Are Malaysians so used to those in power not following the rules that when a leader does something right, it shocks the system?
In the past 24 hours, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has received praise for giving way to an ambulance in Pekan, Pahang.
The incident happened yesterday afternoon, and Malaysians are abuzz, ever since.
What the Agong did was purely human. It was having empathy and a whole lot of common sense.
Giving way to an ambulance, for example, is what one is supposed to do, regardless of class, or social standing.
Unfortunately, there have been instances where motorcades ferrying politicians have barrelled through traffic, forcing other vehicles – including emergency services vehicles – to the side of the road.
This is not the first time Al-Sultan Abdullah had shown compassion and empathy towards his subjects. He had, on several occasions, previously stopped to check on accident victims while en route to events.
Even then, Al-Sultan Abdullah earned praise for doing what any decent human being would have done.
What the King has been doing all this while and yesterday is correct, but the over-the-top praise shows that many Malaysians have low expectations of their other leaders.
To some extent, they cannot be faulted, for many politicians have set the moral bar so low.
Perhaps, that is why someone who does the bare minimum, will earn “likes” and “hits”, regardless if he or she is a minister, or just a ‘Joe Average’, doing a good deed.
Earlier this year, a political party posted several congratulatory posters praising its ministers for ‘doing a great job’ – even though the ‘achievements’ were merely fulfilling the tasks expected that of a minister.
A classic case of celebrating mediocrity.
Perhaps realising that self-praise is no praise, one of the postings related to a minister was deleted.
Over the years, the rakyat has seen many politicians and leaders escape punishment, or being handed light sentences – look at what happened during the Movement Control Order – that we have accepted it as the norm.
Perhaps if politicians and other leaders lead by example, it will not come as a surprise or shock when someone in power allows an ambulance to pass them.
Instead, we needed the Agong to show us how to behave.
