DO AS I SAY, BUT NOT AS I DO

By Maximus Koh

I read with interest the earlier contribution to Hornbill Unleashed, “Why do people follow the law?” It is indeed a complex area of discussion. Views range from ancient Greece to our local “kopi tiams”.

It gets even more difficult when you throw in the equation, that there seems to be one set of laws for those that enforce them and another set for those that are obliged to follow them.

All of those who have sat in traffic for half an hour at the Jalan Song traffic lights waiting for the lights to turn green will know what I mean.

Just as it is your turn to move and you are gleefully shifting your car into gear, a distant sound of fast approaching sirens becomes audible. Getting louder and louder, it is the familiar sound of the heralds and the entourage of one of the many “VVIPS” rushing across town.

Traffic stands still for what seems like eons as the entourage breezes through the traffic, obviously on some important “government matter”.

Frustrated, but nonetheless patient, you shift your car back to neutral and wait for the next green light.

These days it is not only the VVIPs that are immune to the traffic laws. How many times have we witnessed drivers of official cars park indiscriminately, driving around without seatbelts, and generally behaving as if they own the place?

These habits are not new, I recall years ago, I read in the Sarawak Tribune someone made a tongue-in-cheek reference to the “SG” designation on cars as standing for “Saya Government”, instead of “Sarawak Government”!

All these practices run contrary to the well-established legal maxim of “Be you ever so high, the law is above you”. The Latin equivalent would be “Fiat justitia ruat caelum latin” roughly translated to “let justice be done though the heavens may fall“. Our own Malaysian Constitution provides for supremacy of laws and equality of its citizens.

It is obvious therefore that no one is above the law, but that does not explain the case of those in power flouting the very laws that they are supposed to enforce.

One Marxist theory which may provide an answer to our question is Hegemony. This is a philosophical and social concept that society can be ruled by one class or group, holding power over the other classes or groups.

The laws introduced seem to be for everyone, but benefit only the ruling class. The theory states this is made possible by employing various devices, one of them being the mass media. Newspapers, radio and television all come to the aid of the ruling class, by providing explanations and rationale for their behaviour.

This is underscored by the state’s use of religion to underscore the utility of suffering. Marx himself is quoted as having said “Religion is the opiate of the masses”.

In our own day and age the tools that can be employed to distract the working class are endless: computer games, rock concerts, pornography, licensed gambling and on and on.

By this constant indoctrination, the ruling class provides reasons why their laws must be obeyed without question, whilst other arguments are mere distractions.

The end result is that the majority of the population is transformed into mindless drones, mere means to an end in the production cycle.

Another answer to our question over unequal application of our laws is general apathy, the “tidak apa” attitude that we as Sarawakians are all too familiar with. They are much too consumed with their affairs to care about the consequences of letting “bygones be bygones“. The most that they do is utter a few choice words in the confines of their car as the VVIP’s motorcade passes by.

As far as the motorcades are concerned, I might be accused of making a mountain out of a molehill, but what is at stake is much more than that. If this behaviour is not stemmed it might develop into a situation where the transgressors think that it is a God given right, if this has not already happened.

There is hope, however, following the results of the last General Election. People do care and they do show resistance to being indoctrinated. By voting in alternative governments, the people have shown that amongst others, they are tired of the doctrine of “Do as I say, not as I do”.

🙂