A political by-election is going on in Malaysia at the moment, in a little town called Ijok. Of this particular by-election, I have nothing much to say other than that seeing campaigning politicians delivering wheel chairs to the disabled and handing out cash assistance to the needy are a common political exercise here.

On a more general note, it somewhat captures my attention – in political elections – that the campaigning parties consisting of ruling governments usually possess the publicity capacity. They never fail to get their messages across through the various media at their disposal: the newspapers, the television, the radio, and the internet, among other possible avenues of publicity.

On the other hand, the publicity messages and endeavours of the competing parties and candidates are usually all too easily thwarted. They never get to really say things they want to say, and mistakes they make in speech and action are speedily amplified, and their credibility eroded thereby. They’re projected as the pathetically miserable people who’re fighting a losing battle and who can’t deliver (usually, they’re not allowed the opportune privilege to deliver anyway).

Now… before we become too quick to pass the political arena off as a corrupt and dishonest engagement, let’s consider the possibility that perhaps all of life is a political arena. And perhaps, the politics of a nation are just a heightened hyperbolic representation of what happens in the everyday life of its people.

Think about it: isn’t it true that our social engagements are all about power and dominance? The powerful have access to various forms of communication, for they have the social influence and the wealth to sustain the cost of employing these avenues. Their voices are heard. The weak, they have a voice, but too soft and insignificant because it cannot be projected; and no corporate company deems it of any benefit to project these voices except maybe for self-promoting, emotion-appealing, and tax-exempting purposes. So they never truly get to say what they want to say except when their valuable voices are exploitable by the powerful.

This is the way it is with life, isn’t it?

So I wouldn’t so much blame the political entities for playing their political games in such a manner; they’re just playing the game according to societal rules, letting out a bait they know we’d bite.

So go, vote your integrity’s worth.