JUNE 16 — Standing under the lamp post — outside the well-lit structures of power in perpetual winter — looking on and waiting for a chance. That is life for most Malaysians pursuing careers as politicians in opposition to the Barisan Nasional (BN).
Last week this column ran through career paths for the Malaysian seeking a life in politics with Umno, this time it turns to the topsy-turvy life inside Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
Firstly, I'll admit all the doom and gloom as a politician living in the shadows of BN can change instantaneously if PR wins a general election.
However, if there is a change of government — as evident already in the PR-run states — policies will not be reversed immediately and Pakatan will have less power, due to self-restraint in order to translate prevailing ideals into policies and the belligerent influence of an out-of-power Umno.
So that's the initial victory scenario. Fight something so long and hard with sacrifices to run past the finishing tape only to learn that you don't get to do things as you please.
A bit of a bummer, actually it is quite a bummer.
But do not let that be a dampener as you prepare yourself for this exciting future of complete utter uncertainties.
As a visiting friend said to me, it is dangerous in Malaysia but it is adventurous too, like being little Hemingways heading to the Spanish civil war. He asked, would I rather be in Scandinavia — all the modernity, civility and consensus leading to a hugely sane but boring life inclining you more and more to suicide rather than a career in politics?
Indeed.
As the Chinese say (don't start a series of diatribes on which Chinese, why the Chinese, are Chinese educationists in agreement as much as the Chinese media on this and what language are the Chinese using to "say" it — I'm just stating an old obscure proverb), may you live in interesting times.
Strap up, put on your boogie shoes and prepare for your jump... life outside Barisan Nasional is a joyride with a fleeting chance daily of burnout, poverty and defection?
It is more organic. Less defined, but still has stark similarities with the Umno universe. Career progress does require initiative. However it is offset by the fewer layers to the top.
And at the top, life is not too shabby. And the advice here is for those pursuing to become main Pakatan leaders, not just middle management.
Who do you need to be?
Family dynasties help of course. Out of the under 80 MPs for PR, there are three children serving along with their parents. And there are the other commonly mentioned linkages and political inheritances.
To be fair to those individuals and their families, they are individuals who have paid high personal prices for their present positions; and the low level of involvement from capable Malaysians in opposition politics does mean a smaller talent pool, thus more from the same roots.
After them anyone really, but the following tips help.
If you are at least three of the five listed: born on the west coast of the peninsula (Penang and Malacca outstanding), Chinese-educated, self-employed with decent means, unafraid of police intimidation and willing to accept "unspoken" hierarchies in the party, then DAP is your ticket.
The PKR world is a bit whacked. Its mixed seats appeal (urban-rural) which makes it promising — theoretically rapid urbanisation will make more seats PKR-viable. Most of its members are ethnic Indians, but its leadership spine is Malay.
There are different types of PKR members in different parts of the country. Selangor-KL is to PKR what Johor is to Umno so maybe that's an insight. The country has yet to have a prime minister from Selangor.
PKR has the same regional areas as DAP plus pockets everywhere in the peninsula.
Now for all the posturing of PAS as a national party, if you are not from Kelantan, Terengganu or Kedah then you have to moderate your ambitions. If you are from Johor, you might want to reread the Umno recruitment pamphlet?
To my comrades in Borneo, I'm sorry the political spectrum has not gone through enough reformation yet, to see through top national leadership from across the South China Seas. The operative term being yet. The country can and must change.
Education is not a deal-breaker, but there are glass ceilings in PAS if you do not hold a degree in theology.
There is an excellent window of opportunity for a dude (it has to be a dude, matey... it's still PAS) with a double degree — a worldly one like engineering with the sobering religious qualification — to move PAS further into the 21st century. Their youth wing does occasionally try to drag the party back a few political "evolutionary centuries."
Money for something
The real roadblock above everything for an opposition career is money.
The early years of activism in NGOs or action groups — linked or not to a political party — or in independent think-tanks are lofty and noble. Then you get into the conversation. It can be your father, live-in-partner or an old friend from school.
"All that education, experience and these long hours, and you make only this much?"
It is one of those questions.
You bump into the odd news article about former opposition guys who've slipped into only the memories of their families. One former MP sold insurance. Most die and don't get roads, schools or coffee mugs named after them. Unless Umno reclaims you after death, like Jaafar Onn.
This explains the slew of professional men inside the opposition then and now. Former PAS president Dr Burhanuddin Helmy was a homeopathy doctor. The Opposition Leader in the Sixties was Dr Tan Chee Koon, who ran the Sentosa Clinic on Jalan TAR.
