Lawless are they that make their wills their law.
– William Shakespeare (The Two Gentlemen of Verona)
The culture of lawlessness is the bane of elected government actors in the role of ‘robbinghoods’ engaging in unstoppable, uncontrollable and unspeakable illegal activities under colour of law. The voters are in a quandary because they were directly responsible for choosing the few that gets to push the control buttons of organised government that affect the masses.
Another culture of lawlessness is controlled by the well-managed, well-funded and well-camouflaged underworld. Both cultures guarantee resources for returns, rewards and revenues. Watch out for birds of a lawless, bigoted feather that enjoy bullying together.
The anarchists who do not believe, or have lost faith, in organised government may have the solutions to put these two cultures out of business for good but there have been no takers since the Arab Spring.
The education system is deceptively designed for the regular supply of guaranteed labour. Teachers are paid to warp the minds of their students under the guise of an intellectual boost. G. K. Chesterton was admirably on point when he reasoned that ‘the most dangerous criminal now is the entirely lawless modern philosopher. Compared to him, burglars and bigamists are essentially moral men.’
In America today, free speech is equated with and equivalent to paid speech as there are no limits to campaign contributions and spending. The candidate with the most money is usually the winner as billionaires literally buy them for a price. The returns on investment are sweet, and last several generations. Corruption and cronyism in America are well regulated through legislative imperatives and pro-executive apex court judgments.
In Malaysia, fortunately, government expenditure on elections paled, and failed, when the people gave the mandate to the Opposition coalition parties in GE15 to form the new government that has promised to end corruption. The government must entrench and enforce the death penalty upon public officials proven to be corrupted in a court of law. And those who oppose the death penalty are probably unaware they are tacitly supporting corruption. The government must conduct a nationwide referendum to enquire whether the death sentence is the appropriate penalty for convicted ‘robbinghoods’ and bribe-takers employed as government servants. The bribe-givers better beware, too.
“Lawlessness aided by injustice is the greatest terror any government can impose and enforce on its own people,” warned Mehmet Murat Ildan. Therefore, the most sacred duty and obligation of the voting public is to be vigilant sentinels and guardians against this blatant abuse of power that distort, deface and destroy the public trust.
We, the people must take it upon ourselves to be involved in government through regular communications, and not merely as op-eds in the media. We must have a dog in the fight.
A monthly town-hall meeting between the people and their elected representatives in 222 federal and 600 state electoral districts ought to become a routine event twelve times a year. This will put the people right in the midst of the affairs of elected government.
Such meetings will showcase the whole gamut of the concerns of voters and the general public. The benefits and advantages of such meetings require no justification. In these meetings, the elected listen to the electors. Their problems are the main business of government.
The present government has to put such Meet the People events on its calendar with all deliberate speed. No point listening, or pretending to listen to the rakyat once every five years just before the general elections. A monthly dose of what the people expect will keep the government on its toes.
Hopefully, the government will pass the Meet the People Act to encourage the rakyat to express their aspirations and expectations for the enforcement of good governance and the provision of honest services by the state and federal governments. Governing people from marble mansions and super-structures without grassroots contact are acts of gross mismanagement and wanton arrogance.
No Malaysian expects, or aspires for a revolution, except for a revelation to the government to take cognizance. The Meet the People project will tell the government every month what the reason and purpose of government is because willy-nilly, the rakyat just happens to become the last priority.
“The duty of a true patriot is to protect his country from his government,” cautioned Thomas Paine, the American revolutionary who brought a revolution and a lasting revelation to the people in the fledgling government of 1776.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
