Choo Sing Chye wonders what happened to Dr Chandra Muzaffar’s idealism which inspired many.
Once your heart was filled with egalitarian ideals which copiously propagated into the pages of your books and Aliran Monthly.
I admired your courage to say these forbidden ideals which in the eyes of the Umno’s kingpins were seditious.
I believed that you had the passion then to offer solace for the poor without fear of offending the BN elites of the day.
You didn’t speak for the Opposition, nor the BN government, but you spoke up eloquently for the poor and against injustice.
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In your heart, you felt the anguish, despair, misery and wretchedness of the poor.
But today I see a different you.
You have unmistakably been sucked up in the best tradition of the fifth century Greek sophist, Thrasymachus, who expounded his theory that “justice is simply whatever is to the interest to the stronger party” (‘An introduction to Political Philosophy’, A R M Murray, Cohen and West Ltd, London, 1953).
Today’s reality and challenges are the same as when you wrote this book in 1989, ‘Challenges and Choices in Malaysian Politics and Society’. Below are some of the quotes from your book which are still as relevant:
The instability within Barisan parties, the cliques and factions that have emerged in some of them, the fierce and ferocious competition for power among groups and individuals, the buying and selling of votes even in divisional and branch elections, and indeed the foul filth that oozes out of every pore of Barisan Nasional politics…
Perhaps most of all, it is the growing gap between word and deed, promise and performance that has disenchanted the people.
One talks all the while of trust and integrity and yet there is no determined, conerted endeavour to unravel the truth about the shameful, scandalous BMF affair.
One talks all the while of the danger of corruption and money politics and yet corruption through cronyism and the politics of money are allowed to flourish.
One talks all the while of clean, healthy business practices and yet small but powerful cliques and coteries have entrenched themselves in the world of commerce and industry.
One talks all the while of thrift and austerity and yet there is lavish spending on prestige projects, tourist complexes, exclusive clubs, expensive mansions, grand celebrations, extravagant ceremonies, and costly trips and travels abroad.
One talks all the while of how important national unity is and yet one does not cease to divide the people by racialising issues.
One talks all the while of how liberal the administration is and yet one imposes the severest curbs upon ceramahs and publications.
One talks all the while of hard work and yet whenever the apostle of hard work visits a state or district everyone stops working!
It is these blatant contradictions between what is said and what is done which has now led to a serious crisis of credibility. When a government’s credibility is at stake, it must know that it is in trouble. For the crisis of credibility is the stage that precedes the crisis of legitimacy. Once a government faces a crisis of legitimacy, it ceases to command any moral authority. It is a sure sign of its downfall. Needless to say, our government is still some distance away from that stage.
In this sort of situation, it is quite possible that unscrupulous elements among the ruling elites seeing that both their Malay and non-Malay bases of support have been weakened considerably may in desperation try to create ethnic tensions which may lead to ethnic conflicts. They may then use the resulting ethnic breakdown as an excuse to set aside democratic procedures and rule by decree in order to consolidate and expand their power.
If this happens, it would be a grave blow to the people’s power. It would be a betrayal of the will of the rakyat. This is why though we may never be able to prevent a formal authoritarian regime from establishing itself, we should not do anything that will make it easier for anyone to impose such rule…
I believe what you had written then was based on egalitarian idealism that was close to your heart and ours too.
Gone are the days when you speak like an idealist, and today you speak like a BN politician and write like The Star’s columnists Joceline Tan and Baradan Kuppusamy.
Whatever you write now does not matter to us and the poor anymore. Perhaps to you now the “foul filth that oozes out of every pore of Barisan Nasional politics” smells like roses.
Choo Sing Chye, a former Perak state assembly member, served as politcal secretary to the late P Patto.
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
Thank you, Choo for your expose on Dr. Chandra. Here is a person to be pitied as he journeys from the pinnacle of academic par excellence to journalistic gutter of the level of Joceline Tan
They say you cannot bluff all the people all the time. This pseudo-intellectual has affirmed that truism.
Very well said. In fact we could even forgive BN politicians for what they talk because it is expected of them. But Chandra Muzaffar, probably no better than Ridhuan Tee is another biggest hypocrite in the name of intellectual. The only people listening to him are TV3 viewers.
What a waste?
In the early days he had shown signs of selective justice by veering toward his pet causes. But a true justice seeker is not skewed toward anything but the truth. This man is in the same mould as Dr Mahathir…
Just don’t take him too seriously. After all, he is just one lost soul among a long list of turncoats such as Tunku Abdul Aziz and Wee Choo Keong who have deserted their ideals and conveniently forgotten what they had spoken or stood for.
Just another one of those who has sold himself to the Devil….
Very few people are born with strong convictions and Chandra is not one of them. Today all his ideals have become nought and he is best forgotten. History will forget such a one like chandra ever existed.
I like this letter, well said.
A really good piece. Over to your Dr…..
This guy is an opportunist writer rather than a true philosophist. The ‘sophicated’ words that he used are just to impress only. Now I knew what true color he is disguising as. He has lost my respect.
I, too, was made aware of all that’s not right by Chandra way back in the eighties. Feel almost sorry for the poor man to have descended into such a state. Hope he realises his folly before it’s too late. Take care, Chandra, you know what’s the right thing to do. You know you do. God bless.