Doctors and lawyers, and the odd accountant.
The job pays, weathers Umno's economical pressures and gives natural access to voters. Free legal and medical services go a long way in procuring loyalists and broad sympathy.
Civil servants, academicians and corporate executives are courting trouble by being active in the "wrong" parties. And then the usual passing enthusiasts eventually go Awol after a summer of rebellion — the attrition rate is high in opposition politics.
Don't get this wrong, those who support the opposition don't stop supporting them. They just don't build their lives around the dream. They need to pay for the house, car and the kid's tuition classes. Real jobs are needed.
Winning elections comes down to the economy. Keeping political operatives comes down to viable party jobs.
Now let us stop talking about sad things, and get high on the promise of change. For those out of power, the future is what keeps us going.
Nomination Day
So how do you become a good opposition politician?
The easy answer is to win an electoral seat — state or federal. Without a seat, you are an observer.
Which is why PKR had to risk losing the Permatang Pauh and forfeiting their president's right to be a candidate until 2013, Anwar cannot lead Pakatan without being in Parliament.
So for the thousands of aspirants inside the party, get a seat. There are about 60 parliamentary seats — half of them are in Borneo — which are confirmed wins for BN for now, so you better avoid those.
Now focus.
Ready, read.
If you are a DAP candidate, you are already certain to be in an urban seat. You'll have to nail 70 per cent of the non-Malay votes, which is the easier part. You'll have to speak in Malay, bazaar Malay if you have to, but do not just become the candidate who smiles while local PKR and PAS leaders take you to one area to another.
You'll also have to pass the Islam test: A reasonable knowledge of basic elements valuable to your Muslim constituents, not to be over eager to tell people about what you know and show humility. Ask politely and you'll be surprised with what that would mean to common folk.
The PAS candidate already moves hearts and minds with a simple wardrobe change. More baju Melayu and slip on the songkok rather than the skull-cap. Don't moralise all the time — this might be the deal-breaker.
The PKR candidate has to adjust to times and the place. Is this ambiguous? Well, my friend, welcome to the world of Keadilan politics. The PKR spiel is really Umno without the racism and corruption.
And no matter which party you belong to in the coalition, you weigh your words carefully when it comes to Islam, Chinese education and Bumiputera privileges. Missteps haunt you.
But you are free to pick on government leaders' spouses, their business interests and scream social justice every few minutes.
But how do you become a candidate?
Party positions help and geography helps. A willingness to stand behind your leader during his press conferences is good, but you may settle for shaking leaders' hands at events.
But yes make sure you have money or people to draw funds from when selected. Party backing is limited.
The disparity between the haves and have-nots in the Pakatan was there for all to see during Election 2008. Some had their own 4WDs with a smiling candidate's face, and others had to wait for their posters long after nomination day.
The rakyat mobilised the campaigns of most Pakatan candidates, and perhaps Bersih 2.0 next month might indicate the level of "turun padang" (activism) to be expected in the 13th general election.
Writing to reach you
There is a fringe path, I say it last since I'm in it. The writers and bloggers. Jeff Ooi huffed, puffed and stumbled since 2008, but there is no denying his pioneering days into Malaysian blogging got him to the national stage then.
A younger but equally cocky Mahathir wrote down his misgivings with Rahman's Umno in The Malay Dilemma, never to be replicated since. Something about the direct, unapologetic and biased style I suppose.
Anwar's Asian Renaissance is now the surprising find in any liberal's home, and the fascination ends there. We've not had something in the vein of Hitler's Mein Kampf [thank god (yours, mine or Hitler's)] nor Rousseau's The Social Contract. Obama's Audacity of Hope meanders between promising and pandering to mainstream American voters.
Don't worry , I'm not trying to get a reading culture going. Most people re-tell quotes of great writers and thinkers, so it's the sound-bites really which circulate. Like, hope you can spare (my good mate thinks that's my campaign slogan).
At the end of it, this path requires you to get stuck in and stay on the saddle as long as you can. But more than anything not lose the desire to get back on the saddle when nothing goes your way. The real defeats happen in quiet moments between events, when the mind just lets go and says this fight is for someone else.
I struggle for a happy ending. I don't want to cheat. I've decided to plug my hard drive and play A flock of seagulls' "The more you live, the more you learn." The reader might consider playing it too, while mulling a great career in politics with Pakatan.
* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.
Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. 
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
SHAH ALAM, 16 Jun – Saksi utama kes rasuah Dr Mohd Khir Toyo hari ini mendakwa bekas menteri Besar itu telah menggesa beliau agar berbohong kepada Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) dan tidak melibatkannya.