Politics

Yesterday I attended a talk by the Malaysian Prime Minister.

We were all representatives of various student clubs, and we lined up beside the door to usher him in. As I stood there, shoulder to shoulder with the other students, I was struck at how my heart was thumping.

I have never been a fan of politics. I usually live in my own world.

I wasn’t immune to the fact that I was meeting the Prime Minister of Malaysia. It was exciting, for some unknown reason, to think that I was meeting a man who was the leader of a country.

Everyone stood as he entered, and he walked past us, shaking our hands as he passed. His hands were surprisingly soft, the hands of an old man.

He stood at the podium and I thought to myself, “He’s just a man.”

A man who is the leader of a country, no doubt. A man who holds a lot of political power, definitely. A man who seemed to genuinely believe that Malaysia had what it took to progress.

But just a man.

My sister once remarked that he is a great man, with great ideas, but he has come to power at the wrong time.

I wonder too, if this is the case. He was not afraid to address our issues, but he seemed very tired. I wonder what goes on behind closed doors. I too, have followed the political discrepancies, I too, know that the democratic government of Malaysia isn’t really as democratic as it seems, and as I sat behind a line of datuks and datins, I wondered how many of them were caught up in this dirty world of politics. As they smiled and nodded, I wondered if they actually agreed with what he said or if they were just trapped in the world they chose to live in.

I cannot think that politics is easy, and perhaps I am idealistic, but I believe in human nature.

I believe that people had ideas and hoped to make a difference.

I believe that the man that stood in front of me, at some point in his life, believed that he could do wonderful things for the country, and I wished him well.