MALAYSIANS – politicians and the public alike – are repulsed by the events that transpired at Tun Mahathir’s Nothing to Hide forum over the weekend, and rightly so.

The scene was ugly: Chairs were flung, flares lit and punches thrown; the aftermath worse, as social media feeds were saturated with everything from conspiracy theories to apocalyptic meltdowns, most notably in the form of Bersatu strategist Rais Hussin, who in a worthy impersonation of former-Trump adviser Anthony Scaramucci, engaged in a Twitter tirade where he dropped F-bombs like loose change.

In more ways than one, we should have seen this coming. From Jamal Yunos’ antics to brawls between red shirts outside the PWTC and the deluge of dumb-downed partisan soundbites on social media timelines; Malaysian politics has taken up a form of Punch and Judy politics synonymous to rowdy pub-banter, which always invariably ends up in a punch-up.

Regrettably, Nothing to Hide – synonymous with the partisan overtones that I alluded to earlier and attended mostly by men in Bersatu garb - came to be the tipping point for this vile brand of politics, revealing cracks that expose the stunning decline of political intellectualism in this country of which select actors from both sides of the political divide have been complicit in engineering.

Suffice to say, politics is a passionate business; one that is fraught with disagreements; even more so in an election cycle. Yet, when these disagreements are premised on the politics of blame and violence – at the expense of rationality – things can get nasty and real quick.

As such, it would not be a stretch to say that this does not augur well for the upcoming general elections.

As things stand, our politicians have failed to capture the imagination of Malaysians, a failure that’s manifested in as many as 4 million unregistered youth voters. Worse still, judging from the responses to the forum, things are unlikely to change anytime soon.

Content with pandering to their narrow support bases, it’s business as usual for the politicians. Same old actors. Same old dirty tactics. But this time with bigger stakes, amid simmering political tensions and a discernible shift towards the right.

What does this hold for the politics of intellectualism? Is it well and truly dead? Should we discard any form of optimism that amidst the rubble, rational politicians could eventually emerge?

Reassuringly, two events of note – which received far less media coverage than they ought to have – suggests that a glimmer of hope remains.

The first came in the form of a bipartisan TN50 event, where politicians from the Youth Wings of Umno, DAP, Keadilan and MIC converged to discuss a number of hot-button issues. There were no abrasive barbs here. Instead, we were treated to a frank and mature discussion about the need to create a cohesive national identity. 

The second, came in the form of a bipartisan podcast on BFM, where refreshingly, both parties agreed on the need for younger politicians to spearhead a more mature way of doing politics, underpinned by intellect and considered facts.

In both these events, Umno Youth exco Shahril Hamdan stood out among the pack.

Aged 31, he is undoubtedly a fresh face. The positions he took in these two events: very much in-sync with young Malaysians.

Articulate, cerebral and visionary, this former management consultant is proving to be a breath of fresh air; a feat made no less impressive when you consider the stereotypes often associated with red-meat Umno politicians.

Furthermore, while you wouldn’t associate Umno with a debate culture, Shahril has already been in two high-profile ones, having done battle with YB Ramkarpal Singh and YB Zairil Khir Johari.

He’ll be adding to this figure soon as he squares-off against Bersatu’s Syed Saddiq on Saturday in a debate about the Malaysian economy.

The prospect of this debate is particularly exhilarating, not just because its organiser, UKEC, has long been the non-partisan platform for student activism centred on intellectualism. It is also because this debate could well be a gauge of whether these two young politicians can embody the ideals that are so lacking in today’s politics.

Will this debate be more of the same old politics of blame? Or will it be centred around rationality? Will we hear about detailed economic numbers or facts? Or will we just get populist platitudes which can’t be substantiated?

Given that both men are generation TN50, so to speak, t’s only fair that we should expect from them a sign of hope that the politics of intellectualism still has a place in Malaysia.

The tragedy of our politics is in the form and substance that it has taken – big on sentiments instead of ideas; heavy on blame instead of propositions. One hopes that this debate won’t end up in more Punch and Judy politics, or worse still, another pub-punch up.

* Adam Reza reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.