Don’t go chasing waterfalls

The columnist hopes his fellow Malaysians are not pursuing impossibilities and wishing for the wrong thing.

EVERY time some Malay politician makes a thoughtless remark, I feel bad for my race. To ease my pain, I turn to wise proverbs, or peribahasa, in the beautiful Malay language, and every time I do that I wonder, who were these people who showed such deep wisdom?

Then, during the recent socks controversy that had salvos fired by both imprudent politicians as well as thoughtless influencers, along with inflammatory comments from people who listen to this nonsense, I was completely aghast by the “great” thinking displayed.

I found myself turning to one of my favourite proverbs: “Yang dikejar tak dapat, yang dikendung berciciran.” Literally, it reads, “The thing that is chased escapes while the thing that is securely held is lost.” And I think this perfectly describes many Malaysians today. On both sides – any side – of the political divide.

There has been criticism because politicians like Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Salleh was seemingly allowed to make provocative, divisive statements without consequences while Malaysians with no previous record of insulting Islam were forced to apologise profusely and some even spent a night in jail.

Judging purely by reaction from the authorities, it seemed like Dr Akmal was given all the leeway to rant and swing swords left and right – until he was sent to the headmaster’s office, where some royal words must have had a great impact because he turned tail and went silent.

So it looks like the royal institution stepped in while the political leadership remained silent.

What else? Well, there’s that affair of the reduction in sentence and now a “mysterious” addendum that discusses house arrest for convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Who knew of the possibility of house arrest and didn’t inform the rakyat?

What I gather from much talk on social media and elsewhere, many Malaysians feel betrayed not only by the reduction in Najib’s sentence but also this possibility that the man who was convicted of defrauding us will get to serve his sentence at home.

And judging by the many text messages I’ve been receiving, people who voted for change at the 15th General Election in 2022 are unhappy, with many saying they have given up on voting.

The most shocking thing to me is that some are even saying they might vote for the Opposition – incredible!

Now, let us look at the wise Malay proverb again. What does it mean? To chase after something that one cannot get or can never get? “Cannot get” means you did not try hard enough but “will never get” means you are chasing after impossible things.

And so what does “yang dikendung berciciran” mean in this context? It means that what we have in hand is slowly disappearing. But isn’t “yang dikendung”, what we have in hand, a real thing, a useful, important thing? I would imagine so since we hold it in our hand. So what are we doing chasing after impossible things and risking the loss of this real thing, this useful, important thing, already in hand? It must mean that we fail to appreciate it.

This could lead to two dangerous consequences. While we had the thing, we did not take care of it and use it appropriately; and instead we waste our energy chasing after something that we will never get.

Thus, this wise peribahasa is telling us unwise Malaysians, check betul-betul (properly) what you already have. Are you sure you want it to disappear from your hand? Then look at what you want, can you get what you think you want in this life time? Or is it nothing but a mirage?

I’ve taken to sharing my thoughts on YouTube of late (@proftajuddin) and I have spoken many times about the politics of families.

If you are a father of one family, then you cannot wallop the child of another family. All you can do is say something in general and something in private to the other child’s father. Now, how that father takes care of business with his child, there is nothing much you can do.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the Prime Minister of a coalition of “once enemies”. He is surrounded by three big enemies to his one single Pakatan Harapan alliance. This has never happened before. When Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was PM, he too was with “frenemies” and kept quiet about the obnoxious behaviour of a leader of a so-called “religious” party.

As for the Najib affair: Yes, many Malaysians disagree with the reduction in sentence as well as the possibility of him serving that reduced sentence under house arrest instead of a prison. But is it fair to blame somebody who is said to be “powerful” but at the same time “powerless” because of history?

Between you and me, I think the podcast of a former politician is currently wielding more influence than the office of the Prime Minister. Whether that influence is good or bad for the country, that is of course another matter.

Finally, if Malaysians still insist on chasing after impossibilities while letting go of what we have solidly in hand, let me put it in another language: “Be careful what you wish for, for you may actually get it!”

Good luck, Malaysians!

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.