A review of the Soi Lek-Guan Eng debate — Lim Mun Fah
JULY 10 — There are always two reactions after a political debate.
The first reaction would be supporters of the two parties claim victory for their respective parties. In other words, there are only winners and no loser for the debate.
Another reaction would be, debates off the stage continue even the debate on stage has ended. Wars of words continue to flood newspapers.
As the second debate between MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng was a political debate, there were inevitably “political show” elements in it. The question lies on, who spoke better and who “performed” better.
Of course, you can immediately conduct a public opinion survey to see who is the winner for the audience. However, I can tell you that most members of the audience will still blindly support their preferred party and very few people will actually make rational judgements.
Undeniably, the election atmosphere is gradually growing as the election is approaching and it is difficult not to be affected by the words and deeds of politicians. We might even choose sides due to their confrontations and friends might also fall into arguments due to different political stands.
Politics is marvellous and charming, so do political leaders. They are charming to the extent that their supporters actually follow, praise and even worship them. Such an “unconditional” support is reflected on actions. Supporters take every word and deed of their preferred politicians as absolutely correct, whereas the words and deeds of their opponents are absolutely wrong.
At this moment, everyone seems to have been trapped in the curse of politics. Some people are anxious to perform; some are anxious to speak. That is also why we can always see radical words and deeds in political debates.
However, we can also find some people who are extremely silent and would rather listen more, think more, appraise more and reflect more in political debates. Unfortunately, the number of such kind of audience is too little to attract any attention.
I like to watch live debates, particularly free debates that can really test a debater’s nimbleness, eloquence, thinking and response. You may find such kind of debates in college or high school, but not among politicians. Politicians are too smart, too protective of themselves and too concealing. Therefore, they tend to avoid serious issues and try to mention only trivial matters. They just simply keep repeating their views and stands and even though they look impassioned, the debate actually lacks intersections. There is nothing surprising or impressive. Instead, it is disappointing.
Nevertheless, we are still full of expectations and looking forward to another debate of a higher standard. Hopefully, it will be a debate competing in policy, thinking and excellence, instead of expression, passion and applause! — My Sinchew.com
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
