Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen
Politics is a game of perception. But at some point, the game is as much about anticipation as it is about perception. In simpler terms, if you want to stay ahead, you need to know with an absolute degree of certainty who your enemies are and what they’re up to. This requires a kind of intel even the most trusted of one’s advisors may never be able to provide.
And that’s the truth.
Like me or hate me for saying this, but the only way anyone gets to stay on top in Malaysia is if he (or she) has the cunning of a fox. While the guys at Bukit Aman may be cut out to gather some data or snoop around here and there, there is only so much anyone can hope for them to do. What a power bearer needs is a safety net comprising those willing to bite the dust or jump down the ravine the minute he (or she) says “jump.”
That’s where Najib failed.
Najib failed to realise the need to discover what each and every one of his ‘loyalists’ were up to. He took things for granted and let every other Tom, Dick and Harry stick their oars in his affairs. That left him with a pool of hungry sharks who sabotaged him for years. The problem, however, is not with the sharks, as sharks are sharks and do what every other shark does. The problem is with Najib, who believes that when you feed sharks, they become loyal to you.
It’s a defect.
It’s a defect both in his psyche and reasoning. Najib seems to believe that money is the answer to everything, that if someone is paid well, he (or she) will be loyal to him. He does not seem to believe in the existence of nationalists and patriots who only want what’s best for the country. Perhaps to Najib, nationalists and patriots do not exist in this day and time. But that’s just what it is going to take to run this country – patriotism.
In this day and time, as much as you may aspire to be the next Razak, if you’re going about paying people to hold up placards saying “I love PM,” you’re doomed. Likewise, if you’re going to go around town clad in a t-shirt that reads “malu apa bossku,” you’re going to get a lot of attention as an entertainer but not as a leader. We have enough entertainers in the parliament and zoo as it is.
What we need is a patriot.
And what we need is a patriotic leader surrounded by other patriots who’re ever ready to die for what it’s worth. But that’s not to say the leader need not keep his patriots in check to make sure he’s ten steps ahead of them. That’s where Najib failed both as a leader and a politician – he trusted his ‘sharks’ too much and did not emulate JR Ewing’s golden rules (see video below). But that’s only because Najib is Najib and cannot differentiate between a fork and a spoon.
Don’t take me literally though.
