— Jacob Sinnathamby
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 07, 2011

DEC 7 — We tell our children that more important than whether they win at football or netball is how they play the game. They must play it with sportsmanship, empathy and fairness.

Our parents used to implore us to study and excel at examinations, but also to do it the correct way; not by cheating but by hard work.

All the major religions tell us to stay on the right path always; to do the right thing, not to take short cuts, not to justify the ends by the means.

I raise all these points because as Prime Minister Najib Razak embarks on the final stretch of his first election as the PM, I cannot shake off the feeling that every method — kosher or not — is being used to achieve victory. It greatly troubled me that he spoke the fighting language of a Malay chauvinist at the Pekida gathering a couple of days ago.

Telling Pekida — a group well-known in police circles for strong arm tactics and for breaking up PAS ceramahs — that no inch will be yielded is as good as giving them the green light to do everything and anything to ensure that Umno wins.

The PM’s mere attendance at the Pekida function will be viewed by law enforcement agencies as an endorsement of the group and will surely deter the cops from acting against them.

This zero-sum mentality in winning the elections has thrown up questionable tactics like blaming Christians and Chinese, and stuffing the electoral rolls with names like Balai Polis Kerinchi.

I get the whole story: You have to win the elections because you have wanted this job for a very long time. But really are you willing to win at any cost?

Malaysia is crying out for statesmen, not political animals. I believe that people justify their actions by saying that after they have achieved their “goal”, they will turn over a new leaf.

I do it all the time too. Oh, I will focus on God and the afterlife after I have built up on worldly treasures. Or that I will watch my diet and weight and spend more time with the family after retirement and building up a big bank balance.

Governing politicians justify their racist chants and sneak tactics by saying that, once the “goal” of power has been achieved, they will have the mandate to rule the country well.

How can they, after a lifetime of compromising on principles and turning one race against another? If our children are taught to cheat at home, in school, on the playfield and in the exam hall and to live without God, can we expect them to wake up one day and become stellar citizens?

It simply cannot be done. So, Mr PM, the ends can never justify the means, especially when governing a country.