When I heard that Deputy Minister cum PKR Secretary General Fuziah Salleh was mulling making Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad pay RM10 million because they only quit PKR a day after joining Parti Bersama Malaysia, it reminded me of the Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek getting students to sing Anwar Ibrahim a Happy Birthday song not too long ago.
That, in turn, reminded me of a speech that Ramanan Ramakrishnan gave recently. Many people remember that speech as the one in which he criticised Rafizi so harshly that it infuriated Hassan Abdul Karim, but I remember it more as a speech in which Ramanan spoke rather flatteringly of Anwar.
That then reminded me of Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil saying that there is no indication that Anwar is going to call for election soon one day, although just a few days later, Anwar will say that he might call for snap elections soon.
Thinking about all these ministers then reminded me of my teaching days.
When I was a teacher, I noticed that students can generally be divided into three types — the top students, the average students, and the naughty students.
Now, we tend to assume that the top students are simply the ones who get the best marks in exams, but this is not necessarily the case. Top students tend to perform well academically, but the chief quality of a top student that differentiates them from other students is that their mind is naturally inclined towards reality.
When you tell a top student that all the colours of the rainbow originate from white light, for example, their immediate reaction is not simply to believe you because you are the teacher. Instead, they will try to reconcile what they learnt from you with their own experience of reality.
“If all colours came from white light, why does the sky appear blue? Is it even truly blue? Is this why the sky is sometimes blue and sometimes orange? Is sunlight even yellow, or do we only see it that way because we are observing it from Earth? If we viewed it from outer space, would it appear white?”
This is how a top student will receive your teaching.
Sometimes, as a teacher, you might find such students difficult to handle, because they tend to question you constantly, and when they do, you may interpret them as rebellious or disrespectful. But they question authority not because it is their nature to rebel, but because it is their nature to understand reality — and if understanding reality requires challenging authority, then they are willing to do it.
Average students, on the other hand, tend to concern themselves chiefly with authority.
As a teacher, even if you tell an average student that water is dry and fire is wet, many of them will simply nod and say, “Yes teacher,” without much hesitation.
To an average student, reality is often secondary. What matters most is satisfying authority — whether that authority is their teacher, their parents, or the examination system itself.
If pleasing authority requires them to say that black is white and white is black, they will do it.
Naughty students, meanwhile, are different from both.
They are the sort who want what the teacher has. They want the authority, power, and attention that the teacher possesses, and they will often question or undermine the teacher — not because they are trying to understand reality better like the top students, but because they wish to weaken the teacher and seize the authority, influence and attention that the teacher gets, for themselves.
As a teacher, I will admit that average students are the most pleasing students to have.
They are the most pleasing students to have because they will do what you say, do not question oyu and will do a lot to please you and win your approval.
But in life, especially when you are facing serious problems or trying to achieve something difficult, nothing beats having top people around you.
If you have the top people trying to solve your problem or achieve your aims, you will have a team of highly capable people who understand reality very well, and can come up with 1001 ways to solve your problem or achieve your aims.
Surrounding yourself with average people is all fine and well, for as long as you don't have any serious problem or for so long as you are not trying to achieve anything significant.
When all your opponents are weak and you are in charge of something that is running more or less well, even without you needing to do much, it is tempting to surround yourself with average people, who will sing you birthday songs and treat you as though you are God’s gift to Earth.
But when trouble hits, having only average people to help you deal with it will only add to your trouble.
When your problem is that your prolonged inability to get things done and win anything is making you look like a loser in the eyes of people, is being compounded by your opponents gaining strength and popularity, the average helpers tyhat you have around you may do things like threaten to sue your opponents for RM10 million over a petty technical issue involving an insignificant delay of a few hours or a single day — and cause you to become even weaker through their action.
Now if you were surrounded by top people, they wouldn't have done it , because they would have understood the reality of the situation - they would recognise that such actions would only make you look even weak and losing confidence in yourself in the eyes of the public precisely the moment you most need to appear strong and confident.
But average people do not primarily look at reality.
They look at authority.
Even when the leader they serve is having problem with reality, they will simply try to do whatever they think will please the leader, even if their actions ultimately create even more problems for the very leader they are trying to impress.
This is why, when you are on top, you must have the wisdom to realise that your good fortune will not last forever.
You must surround yourself with top people, even if they are difficult to handle, because when circumstances change, you can still rely on their talent and understanding of reality to keep you afloat.
But when success gets to your head, and you begin believing that you alone are responsible for your success, or that fortune will always favour you, or that you alone are capable of dealing with any problems that you will face, then you may become tempted to surround yourself with average people who treat every word that comes out of your mouth as gold.
And when trouble eventually comes, do not be surprised if those same average people that you are hoping will help you face your troubles, will only make your troubles worse through their efforts, while expecting you to appreciate their efforts nonetheless, even as you are drowning in 101 problems.
Whenever I criticise Anwar Ibrahim, a handful of his remaining supporters will comment:
“Yes, we know Anwar has flaws, Nehru — but who else is better? Who can do a better job in managing and leading our country if he is replaced?”
I have always found that to be a very odd way of looking at the abilities of Anwar Ibrahim and his team, because it makes it sound sound as though Anwar and his team are once-in-a-generation geniuses with no real peers anywhere in the country.
Personally, I don't see what is so exceptional about Anwar's team, that comprises such people as Fuziah Salleh, Fahmi Fadzil, or Ramanan or Fadhlina Sidek.
How hard can it be to sing a birthday song or sue someone for RM 10 million over a petty matter ?
From what I observe, whatever they can do is what every other person can do, but what they can't do is something that many people can do if given the chance.
If they are replaced, it is unlikely that we can do much worse, and there is good chance we can do better.
As long as the person who replaces Anwar as the country’s leader is not easily tempted by the desire to be surrounded by subservient, mediocre aides who tend to defer to him, but instead is able to accept and value assistance from capable people who truly understand reality—even if they do not always submit to the wishes of those above them, then I think that anyone that replaces Anwar can easily do a better job than his team and him.
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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