‘A People’s Politics’ by Goh Keat Peng: A Review
(A version of this was first published in Selangor Times in March 2013).
One of the people I consulted before joining the Selangor state government back in 2008 was Goh Keat Peng. His advice to me was simple: be prepared for what would be a challenging environment, whilst at the same time being open to experiences that would be personally rewarding. In other words, I was not to enter the realm of politics and government with any false blinkers on, lest the very convenient and natural feeling of disillusionment set in all too soon.
As more and more young Malaysians begin to take a keen interest in politics, policy and government – whether it is through the route of activism, direct politics or policy-making – it would do to pause and reflect upon Mr. Goh’s recently released book, “A People’s Politics”. As someone who has certainly gone the distance, his thoughts, both serious and humorous, are timely and filled with much wisdom.
Mr. Goh himself is a bit of an enigma. Even those directly within political circles may not necessarily have heard his name despite his roles in different organisations including the Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism, and within Parti Keadilan Rakyat itself. The slight and unassuming man with a distinguished crop of white hair, he is often invited to speak at public forums – and if I might add, remembered for banging tables indignantly at the state of our country’s affairs.
His thoughts are strong and clear, as much in written word as they are in spoken form. Making no apologies for his opinion, each chapter reflects upon his desire for a people’s nation, and aspects of the process needed in getting there. As such, his analogy of all Malaysians being on the same “political highway” uses examples of how each individual has to carefully give way to another, by “engaging, … conversing, consulting, hearing and understanding that there are other inhabitants in the country, and their … concerns, needs, fears and aspirations are as legitimate as ours.” This is a powerful truth that very, very few of us – much less the country’s leaders – have internalised, understood and practised.
Mr. Goh takes the bull by its horns in addressing political apathy in his chapter “A People’s Scepticism”, citing examples we know all too well – the common bleating complaint that “politics is a waste of time”, and one should just “leave politics to the politicians”. It comes as no surprise that the political industry has gained for itself such a bad reputation, since there are certainly bad eggs in the basket, and with power comes the proximity to money, and the propensity to engage in corrupt practices, although this is not always misused to one’s own advantage.
Nevertheless, he rightly points out that even the need for an “orderly, reasonable, sensible and collective co-existence” necessitates participation in the political processs because politics joins you if you do not join it. The general public has an equal responsibility in keeping their leaders in check, which he reminds in the chapter on “A People’s Vigilance”.
Much as Mr. Goh writes to the ordinary Malaysian voter, urging citizens to play their role in being kept informed, reading critically with discernment what news is fed to us, being a messenger by spreading one’s knowledge of a matter with friends, being inclusive and respectful to all regardless of opinion, and finally being catalyst by volunteering actively in any capacity of one’s choice, what I found most helpful was the final section on “career politics”.
The process of political participation is quite like playing a video game, although in this case one level is not necessarily superior relative to another. At Level 1, one reads and is exposed to political news, likely through alternative media sources online. Graduating to the next level, one takes an interest in participating in various means: civil society, volunteering as polling and counting agents, possibly starting an interest group of one’s liking. Further up, one perhaps joins a political party as an ordinary member and begins to join party activities. This level is equal to those appointed as political aides and assistants to political leaders. The final level, which only a small percentage ever reaches (or chooses to reach) is to contest as a people’s representative in Parliament or state assembly.
This is where Mr. Goh’s advice comes in useful. He recognises that there will be those amongst us who decide to become career politicians, and that many top-rung national leaders had their start as volunteers or apprentices. His words to those who are in that role are to “start humbly, already in the deep end, but not as yet responsible for the consequences… relax, observe, and learn.”
A final note, extremely relevant given the poor quality of candidates in previous elections, is that there ought to be required formal education and training for all professional creer politicians. He quotes Robert Louis Stevenson’s observation that “Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary”. In this light, I was fortunate to have completed a short Political Advisors’ Course sponsored by the Australian Labor Party and the University of Sydney in 2012, amongst others.
But for those who have not the luxury of time, nor the opportunity to attend classes related to “political philosophy and ideologies, the mechanisms of the political process, principles of parliamentary democracy, code of conduct, service centre management, human resource management, project management, financial management, good governance, constitutional provisions and public speaking”, this acts as a stark reminder that our politicians need some formal education in order to lead the country in the best, most professional means possible, without which they are poorly equipped to govern well, if at all.
“A People’s Politics” can be best summed up as a handbook for Malaysians who are learning to become responsible stewards of our own country, and citizens who actively take the fate of the nation into our own hands. It deals with the somewhat emotional thought processes as we collectively struggle with failure and disappointment, but ends on the positive note that the nation has the very real option of change to end political monopoly. And that ultimately, this is made possible through “A Person’s Vote”.
