The aim of a word is to move the spirit.
At least, a word should aim to touch the heart and mind of another soul.
This is why I read and write, and I am sure that this is why all of us read, even if most of us do not write.
We read because we long for something that will move, or at least touch, our heart and mind.
Now, I would like to say that I only write when something moves my spirit to write, but I can't in all honesty say that — for better or worse, writing has become my job, and when it comes to a job, as I am sure all of you know, you have to do it when you have to do it, even when you don't feel particularly inspired to do it.
But despite that, I will also say that I still do write when my spirit is moved to write, even though i have to admit that there is also a big part of my writing that is done just because it is a job.
But anyway, I digress — the reason I am bringing up this topic of words and moving hearts and minds is because I just read something that Anwar said, and I have to say that nothing he said moved, or even touched, my heart and mind.
What did he say?
Well, if you have to know, in an article titled "I didn’t want early elections, why were they impatient, says Anwar", other than saying what the title says, Anwar also said a bunch of other things, like Umno was engaged in playing a political "wayang kulit", or that he objected to the Negeri Sembilan election being called, and that the state's future is for the workers, smallholders, hawkers and businessmen, and not just the ultra-wealthy.
The last part, where he spoke about the workers , not only did not move or touch my spirit, I must say that it even caused a sense of disgust and indignation to rise in my heart.
Now, when I asked myself why it is that Anwar's words have failed to move my heart and mind, I also realised that I can't remember the last time Anwar said anything that moved my heart and mind.
I can understand why not everything Anwar says today is something he says because his spirit was moved to say it — I am sure at this stage, he often just has to say things because it is his job to say them — but regardless of that, you do still expect him to say something because his spirit was moved to say it every now and then.
But unfortunately, I can't remember any occasion where he said something that moved my heart and mind.
I am not saying that he has never said anything that moved the hearts and minds of his audience —in his heyday, Anwar was famed as an orator, who could move the spirits of tens of thousands of people at one go.
But that was many decades ago.
In recent memory, however, I can't remember a single occasion where he said anything that moved my heart and mind.
I am sure it is not just my heart and mind that he has failed to move. I think Anwar is failing to move everybody's heart and mind, and that is part of the reason why almost everybody is disappointed with him.
These days, when Anwar says anything, it is, at best, like the voice from a TV you leave on during a lonely night so that you don't feel so alone. You hear it in the background, but it doesn't matter to you what you are hearing. You are just hearing it because you need something to fill up the space.
At worst, these day, I find what Anwar says to be revolting , because it makes me feel like I am watching a bad movie that is filled with audience-insulting moments. It makes me want to cry, "Who do you think you are?" at the director, for daring to believe that they can serve such insipid, incredulous and fake moments to us, while imagining that they can get away with it because we are too stupid to notice.
When I ask myself how Anwar got from being a legendary orator to this point, where at best his words are just things you have to hear because he is the prime minister and for me at least, as a political commentator, it is my job to listen to whatever the prime minister says, it occurs to me that age might be one reason.
People always say that the elderly have much to contribute to the nation, but this is only true up to a point. I think the cut-off point is around the age of 60 or 65 — after that, I don't think anyone will still be as good at what they do as before.
Think of the best directors, writers, thinkers or artists you know — I am sure their best work came before the age of 65. Everything after that will pale in comparison to their earlier work.
That being the case, I suppose that at 79, Anwar is past his prime.
But other than his age, I think he himself might be the cause of his abject decline.
At some point, I suspect he fell into the trap of just saying whatever he thinks people want to hear or whatever that will cause them to see him as how he wants to be seen, and because of that, he has lost the power to move the hearts and minds of his audience.
The way I see it, before Anwar gives a speech these days, he might motivate himself by recalling his younger days and remember how in his prime, he once had the ability to move the hearts and minds of thousands of people, but once he is done with his speech, I imagine his heart will sink, with the knowledge that he is no longer the person he used to be.
Anyway, hearing Anwar these days makes me feel that, as many people say, Anwar indeed has a trust deficit . He can't make move anyone's mind or touch their heart anymore, and for a great many people, what he says causes such negative emotions as disgust and indignation to arise in their hearts.
That being the case, I reckon what Anwar needs to do to remain of consequence is simply perform. People will judge him not by the impression he leaves in their hearts and minds, but by what he can achieve — in terms of the prices of goods in the market, oil prices, how the economy is doing, and the kind of successes he achieves domestically and internationally.
Like Donald Trump, Anwar is only safe as long as he succeeds. If he loses, he cannot expect the connection he has with the people to save him, because there is no connection.
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!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.
