By Augustine Anthony

Wing collar with bands, wearing a black jacket and holding my robe, my brisk stride to the usual work place came to a momentary halt by a gentle voice coming from the back me. “Bos boleh menang kah… ini BN Ooh”

In a short given moment, that gentle voice had many misgivings about the state of affairs in our country, but then I had to go or else I will be late. Then with a tinge of despair the parting words came from that gentle voice. “Tapi apa boleh buat, kita mesti undi dia”.

From his attire and the way he spoke my reading is, he must be a civil servant.

Later that evening, I sat down and thought about the words of that gentle voice that were spiked with sadness. There were no hidden meanings to decipher. The emotions were simple and clear to understand. I know. And so let us talk about fear. And not just our fear but of those who are opposed to our thoughts and actions.

It has been depicted in the movie “Gandhi”, where a Hindu man in rage rushes to the fasting and near dying Gandhi and confesses that he had crushed and murdered a Muslim child during communal violence and fears that he will, in death end up in hell for his wrong doing, Gandhi assures him that he can overcome that fear. Gandhi tells the Hindu man to raise a child who is orphaned in the civil unrest with conditions. That, that child must first be a Muslim and he/she must be raised as a Muslim in the Hindu man’s home.

Barack Hussein Obama has made the message of overcoming fear and human prejudices simple and exceedingly pleasing to listen.

He is Hussein Obama to start with, but a practising Christian. To the Muslims he is a Christian who they need not fear and to the Christians he brings assurance that they need not fear the Muslims.

To the American whites he sees his fears as a white through his grandmother’s eyes and as an American black and coloured he shares the fears of blacks and coloured through the pain and hardship of people like his father.

By birth and disposition Obama is an embodiment of assurance rather than a byword for fear.

But in our country even after 52 years of independence, UMNO continues to put fear in non Malays by words such as “Ketuanan Melayu” and all the side shows of Ketuanan Melayu that we have often witnessed. UMNO at the same time puts fear in Malays of the potential loss of Ketuanan Melayu if the Opposition comes to power.

MCA puts fear in Chinese and non Malays that PAS is going to turn this country into an Islamic state (frankly I have no fear of this but it is a topic that we can discuss on some other day)

I will stop by saying that politics in MIC is frightening. The events of late leading to the party election is proof of its state of affairs.

Collectively Barisan Nasional puts fear amongst ordinary people, civil servants, fishermen, farmers occupying TOL lands and etc. etc. of what potentially awaits them if they do not vote for Barisan Nasional candidates. And many out of fear vote for Barisan Nasional even though the chosen candidate may not be the real choice of the people.

The Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia: People First, Performance Now! is a very attractive catchphrase but the recent events indicate that it may be heading the same direction as other slogans like Bersih Cekap Amanah, Vision 2020, Zero Inflation and Cemerlang Gemilang Terbilang. The prime minister’s down liners are such a let down.

The above actions of politicians are only causing fear and mistrust in ordinary people. In fact it is akin to poisoning an otherwise ordinary, peaceful and healthy society.

Do we have any assuring words from our politicians?

Anwar Ibrahim’s message to the nation is very assuring. Having listened to such assuring words from Anwar, peoples’ mistrusts are likely to disappear. But then there are many who may say that Anwar cannot be trusted because of his past association with UMNO, but at least he is prepared to change his old rhetoric with a new way forward. That is a first step and a good sign. Check Anwar’s recent speech in Ipoh available in You Tube.

Lim Kit Siang’s frank disclosure is also assuring. By making honest admission of the negative (though manageable) state of affairs in Pakatan Rakyat coalition, (like the recent interview with Sin Chew), voters who are not partisan feel that as a leader he is sensitive to their feelings. His further statements that collectively there are efforts to resolve these minor differences are very assuring to the people. In this way he signals the people that he is listening to their grouses even if it is only a whisper. These are steps in the right direction.

Click here to read My Sinchew interview with Lim Kit Siang:

Exclusive Interview With Lim Kit Siang: “Pakatan has not yet achieved maturity.”

Exclusive Interview With Lim Kit Siang: “Islamic state is the greatest challenge.”

As a leader of an Islamic party, Ir. Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin is also very assuring in his ways when dealing with people. The Kuala Sepetang Chinese voters are living testimony to this. Click here to know what makes him special.

Those who put fear in people may attain success for a certain period of time but not always, for people who live in fear may one day stand up and say enough is enough and let us rid of it, once and for all!

History is the best lesson for those who are unwilling to learn and reform.

I think the writings are not only on the wall but all over the place.