I don’t know what prompted Chandra Muzaffar to condemn the current government’s decision to not invite Mahathir, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, to the Merdeka day celebration, but I doubt many people will see the decision to exclude Mahathir from the Merdeka day celebration as “Biadap”, as Chandra reckons it to be.
Yes, it is true that like Chandra says, the fifth national principle of Rukunegara is about "courtesy and morality", but courtesy and morality depends on the state of our relationship. With those that we have a good and wholesome relationship with, yes, “courtesy and morality” dictates that we reciprocate the good relationship that we have with them by including them in our special days, but if we have a bad relationship with someone, then “courtesy and morality” actually dictates that we maintain an appropriate distance from them, especially on their occasions that are important to them.
If I have a bad relationship with you for example, “courtesy and morality” will actually dictate that I stay far away from your home on the occasion of your daughter’s wedding, so that your daughter and you might celebrate an important day in your lives, without having me muddy the occasion with my presence.
It is not the case that all rivalries and feud can be reconciled. If I tackled you on the football field and caused you to not be able to score the winning goal of the championship, you and I might be able to put that incident behind us and reconcile after a while, but if you not only humiliate me in public for something heinous that I deny doing, but also put me in jail for it, and refuse to apologise for your actions despite the grave injury your actions has caused me and my family for decades, “courtesy and morality” actually demands that you not show your face where I am the guest of honour.
Also, politically speaking, the current government did not inherit its right to govern the nation from Mahathir’s administration. As a matter of fact, the current government had to overthrow the government that inherited the right to govern from Mahathir’s legacy in order to govern the nation today.
Chandra praises Mahathir for always inviting Tunku to the Merdeka rally during his reign, despite the fact that Mahathir had a difficult relationship with Tunku, but Chandra must remember that Mahathir inherited his government from the government that Tunku established. Tunku’s legacy was passed down to Tun Razak, who passed it down to Tun Hussein, who then passed it down to Mahathir. Therefore, it is only proper that Mahathir honoured Tunku regardless of how difficult his personal relationship with Tunku was.
Anwar on the other hand, did not inherit his reign from Mahathir. Mahathir, as matter of fact, had done everything he possibly could, including humiliating Anwar and throwing him into prison, in order to deny Anwar a chance to rule. Anwar rightfully can be said to have overthrown Mahathir’s legacy in order to earn his right to rule. Considering that, it is actually improper to state that courtesy and morality requires Anwar to honour Mahathir with a special invitation on Merdeka Day.
When you have to overthrow someone in order to take their position, you do not need to honour them during your reign. That is why Malaysians still honour the British’s reign through our participation in the British Commonwealth but we do not honour the reign of the Japanese. We honour the British reign because the independent government of Malaysia inherited its reign from the British, but we don’t honour the Japanese, because the British had to overthrow the Japanese reign to re-establish its reign in the country.
Considering Anwar and Mahathir’s acrimonious personal relationship and the fact that the current government headed by Anwar not only did not inherit its rule from Mahathir’s legacy, but had to established its rule by “overthrowing” the previous government that inherited its rule from Mahathir, that the current government had not extended an invitation to Mahathir on the occasion of this year’s Merdeka day celebration, is something that should rightfully be seen as something that falls within the ambit of morality and courtesy.
When you cannot make something better, the proper thing to do is not make it worse. That Anwar and the current government decided to not invite Mahathir to the Merdeka Day rally can thus be rightfully seen as a measure taken to not worsen an already bad relationship.
It is actually Mahathir’s gesture, of showing up to an occasion where Anwar is the guest of honour, that can actually be said to be a conduct that is lacking in civility, graciousness and courtesy.
This Merdeka Day is rightfully a ceremony that Anwar and his government has earned the right to host. It is Mahathir that should have extended Anwar and the government the courtesy of not participating in a function that they are hosting, without having goodwill or magnanimity towards the hosts.
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