The latest politician that hinted as to how they expect everyone to show them more “gratitude” for their past sacrifices and contribution is Lim Guan Eng, who hit out at critics of the “Lim dynasty,” by reminding us, in case they have forgotten, about how he and his father, Lim Kit Siang were imprisoned twice for their political beliefs and struggles for justice.
“He was imprisoned twice for his political beliefs and struggles for justice. But yet some make accusations against him of wanting to create a Lim dynasty,” said Guan Eng at a dinner to mark Kit Siang’s 84th birthday.
For context, Kit Siang was detained in 1969 and 1987 under the now-repealed Internal Security Act (ISA) while Guan Eng was detained under the ISA in 1987, and later jailed for 18 months in 1998 on a sedition charge over an article about a 15-year-old girl allegedly raped by a politician. The sentence disqualified him as an MP and barred him from politics until 2008.
Lim Guan Eng’s tacit call for gratitude for his father and him made me recall another famous politician, who was an arch enemy of Lim Kit Siang in his heyday,Dr Mahathir Muhammad.
Dr Mahathir Muhammad was also famous for using gratitude as a form of political currency.
According to Mahathir, he ostensibly had to launch a crusade and overthrow all of his successors – be it Anwar, Pak Lah and Najib – because they were incapable of doing their job or perhaps even corrupt, but there is another theory to explain Mahathir’s action, and that is that he overthrew them all, because they did not show enough “gratitude” to him.
The fault of ingratitude, in the eyes of Mahathir, is so grievous, that if Mahathir perceives that someone who owes him gratitude is not showing him enough gratitude, he has the right to disgrace, ruin and incarcerate them.
“Gratitude” in the eyes of a politician, by the way, is not the same as gratitude as it is understood in terms of morality.
In terms of morality, gratitude is something that you will display spontaneously, towards someone that has relieved your pain or suffering.
When you show gratitude towards your parents or teachers, for example, all you have to do is acknowledge that they have relieved your pain and suffering, simply because it is true.
To express your gratitude to your teacher for example , you don’t have to give them money or hire their children in your company – instead all you have to do is just admit that you were confused and bewildered before your teacher came into your life, but after they thought you, your confusion and bewilderment disappeared, and with it, so did you stress and suffering.
In morality, gratitude is something that spontaneously comes out of a person who examines themselves, and we are encouraged to express our genuine gratitude to others out loud, because it is a form of generosity.
One of the primary treasures that a good person seeks, is the knowledge that they have done something good with their life.
When you truthfully tell a good person that they have indeed relieved your pain and suffering, you are giving them a truth that they will treasure all their life.
Gratitude in political terms however, is more of a currency or a debt.
When a politician expects gratitude from someone, he or she will expect that someone to do them a favour, in the same way that he or she has done a favour to that person in the past.
In common parlance, this sort of “gratitude” is called the “I scratch your back, you scratch my back” principle.
If a politician scratched another politician’s back, but that politician did not scratch their back in return, the other politician can be considered to “owe” the first politician, and thus the first politician is entitled to harass or punish the other politicians, in the way that an Ah Long feels that they are entitled to harass those who do not repay what they owe to the Ah Long.
We don’t know yet, why Lim Guan Eng chose to bring up the topic of gratitude at his father’s 84th birthday celebration and who it is directed towards, but in the same event, we know that HR Minister and the Penang DAP chairman Steven Sim was accused by an aide to Lim Guan Eng as being a "Fan Gu Zai" or traitor.
"Eh, Steven, am I wrong? You are a traitor, aren't you?
"If he dares to fight, we will fight too. What is there to be afraid of? He has his supporters, and we have ours. Let's see what happens!" the aide was quoted as saying.
In recent times, Steven Sim’s star in national and DAP politics has shined, while Lim Guan Eng’s has dimmed.
That Lim Guan Eng’s aide is now accusing Steven Sim of being a traitor, is perhaps a sign that Lim Guan Eng’s camp believes that although they have done a lot to make Steven’s star shine, Steven is not doing enough to prevent Lim Guan Eng’s star from dimming.
Although Lim Guan Eng’s aide has apologised to Steven Sim, the doubt as to whether his outburst was pre-planned or spontaneous lingers.
If it was pre-planned, we will have to assume that Lim Guan Eng’s camp has already signalled that it is expecting more “gratitude” from those whose back it has scratched in the past.
When Mahathir did not find his back scratched, although he had signalled that he was dissatisfied with how his back was not being scratched, by those whose back he had scratched, he would cause a civil war to break out in his old party, Umno.
Time will tell whether Lim Guan Eng will do the same, if what happened to Mahathir also happens to him.
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