Unrestrained partisan politics is leading to the rapid decline of standards in public life. This can be seen in pre-election campaigns, public protests and on-line postings.There are more cases now of vehicles being sprayed with paint and ceramah attendees being pelted with stones and sustaining injuries. Such incidents should be investigated at once by the authorities and the culprits brought to book. The authorities should also act expeditiously against crude, vulgar protests such as the recent butt-and –burger demonstration by a few individuals which transgressed individual privacy.
Indeed, vicious vulgarity generated by political partisanship has reached a new peak partly because of the safety of anonymity afforded by online media. Would the new amendments to the Evidence Act force online media users to become more responsible?
However, it is not just the authorities who should act to curb declining ethical standards in the media and in other public spheres. The people, especially the well-educated, also have a significant role to play. The educated should not circulate downright lies and half-truths with relish simply because they help to advance one’s partisan political position. They should realise— given their education— that they have a greater moral responsibility than the rest of society to reject unsubstantiated allegations and unverified claims.
Partisan attitudes within a segment of the educated stratum of society have become so pronounced that it is almost impossible to persuade some individuals to even consider the other point of view. It is as if the educated have blinkers on. Some have become such blind, fanatical adherents to a particular position or a certain individual that logic and reason seem to have deserted them. They highlight only the misdeeds of their adversary; the injustices committed by their own side are ignored.
Biased, dogmatic thinking of this sort is the antithesis of the balanced, consensual approach to political and social concerns which has been the hallmark of our nation. It will only undermine the equilibrium upon which the Malaysian state is founded.
This danger is real since there is often a subtext to political partisanship. It is a subtext that reveals itself when educated men and women consciously link the wrongdoing of an individual to his entire community. Simplistic, superficial generalisations like this aggravate communal sentiments. Educated Malaysians should not disgrace themselves by pedalling such communal generalisations.
This is why ethical standards in public life cannot be restored unless a segment of the educated adopts a more responsible attitude.
(Dr. Chandra Muzaffar,Chairman, Board of Trustees, Yayasan 1Malaysia. Petaling Jaya.)
