The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 20 Jun 2011 05:04 PM PDT JUNE 21 — An effective democracy is a function of an active and informed citizenry. "Active" in the sense that the people would stand up for their beliefs and "informed" in the sense that there is sound judgment involved — the ability to discern between an opinion and a fact, and a genuine call to action from inflammatory rousing. We all have many different opinions about where Malaysia stands today, but I'm sure we can all agree that the Malaysia after the March '08 elections is a very different place. All in all, there is a net gain towards democracy. But as we take our baby steps towards a much freer nation, I guess it is only fair if we ask whether our electorate is ready for that transition? Many have often cited the proliferation of racist hurls as a sign that Malaysia has gone south. Every society has fringes and in a truly democratic nation, even the most racist demagogues are entitled to their fair share of free speech and they are as Malaysian as anyone else. Why do you think racist provocations are so common in Malaysia? Because the perpetrators know they work. This so-called racial card rallies their base while pissing off the rest of the country. And in the midst of being riled up, the detractors will join in the squabble by firing an equally passionate response of their own. The result would be an irresolvable duel of excessive passion. Being privy to Malaysian politics, how much are you prepared to bet that it wouldn't atrophy to the usual name-calling and finger-pointing match where heat rather than clarity triumphs? At the end of the day we all go back feeling satisfied that we have pitched our flag and taken a stand. Then tomorrow there will be another racial slur, and here we go again! So really, who is being hostage to whom? In a multicultural society where wounds run deep, a nation that is so susceptible to combustion is something about which I would raise my eyebrows. We call our politicians the people's servants, eh? But that would only be true if the people are well informed in the issues that they are concerned about. For job security, politicians need to win votes – and they will do what it takes to get them. It may sound Machiavellian, but this is the political reality. Both sides will have their own agendas to pursue and a failure to recognise that might yield misplaced loyalties. On the other hand, while scepticism is definitely needed in a democracy, there is a fine line that separates it from cynicism. The former encourages reason for objection, while the latter is objection for objection's sake. And it takes sound judgment to draw that line. Now, before I get caricatured as an anti-democratic Malaysian, hold your horses. I am not. Malaysia has tasted the "forbidden fruit" of democracy and there's very little chance that anybody can put the genie back in the bottle. As we edge forward towards a more democratic nation, we need an electorate that can match the paradoxical nuances that this system exerts on us. Democracy is often messy. We might have to settle for compromises or maybe tolerate things that we do not like. It's a system that asks not only of what we will take but also of what we are willing to give. So, are we ready for it? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Argentina’s fairest relegation? Posted: 20 Jun 2011 05:00 PM PDT JUNE 21 — What's the fairest way of deciding relegation? In most football leagues around the world, a straightforward method is employed: the two, three or four teams with the lowest number of points at the end of each season are ejected, or occasionally entered into a play-off with the highest placed teams from the division below. In Argentina, though, it's a lot more complicated: in the Primera Division, all results from the last three top flight seasons are added together to create a points-per-game "co-efficient" for each team, with the bottom two then going down automatically and the next two entering into a play-off with the third and fourth placed teams in the second division. Critics say that the system is too confusing and is designed to ensure that the traditional big clubs, such as Boca Juniors and River Plate, never suffer relegation because they are always given an opportunity to recover from one poor season by improving their co-efficient over the course of the next two campaigns; if a big club finds itself in trouble, it has enough time to simply spend its way back to safety and avoid the drop. The system is also often criticised for being unfair to newly promoted teams, who don't have the luxury of relying on previous seasons (because only top flight results count towards the co-efficient) and can therefore easily be relegated if their first season in the Primera is a poor one. While there's a large measure of truth in those objections, it doesn't always work out like that. Recently promoted teams generally possess enough momentum and quality within their ranks to gather sufficient points to maintain status. And the income disparities between teams are no longer large enough to give the traditional big clubs an automatic advantage over the course of three seasons. Personally, although the system is quite confusing and takes a while to get to grips with, I like it because it punishes sustained mediocrity by relegating teams who perform consistently badly over the course of three years. The fact that teams are given a chance to rectify one-off poor campaigns also relieves immediate pressure and theoretically encourages a long-term approach to team-building (not that you'd know it from the rapidity with which managers are hired and fired). It also gives teams a chance to blood promising young players, safe in the knowledge that a few defeats in the short-term may not necessarily be too damaging if the experience gained at a young age helps those players to create a strong team in the next couple of years. A common gripe in the English Premier League is that such-and-such a team is "too good to go down" or "didn't deserve" relegation, and it's true that an unavoidable sequence of unavoidable negative events (injuries, suspensions, refereeing decisions) can be enough to condemn a team to an unfortunate relegation over the course of one season. But there can be no such complaints in Argentina — if a team performs consistently poorly over three seasons, there is little doubt that relegation is deserved. That has been demonstrated by the current case of River Plate. The Buenos Aires club are historically the most successful team in the country, with 33 national titles under their belt as well as two South American Copa Libertadores titles and the 1986 World Club Championship. But they have endured a lean spell over a number of years and, despite a slight resurgence this season, they now face a two-legged play-off against second division Belgrano after ending the recently concluded season fourth from bottom in the co-efficient. The first leg between River and Belgrano takes place on Wednesday night (8am on Thursday morning Malaysian time), with the return leg at River's enormous Monumental Stadium scheduled for Saturday. Further proof of the system's strength came when a dramatic late twist was provided to the race to avoid automatic relegation as the regular season concluded this weekend. Quilmes suffered relegation after finishing bottom of the co-efficient pile, but the identity of the other automatically relegated club is yet to be decided after Gimnasia La Plata and Huracan finished dead level with a co-efficient of 1.096 after both gaining 125 points from their 114 games over the last three seasons. To further complicate matters, rather than the issue being settled by goal difference or head to head meetings, the two teams will now meet in a one-off play-off on Wednesday evening; the loser will be relegated, and the victor will join River Plate in facing another play-off against San Martin from the second division. Gimnasia could have condemned Huracan to automatic relegation by gaining victory over Boca Juniors in their final fixture, and they came within seconds of doing just that before conceding an equaliser in the last minute of injury time (fittingly, former Argentina international and Boca legend Martin Palermo marked his last game before retirement by playing a key role in the goal, setting up defender Cristian Cellay with an open goal from two yards). Gimnasia and Huracan both have very poor records over the last two seasons and were little more than mediocre in the preceding campaign, so whoever loses this week's play-off can't complain that they didn't deserve relegation — and perhaps that's a fairer system than ejecting a team from the league on the basis of just one season? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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