Pakatan Harapan unveiled its candidates for the Johor election.
Among them was former education minister Maszlee Malik, who was named as the candidate for Puteri Wangsa.
Now, if you are wondering why Onn Hafiz would challenge Maszlee and not any of PH's other 55 candidates, here's the interesting part.
It wasn't Onn Hafiz who issued the challenge.
It was a Facebook page called WOW Malaysia.
I never knew a Facebook page could be so powerful that if it challenges two politicians to a debate, the debate automatically becomes something the politicians it named will have to entertain.
Maszlee, meanwhile, claims that he accepted the challenge because many people wanted him to.
"With all humility and respect, and in the spirit of democracy, I accept this challenge," he said.
I don't know about you, but I find that explanation to be strictly for the birds.
Maszlee was only announced as a candidate yesterday. He is not even PH's official Johor MB candidate. Until today, most people had probably never even heard of the WOW Malaysia page.
So it is difficult to believe that "many people" had already approached him urging him to accept the challenge.
What makes the episode even more curious is that just a month ago, on May 13, Maszlee dismissed rumours that he was being considered as PH's candidate for Johor MB.
"Hahaha... Desas-desus calon MB PH tak betul.
'Tidak minat! Terima kasih.'"
I suppose it is true what they say: a week is a long time in politics, and a month is an eternity.
In the span of a month, Maszlee appears to have gone from "tidak minat" with an exclamation mark to rushing into a debate with Onn Hafiz before PH has even named its Menteri Besar candidate.
Personally, I think Onn should dismiss the challenge outright on the grounds that it is an unworthy challange.
A debate only makes sense when both participants have something meaningful to gain and something meaningful to lose.
In this case, only Maszlee has something to gain.
If he performs well, he immediately strengthens his claim to be PH's choice for Johor MB.
If he loses, he loses very little, because nobody currently sees him as Onn Hafiz's direct counterpart.
If I were to lose a sprint against Usain Bolt, nobody would think less of me.. Nobody would, because nobody sees me as Usain Bolt's equal in the first place.
The same principle applies here.
Onn Hafiz, however, has everything to lose.
If he wins, the victory means very little because he would merely have beaten one of PH's 56 candidates.
If he loses, the damage could be enormous.
It would be the political equivalent of Goliath losing to David. The result would immediately elevate Maszlee's stature while raising uncomfortable questions about BN's leadership in Johor.
More than anything, this episode seems to suggest that the rumours about PH struggling to identify a clear leader for its Johor campaign may be more true than false.
After all, when a party has a settled and undisputed choice for Menteri Besar, there is usually no scramble for attention.
Yet here we have a candidate who, despite previously insisting he had no interest in the job, now appears eager to seize every opportunity to place himself at the centre of the conversation.
That raises an obvious question:
Is Maszlee merely accepting a debate challenge, or is he auditioning for the role of Johor MB?
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