In the Ring > Crossing the Invisible Line

I AM usually on auto-pilot in the morning. Thus, when I left the house on Monday morning, I had expected it to be a routine ritual. But when I took the turn off to the Federal Highway, I found myself smack in a jam that lasted for more than an hour.
Part of a compromise package to share the household duties with my wife is that I send our son to school every morning.

What wasn’t reckoned for was the hardship clause – like this one-hour jam for a trip that usually takes 20 minutes. I should have remembered – but could I even have foreseen – the probable effects of police roadblocks leading to the city.

My increasingly irritated two-year-old kept asking the question that I could not answer, “Why so long, Papa?” It wasn’t too long ago that such a situation was unimaginable. I feel the Malaysian political landscape has taken such a turn for the worse that it is unrecognisable from only a few months ago. The never-ending drama and the unpredictable nature of contemporary politics is covered minute-by-minute in all the media, be it mainstream or alternative.

However, an individual can choose to swamp himself or to ignore the latest political hullabaloo. Not everyone is politically inclined.

How involved or interested one is in this arena is a personal choice.

It does not make you less of a Malaysian if you read the business or sports sections first (or only those sections for that matter).

It is only an indication of preference and interest.

But on Monday, the unnecessary traffic jam was clear indication that politics had crossed the invisible line, trespassing into our everyday lives. People missed presentations, clients were kept waiting and, of course, restless children were sent late to school.

On a broader scale, many analysts have commented that the current political scenario has left adverse impacts on investments and the performance of the stock market. Granted, it is a global problem and other regional stock markets are also affected by rising inflation and lacklustre growth.

However, our country is now burdened with an additional risk element never seen before – political risk.

Numerous sectors are directly lumped with the negative impact of this new political uncertainty.

An obvious example is the tourism industry. What makes it worse is that this sector provides a lifeline to many other sub sectors such as transport, food and beverage, and retailing, among others. It does not help that tourism is a key contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product and a major source of employment.

Personally, my primary concern is the security fears. I live in Kelana Jaya and the sound of a helicopter circling the vicinity is not what you would expect on a Sunday afternoon.

But that was the reality two weeks ago. It was as if we were in a war zone.

I had run down to the neighbourhood 7-11 nearby, a day before the scheduled anti-fuel hike rally and was stumped by the presence of truckloads of personnel at the nearby police station. Tales of ‘army sightings’ became the conversation piece among us neighbours. For the first time in my life in Malaysia, safety was a real concern.

What was going to happen? Should we all lock ourselves safely at home? In this manner, containing the anti-fuel hike rally in a stadium minimised any related inconvenience to others.

Of course, sometimes the flaws of democracy require you to use your voice and presence. But I believe the golden rule is that you must exhaust all available options. Public protests should be the last course of action. There is a place to discuss these issues in a manner expected of by the public. It is called Parliament.

All parties have a voice in Parliament. Hopefully the concept of televised debate will catch on in Malaysia, and politicians from both sides of the floor can use that platform as a sustainable replacement for street protests.

Maybe then, the majority can continue to live on auto pilot mode, knowing that our basic rights are being protected – and that this fragile invisible line will never be crossed again.