NOT MUCH LEFT OF THE MALAYSIAN LEFT – A MEDIA CREATION?

HOW MUCH HAS THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA BENEFITTED FROM THE ACTIVITIES OF MALAYSIAN LEFTISM?

By Mansor Puteh

What’s left of the Malaysian Left? They had done every possible thing to distract the media and public and not getting anything in return.

On the contrary, they are now left with not much, which is basically as much as what they had when they started with.

This is the sorry state of the Malaysian Left, who was created from thin air by the mainstream media, which likes to harp on them and their antics, for they provide it with pages and pages of non-news, almost on a daily basis, for without them, the mainstream media will be out of news to print.

Other than the Hollywood gossips and pseudo-news, the mainstream media does not seem to know what else to publish or report, other than on the mainstream political and pseudo-political activities and the sideshows they offer now and again, with the leaders of the NGO taking up top spot.

It is therefore not wrong to say, Malaysian political or more correctly, Malaysian Pseudo-Political Activism is nothing but a media creation, other than it is a figment of the imagination, created by a small fringe group of left-leaning individuals who find affinity with some others, all of whom may sound or look like they are supported by the opposition political parties, when they are not.

And it is they who had created the few more vocal persons who form the so-called opposition of Malaysia.

It is not difficult for many to study the psychological of the non-Melayu opposition leaders, because they have more things to be disgruntled about.

Now, it is also not difficult for anyone to guess why there are now many more Melayu who are on the other side, too. They are those who could not fit in the system, i.e. Umno and Barisan Nasional, so they opt or were pushed to the opposition where they are stuck at, since chances of them being returned to Umno or any other Barisan component party are bleak.

It is also not difficult to guess why their spouses and siblings and some close relatives and associates too were inclined to join them, because they were in the same boat and who still want to sail in the same boat, even when it is now leaking. It won’t be long before it sinks, taking all of them.

But some of them may somehow find themselves more inclined to support the opposition, because of convenience.

They knew they need each other, especially when they seem to have some common grounds and views to share.

A smaller number of them will invariably find themselves being drawn into the opposition political parties, taking up posts and acting as their mouthpiece, with the better known ones being able to force themselves to the fore, because they had established themselves in some other fields and being promoted and recognized by Umno or the other Barisan Nasional component parties.

In fact, the Malaysian Left is nothing but a hodge-podge of desperadoes who were mostly those from Umno or the Barisan parties, who lost favor with the group.

They are Umno and Barisan misfits or rejects.

And they fit nicely with the true opposition which is led by four persons, two Chinese and another two Punjabis, with some older Melayu who claim to have their sole authorities on Islamic matters.

Whatever it is, Malaysian Left can only exist with the full and undivided support of the mainstream media. Cyberspace is too confined and it has never really created heroes of the Left.

In fact, Cyberspace propaganda is a dying art form with many who once favored it feeling less attracted to it. This leaves Cyberspace such a small area of public discontent, which attracts those of like minds.

So no wonder, the Malaysian Left movement has to take to the streets again because this is where they can be seen and heard the most.

But they can only exist with the full and undivided support of the mainstream media which likes to heighten the stature of the small fringe group simply because they like to do the outrageous things.

Unfortunately, what they can come up with are mostly those that they can copy from their counterparts in America or Europe or the west.

They have nothing new to offer to Leftism in the country.

And the mainstream media likes them because they provide interesting stories for them to write on, compared to the stale news they have to publish all the time, and this includes the pieces their regular columnists can churn up.

They now have a new source of stories and tales to write and share with their readers, the activities of the Malaysian Left, by commenting, denigrating and also chiding them.

If this is not so, then can we ask the mainstream media to ignore the activists or pseudo-political activists who like to do the outrageous and see if they will want to get on their acts performing other antics in the streets, if they know what they do cannot attract the attention of the mainstream media?

They know they cannot depend on their postings in YouTube and what can be written about them in the blogs and other sites in Cyberspace; this is simply not enough.

They have to attract the attention of the mainstream media. And other than this, they also have to seek the support from the Royal Malaysian Police or Polis diRaja Malaysia or PDRM, who can be trusted to ‘promote’ their activities with the senior officers sounding like they are the unofficial spokesmen for this group.

Truly, Malaysian Leftism has come to this. They were created not by the individuals who crave publicity and public acknowledgement, but who know how to manipulate the mainstream media to cover their activities again and again.

Malaysian Leftism sells. And the mainstream media knows this. They like the readers and the general Malaysian public to think that they abhor their activities, attitudes and protests, but at the same time, they welcome them because they make the life of the mainstream media reporters easy to fill pages and pages with colorful photos to go with the reports on them.

Just how much the mainstream media has benefited from having created and promoted Malaysian Leftism? One never knows.