Published by The Malaysian Insight, image from Wikipedia.
Do you remember an arcade game called Whac-a-mole? It is the one where you wait for a mole to pop out of the hole, and then whack it as hard as you can with a little hammer.
In recent months, I think DAP has been doing quite a good job of maintaining a low profile – especially given all the rambling accusations of how the party comprises a bunch of evil, insidious puppet masters somehow bent on destroying everything Malay or Muslim in Malaysia.
I think of DAP as the mole from a particular hole in the above-mentioned game, and Umno and PAS as the players waiting eagerly – ignoring all the other holes, waiting to pounce. Sometimes, they would even hit the DAP hole even if the mole has yet to emerge.
Last Wednesday, when DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng released a statement, where the original wording (since amended) included something along the lines of Umno and PAS “declaring war on non-Malays”, it must have felt like Hari Raya came early for Umno and PAS.
Right on cue, both parties started gleefully whacking away, hardly believing their luck that the DAP/Lim mole had finally emerged from the hole.
There are many lessons to be learnt from this example – and a few others in recent days – with regard to strategic political communication.
I have been repeating a fair bit that rule No. 1 of political communication is to not dance to your opponents’ tune.
How then, should Pakatan Harapan address the question of race in politics?
For today’s article, the answer lies not so much in what they should say, but what they should not say.
Good time for DAP to keep low profile
From an outsider’s perspective, it’s hard to discern why Lim decided to make the statement when he did.
One reading is that DAP has not abandoned its archaic obsession with MCA, which he mentions in the statement.
It could be that he saw the latest developments between Umno and PAS as an opportunity to take a swipe at MCA – an organisation that should take up literally zero of Lim’s headspace at this point.
Perhaps, the (amended) remarks about Umno and PAS declaring war were but an afterthought, tangential to the original purpose of the statement.
Experienced political communicators should know that every single line in a statement matters, and should be checked and double checked before being issued – especially those higher up in the political food chain.
In any case, the milk is spilt, and Umno and PAS are now in a frenzy, baying for blood left, right and centre. All that remains is to glean what lessons we can from this episode, moving forward.
Chief among these should be that DAP should have maintained the best of available strategies in light of the attacks it was under. Keep their heads out of trouble, and focus on real governance.
This is not a glamorous route, but it is an effective one. There is no way to “disprove” the Umno/PAS accusations of being a puppet master (because one cannot prove something in the negative), so all that is left is to focus on not doing anything that might be seen as validating these nonsensical accusations.
Comparative advantages and vacuum of vision
If I had to summarise, I would say almost every time PH talks about one race or another, it loses.
If the race game were basketball, PH would be a short player, and Umno/PAS a tall one. Being short doesn’t make you a bad athlete, but a short athlete who wants to excel would do well to choose his or her sport wisely.
On the subject of race, PH’s natural comparative advantage is on the question of national unity. It has all the ingredients to talk about how Malaysians would be stronger for coming together, and about forging a national identity that transcends ethnic identity, even while celebrating it.
It has very few ingredients for talking about how to “defend the rights” of one group or another – this is the domain of PAS, Umno, MCA and MIC.
Indeed, the very concept of “defending the rights” (against which amorphous bogeyman, one wonders) should be considered only the opposition’s version of reality – a version that has traction only because such a big vacuum of vision exists from our government.
Bad statements by Streram
We can see how this plays out in the comments by Dr S. Streram, who charges that should PH field a Malay in Rantau, the pact might lose.
The most polite way I can think of describing this dismal statement is that it is a facepalm moment.
The worst part of this racially divisive statement is that Streram is clearly making it for his own personal benefit – even if it comes at the expense of the party, coalition, Rantau voters and all of Malaysia. It is self-centered narcissism at its worst.
I think Streram should arguably already be in PH’s bad books for forcing this by-election. While what happened to him may be unjust, forcing a by-election results in much potential damage for PH. Most times, a sitting government has much to lose and very little to win in a by-election.
In any case, no PH politician should be making public comments about their racial preferences for a candidate in Rantau.
It goes against everything PH stands for, and opens up the pact to massive attack, especially from Umno and PAS, because this plays right into their narrative of non-Malays threatening Malays.
Rantau an opportunity for fresh start
Rantau should be a launching pad for a completely refurbished PH communications strategy.
It would be an excellent time to practise a more streamlined approach towards political messaging, one in which they no longer shoot first and ask questions later.
The position of racial politics is at quite a pivotal point in Malaysia, as we see former Barisan Nasional parties looking towards some sort of realignment.
Calls such as those by former Bersih 2.0 chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan and Bersatu strategist Rais Hussin to not be distracted or panicked by whatever is going on in the opposition are timely.
The best way for PH to proceed is to chart its own course and remain faithful to its original principles and manifesto.
This is its best hope of ensuring long-term benefits for both the pact itself and the rest of Malaysia. – March 8, 2019.
Nathaniel Tan is Director of Media & Communications at EMIR Research, an independent think-tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based upon rigorous research.
