FOR the record, nobody would be siding with the statement made by Universiti Utara Malaysia senior lecturer Kamarul Zaman Yusoff for despicably twisting the welfare work done by Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim into a potentially combustible racial and religious issue.

This was an act strictly motivated by political purpose because of the academic’s well-documented dislike of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

While I would personally stop short of taking legal action against a man whose academic and personal credibility has been questioned on numerous occasions, still it is encouraging to witness the online backlash against him, which serves as an enthusing rare sight in social media that often dwells on racial and religious divisions. After all, there is really nothing to dislike about an elected rep doing his utmost to provide for the downtrodden and poor.

Yet, I also could not shake off the feeling the recent praise and applause Sim has received as he turns from lawmaker to online philanthropist has inadvertently revealed the deficiency of our politics and how we generally view politicians in this country.

Firstly, there is no denying the photo exhibits of Sim’s recent act of kindness and generosity is clearly one that is carefully planned and executed regardless of his intention – given the pictures looked to be professionally captured and the well-written caption accompanying it.

I wish to stress I am by no means disregarding or denigrating Sim’s sincerity in serving his needy constituents and I am fully cognisant that social media remains the best platform for any lawmaker wishing to promote the constituency service he has done.

However, we should not ignore the fact that as an elected representative, Sim possesses some legislative power and that he should be measured from a different standard than the likes of Ebit Lew or Uncle Kentang.

Contrasting with the latter, an elected representative could potentially legislate to alleviate poverty, provide jobs and economic security and finally ensure housing and healthcare for all so there will be no uncle who will ever sleep on the street again as Sim has proudly proclaimed in his Facebook post.

And this is ultimately the standards any elected representative should be held to when the public are going to the polls or assessing the performance of the former.  

Aside from revealing the inequality and poverty that has been no doubt exacerbated by this pandemic, what is hidden beneath these photos is the severe lack of urgent policy discussions or legislations that could systematically tackle poverty and other economic issues.

And there is no amount of act of kindness Sim could do for him to truly eliminate poverty or homelessness. Again, I am not demeaning any act of kindness, but we should also ask ourselves why in the 21st century there is unprecedented amount of wealth being produced, and yet poverty and inequality remain prevalent despite the world not found wanting in terms of numbers of kind individuals, charitable organisations, and welfare workers.   

The question remains: the issue of poverty and homelessness is an economic issue that revolves around capital and labour, expenditure and saving, or investment and consumption of a country. And that relation could only be altered to reduce poverty and inequality through a fundamental change of economic policy, which very much depends on whether an elected representative has the political will to reshape our economic system to be more equal and fairer through policy proposals, advocacy campaigns and legislative measures.

It is fair to say that raising the minimum wage, taxing the rich to fund housing and healthcare or ensuring gig workers are socially protected relies on the support of our elected representatives in Parliament.

It is heartening to witness someone perform a generous act at a time where the pandemic is calling for much-needed solidarity and trust, but ultimately the bar is different for Sim because you are given the mandate and empowered to challenge the system that produces economic injustices like the homeless Uncle Kanda, Adik Mohamad and Puan Ros that you rightfully sympathised with.

The acts of random kindness are noble but perhaps what this country needs is an economy that works for the many regardless of ethnicity and religion and that could only be achieved with elected representatives advocating and putting on the table economic policies for the public to consider. – April 25, 2021.

* Kenneth Cheng has always been interested in the interplay between human rights and government but more importantly he is a father of two cats, Tangyuan and Toufu. When he is not attending to his feline matters, he is most likely reading books about politics and human rights or playing video games. He is a firm believer in the dictum “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will”.

* 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.