We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
– Aesop, Greek fabulist
The fabulist has boldly unveiled the soul and DNA of the embarrassing truth that is oft manipulated or manufactured by mad politicians feigning superiority and rare intellect.
Every known societal malady, parody or tragedy can be traced back to these mental incompetents who have risen from the ranks into positions of power, consciously put there by an equally mad crowd kowtowing to notions and nuances of self-inflicted government. This formidable and indomitable madness is immune to cures and remedies.
All the symptoms of mental illness are evident in government leaders who perniciously use race and religion with incendiary fervor. Race played a pivotal role in 16th century Europe with the newly discovered ‘New World’ that promoted and advanced slavery into a booming and lucrative business despite religious teachings to the contrary.
Today, the west condones men wanting to be women, and woe begotten to those planning to discriminate about gender identity. That’s not freedom of expression or choice, it’s freedom to be mad, or act mad, and the government is willing to legislate this madness.
Normal people seem mad to those who are pathologically mad, or decide to act mad. Every segment of society has been compromised.
Everything we think, do and act is geared to some form of accepted madness that has become the norm. Sad but true.
The law has not been spared either. Justice is still in ether. It is not on terra firma, as yet.
In Malaysia, we are guided by the Mental Health Act 2001 (Act 615) which addresses lawful detention of an individual who lacks the mental capacity to make an informed decision. It also protects the said individual from abuse or mistreatment.
Straight off the bat, one could literally write off several dozen incompetents in government.
Article 48(1)(a) Federal Constitution (FC) declares that “a person is disqualified from being a member of either House of Parliament if he is and has been found or declared to be of unsound mind.”
It’s not quite clear whether this refers to mental evaluations for those aspiring for Parliament, or whether they are required to undergo evaluations after winning their seats.
For the good of the nation, government must institute mandatory measures for mental evaluations for all public officials including the civil service. The public trust is paramount.
We seem to avoid taking this serious issue by the horns. I cannot remember when the media reported or wrote about this issue as it pertains to those in public office. Citizens and those in leadership roles must talk about this issue openly.
Results of mental evaluations of those holding public office must not suffer cover-ups as official secrets. After all the FC and legislation are not secretive about this growing danger to society.
Any parliamentarian or Cabinet member caught spewing rubbish inside or outside Parliament must be subjected post haste to mental evaluation if the FC is the supreme law of the land, and if the rule of law means anything.
PDRM and MACC investigations cannot be wholly conclusive if the suspect has mental issues to contend with and manages to receive effective and lasting treatment. Typically, the symptoms get relief, but the root cause is totally unmanaged or unmanageable.
It has been said, rather ruefully, that most countries have only a few honest politicians and this is just like having a body with only a few good organs functioning. Society is in mortal danger with a few honest politicians.
In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, right? At least that’s what citizens and voters are brainwashed with as a propaganda vehicle.
Sometimes, being smart in a devious way is to outsmart the evidence of mental health.
“A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.” Translation: a sociopath’s ability to knowingly, wilfully, and deliberately lie, mislead, misinform and cause distress. That’s mental illness. That quote was from Winston Churchill.
Politics seems to attract the mad and borderline insane ones who look and talk normal. Records are full of unbelievable stories that would make Ripley’s ‘Believe it or not’ look boring.
There is something mad about politics for this uncanny attraction. Mad genius is but a misguided tolerance quotient. George Santayana’s observation that “sanity is madness put to good use,” must be included in the job descriptions of public officials after the necessary evaluations.
There is another genre of madness that is exhibited when entertaining politicians from the moment they get into their vehicles with outriders in tow.
The mad hold them in awe awaiting every word uttered to be reported or spun. Why? Do we thank an ATM for dispensing our own money?
Once this madness stops, we will be able to create a government that will be able to offer honest services and birth a just society.
Isaac Newton left us with a gem: “I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.”
There are no known chemical medications to cure this malady which has become a national tragedy. We put up, or shut up. And then it’s time to vote again.
The madness continues.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
