Sycophantic behaviour

WHY??

So what if people want to say good things about the Old Man? So what is private companies are running whole campaigns around how wonderful he has been in all the years he's been in charge? So what if no one is reporting his "bad" side? So what? So what?

If there's one thing i've learned about politics on any scale, either from campus politics for which i've had personal experience, or office politics from which i've observed, or even national politics in which we all live in, there will be those who hate you and those who love you. If you've done a reasonable job, the balance of matters will be that more people love you than not. Even if you've done a perfect job, there will still be those who hate you because politics is not always about doing what's RIGHT but about doing what's NEEDED and PRACTICAL. Whenever a decision is made, even the most righteous or sincerest of decisions, you can bet that somewhere, someone out there will disagree and hate you for it.

In the case of Dr M, all the good things being said about him now, just before he leaves - i wouldn't begrudge him the praise eventhough he himself admits that he's had many failures during his tenure, the most glaring of which the failed remodelling of the Malay mind. He's done quite a bit for Malaysia, so why not give him a short, though intense public round of applause?

Consider the direct opposite. What if no one applauded him for the good he's done now that things are near the end? What if Jikon's wishes were granted and no one said anything good about him just as he is about to step down? What if there was absolute silence from us the rakyat and the day he leaves would just be like any other except for the fact that we will have a different PM?

If that were to happen, the silence would be deafeningly loud. It would be an insult to his long service to this country; good or bad, it should not be forgotten that we're this far along under his stewardship.

Any comfort we Malaysians enjoy today was never a forgone conclusion when Dr M took over the reins. It was never a manifest destiny and the fact that we do have some degree of relative comfort in comparison with the rest of South East Asia tells me that the leadership of this country has done something reasonably right.

Perhaps, we won't be bronzing a statue of the Old Man quite just yet. But for now, let's clap on.

{Clap, clap}