Don't be forced by online cynicism

  Don't be forced offline by online cynicism By Melvin Singh The New Paper | Sat, Jan 07, 2012 We live in an age of great cynicism. We are enveloped in a smog thick with vitriolic diatribe online and offline. And the instinct for politicians may be to avoid the smog. I hope not. Cynicism is often mistaken for political awakening, poured liberally into a cocktail of free speech and free Internet space. This, the cynical believe, is the panacea for everything that concerns them. I'm not certain what sparked the marked increase in cynicism. Malaysia had 1998, when voters lost faith not just in the ruling coalition but in the mainstream media following the removal of then Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Online alternative media occupied the space and began to set the discourse on many issues. Was the May 2011 General Election here our trigger? Academics will, no doubt, continue to study and debate the issue religiously. While sitcoms and satirical shows poke fun at every profession - lawyers are ambulance chasers, bankers are greedy - politicians appear to have it worst here. When Member of Parliament Seng Han Tong repeated SMRT's explanation for the absence of announcements during the slip-ups in December, many reacted negatively. SMRT had said its multiracial staff could not speak English effectively. In dismissing SMRT's explanation, Mr Seng had mentioned Malay and Indian operators. That riled many netizens. But in interviews with The New Paper, the netizens said they had reacted to a posting they had received. They had not actually seen the video clip of Mr Seng speaking. What role did cynicism play in fuelling the rage following Senior Minister of State Grace Fu's Facebook posting on the proposed pay cut for Ministers? The Ministerial Salary Review Committee had announced its recommendations on Wednesday, which involved deep cuts for ministers. In her posting, Ms Fu suggested that further cuts may make it harder for anyone considering political office. The cuts, as explained by professionals in the human resource business, are significant and even drastic. They said it might deter some from stepping forward to serve. So why the reaction when Ms Fu expressed her opinion? Ministers' salaries have always been a politically sensitive topic. When it is discussed, it is so stuck between fact and political point-scoring that people speculate, because they don't understand. The experts say cynicism often fills the void left by a lack of clarity. But with the Internet, cynicism is amplified and multiplied. Cyberspace also provides a library of information and friends to fuel the cynicism. In an interview with the BBC in 2004, philosopher and Cambridge academic Onora O'Neill argued that cynicism is "our response to the information-rich era". Because we have little time to digest or analyse the information, Prof O'Neill said "cynicism is the only realistic way of interpreting it all". But cynicism is not unique to us. In his book The Cynical Society, Jeffrey Goldfarb observed that American society risked being locked in a malaise because of political cynicism. Over there, cynical politicians run cynical campaigns reported on by the cynical media for a cynical public. But all is not lost, even on the cynical. Prof O'Neill described cynicism as a convenient badge we wear rather than a deeply-held belief. Minds can be changed. People not only trust what they know, but also who they know. A Facebook posting or a television interview may not be enough, but it is a start. Various MPs, including those from the opposition, as well as ministers, have gone down to the ground to get a more comprehensive understanding of issues. For the modern politician here, withdrawing from interacting with the public, even in the face of widespread cynicism, cannot be an option. This article was first published in The New Paper.