I was raised to respect older people, but to be honest with you, as I grew older and got to know them better, my respect for people who are older than me in age has gradually wanted. Today, I don’t disrespect old people – I still give them the same amount of respect that I would I would give somebody that is of the same age or younger than me – but I certainly don't see any reason to respect them in a special or extra manner, because I have serious doubts as to whether their age and tenure on earther has in any way made them distinguished or worthy of respect.
Not only the old people that I know, the conduct of the old people in our national scene is also not giving me much reason to believe that older people in our country deserve a special and extra amount of respect, on account of their age.
If I do respect the older people in our national scene like Anwar or Zahid Hamidi, but I respect them more on account of their power and position, not their age.
If they were to lose their power and position, then I don’t think that I will see any reason why I should treat them more deferentially than I would someone of my age or younger.
I think older people in our country are also aware that they have no intrinsic worth outside of their position and wealth, and that is why they cling so tightly to their power and position.
Look at Hadi for example.
Hadi is ill, but despite that, he doesn’t want to step aside as the head of PAS and has stated that he wants to lead PAS until the day that he dies, likely because he knows that without heading PAS, he might not only be put in a position where others might not value or respect him, even he will find it difficult to value or respect himself.
Mahathir is still trying to gain back power, even if he is 100 years old. He can’t even bend down to put on his shoes, but if you were to ask him to be the prime minister today, i will bet a ringgit and thirty cents that he will say yes in a heart beat. He will say that he just wants to be the prime minster to save the country, serve the nation or whatever else cockamamie reason that he can think of, but at the heart of it, he probably just wants to claw his way back to a place of power and position because that is all that he is. Without power and position, he is nothing.
Anyway, I thought of how unworthy of respect and admiration old people are, when I read the news about how Muhyiddin is clinging to his post, to the point of pleading and begging.
“Ask yourself, how many party meetings, events, or programmes have I missed? Is there any proof that I had failed to attend?
“I am still capable of carrying out my duties and responsibilities. If I couldn’t, I would not stay in this position and risk damaging my party,” said Muhyiddin, who is also Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman, in an interview with Malaysia Gazette yesterday ( September 5).
In this age where AI is upending life as we know it and the the world is in such a troubled state that almost everyone one are foreseeing the next world war in the near future, Muhyiddin, who still thinks that he is worthy of leading his party and perhaps even the party, simply because he attend meetings, events and programmes.
How more pathetic can you get?
Muhyiddin can't even win anymore - for 3 years he has been snatching defeat from the hands of victory for PN time after time, and causing PN to becoming weaker and weaker through his leadership, but still he believes that he is asset to PN.
From his allies to his own division leaders, everybody wants Muhyiddin to leave.
Hadi had to merajuk with Muhyiddin last year just get it into Muhyiddin's head that everybody wants him to go. . Bersatu's own Port Dickson division had even openly declared that they want Hamzah take over Muhyiddin’s post, while every other division in Bersatu remained silently, as if to say that they consented with Port Dickson’s say.
Just before the Bersatu general assembly today, rumours about Muhyiddin failing health were made to swirl, just to let Muhyiddin know, that everybody will be happy if he just steps down so that they won't have to push him down.
Divisions in PN were even conducting signature campaigns to oust Muhyiddin. When Muhyiddin revealed that he was aware that there is a campaign to oust him at Bersatu's General assembly this weekened, instead of being cowed, a host of delegates became emboldened by the revelation, to openly ask Muhyiddin to step down, to the point that they caused a ruckus in the assembly.
But still Muhyiddin clings to the his position as the captain of the opposition, even the ship he commands continues to sink under the weight of his lethargic, absent and uninspiring leadership, and even when his own crew members are now resorting to mutiny.
Why?
Well, I think the answer is because Muhyiddin is an old man, and like most old men, he knows he has no intrinsic value. His many years on earth has not given him any wisdom, or enlarged his heart and mind or refined his virtues, to allow him to make peace with himself and be a source of guidance, admiration and example for those who are younger.
Instead, all he has to make him feel that his life has not gone to waste, is his position and the possibility that he might rule the country someoday.
Knowing how lacking he is of any intrinsic worth or value he is, he clings on his position to keep his relevance afloat, while deluding himself that he is staying in Bersatu to save it and cause it to soar, when it is clear to anyone with eyes to see that his continuous stay is only causing Bersatu to sink and unable to rise.
At some point Bersatu has to ask itself – if it can’t even remove even a delusional and frail old man, who clings to the party merely to keep afloat his semblance of self worth, while deluding himself that he is saving the party when he is sinking it, should it really have aspiration to rule the country?
Not only Bersatu, but this is perhaps a question that we all should ask ourselves, as the AI revolution and World War 3 approaches us.
If we can't even get rid of the burdensome and delusional old men, who weigh us down while believing that they are lifting us up, do we have anyone other than ourselves to blame, if if we suffer, deteriorate and perhaps even find it difficult to survive, in the challenging days ahead.
I am not saying that all old people are useless - if we had a person who used their time on earth to enlarge their heart, enlarge their mind, refine their virtue and perfect themselves, to the point that they have become someone who is knowledgeable and capable of not only finding happiness and making peace with themselves and their world, but is also capable of guiding others to do the same, of course such elders are of immense worth, that we should elevate and esteem as a national treasure.
But if we don't have such worthy elders, then the least we should do is cast aside our useless old men, and think about putting younger people in the position of power, to help us weather the period drastic change ahead.
If we don't have a wise elder, as it should be self evident that we don't - between a lethargic, feeble and delusional old man, and a young male or female, who is energetic and vigorous, shouldn't it be obvious that we are better off choosing the younger person?
At least the young person will not have trouble admitting that they don't know what needs to be done, learn and use their energy and vigor to find a solution.
An old fool who thinks he knows everything, although every thing he knows can't even give him inner peace, happiness or an intrinsic sense of self worth, and who is so feeble and ill that just preventing their body from falling apart will likely use up all their time ,effort and attention, but still thinks that he is something of worth to offer the party or the nation, is only going to lead us to ruin with the delusion, vanity and egoistical desire to remain at the top, when they can even lead themselves, much less us, to inner peace and happiness, or worldly victory and success.
TheRealNehruism (nehru.sathiamoorthy@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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