping on your windshield and pigeons just doing their business wherever they choose.

The Barbie world, it seems to me, is perfect for most of these Malaysians who sneer at the unity government with statements like: “Where is the *Madani government after Zahid’s DNAA (discharge not amounting to an acquittal of Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s graft cases), or “Where is your ‘walk the talk’ on corruption”, or “Why are you pressing on too much Islam in schools with the 40 Nawawi Hadith”, and let’s not forget university students demanding “How come we have to segregate in rocking all night at a concert”?

So this unity government seems to have failed the Reformasi test, the Madani exam, and the Malaysia of the 1960s viva voce. As the Malay song goes, “Ini salah, itu salah, jadi semuanya serba salah” (this is wrong, that is wrong, so everything is wrong).

I would like to point out the bigger picture to remind all Malaysians siapa yang sebenarnya salah (who is actually at fault).

The first thing the armchair politicians are getting wrong is that this is a Reformasi government. It is not, it’s a unity government. Do we not understand what that implies?

Well, try and imagine that you just got that long-awaited promotion – but you find out that you can’t fire, demote or transfer your two worst enemies in the department. In fact, they are in the office right next to yours. How are you going to do any work? Easy or not?

Next, let us look at what “politics” means.

According to Wikipedia, it’s “the set of activities associated with making decisions in groups [on matters] such as the distribution of resources or status”. Does it say anything about professionalism, efficiency or responsibility? If anyone expects all that from a government, I would be forced to ask which planet they come from.

And which organisation in the world has an easy relationship between workers and customers? Every one of them has issues and problems. But despite the problems, organisations try their hardest to deliver. Usually with hope of improving with time.

A government made up of more than 1.5 million employees is not an organisation of 2,000 employees or even 20,000. And, basically, you can’t fire anyone who isn’t up to snuff, which is something you could do in a company.

So which is easier to run, a government or a company?

Malaysians act as if civil servants (who are mostly Malay) are workers in a company, that they can come in one day and fire half of the workers the next. There would be instant civil unrest, and the head of the government’s house will come under siege.

Let’s not assume any one of us could easily wear the mantle of a prime minister, much less a PM with former enemies as partners and civil service machinery that thinks it’s there by an act of God.

Finally, do the armchair politicians understand realpolitik?

Okay, first, I am not a political science major so I do not have any deep background on what the word means. As far as I can tell from what I’ve read, it means that wheeling and dealing, serving sentiment over principles or rationality, and trading favours are the order of the day. Realpolitik answers the hard question of “What can we actually do, realistically, now, and perhaps, just maybe, in the future?”

I venture that those who have been married for more than 30 years know what realpolitik is. A good 90% of married life is about compromise, trading favours, tolerance, acceptance, loyalty and all that without expecting reciprocity. Love before marriage means something absolutely different from what it means after 20 years, 50 years of marriage.

So “good governance” exists only on a piece of paper, like marriage contracts and vows. The real meat is in the living, the challenges, the struggle, the compromises, the growth and the despair – but also the hope.

If we cannot appreciate a man who has been unjustly imprisoned not once but twice, who does not take a salary, who has not awarded projects to his children, if we still think we can do a better job than him, then well, I don’t know what to say.

You know, I think I now understand the armchair politicians. They want a Barbie world Malaysia to replace the real Malaysia even though we all live lives full of challenges, struggles and compromise. (But also of growth and hope.)

*Madani is an acronym for the government’s overarching policy that embraces six core values: keMampanan (sustainability), KesejAhteraan (prosperity), Daya cipta (innovation), hormAt (respect), keyakiNan (trust) and Ihsan (compassion).

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.