Politics - no longer a Zero Sum Game! If you lose, you can still win. If you win, you can still lose

ZERO SUM GAME: a situation in which one person or group can win something only by causing another person or group to lose it.

Why do people choose leaders like Muhyiddin and Hadi? Why are there still many supporters of Najib Razak who want the convicted ex-prime minister, to be free? Zahid Hamidi has supporters within UMNO who wants him to remain as president of UMNO and just as many people within and outside UMNO who wants him gone. Tun Mahathir, whenever he speaks about ketuanan Melayu and the danger that DAP and the others present to the Malays, still draws a crowd. Anwar Ibrahim has as much support as he has people who have voted against him. Syed Saddiq seems to have the interest of Malaysian in his heart in whatever he does and yet, MUDA does not have the electoral support that he needs to make a difference in Malaysian politics. There are also now, politicians on the fringe that seek to have relevance at the state and federal level. Today in Malaysia, anything is possible in politics. Politics is no longer a Zero Sum Game! If you lose, you can still win. If you win, you can still lose

Oh, for sure, when you win elections, the euphoria of electoral victory has to be savored to be believed. The crowds lift you high upon their shoulder and parade you among your supporters, all the while praising your virtues and greatness, to high heaven.

And then months later, those whom you think you have slayed politically, rise like the phoenix and slay you! This last decade has seen this phenomenon happen time and time again. And still, politicians never learn.

Umno, once with three million members and the idle boast of "UMNO dulu, kini dan selama lama nya", now lies comatose hardly daring to breathe lest, by their breathing, they invite unwanted attention from their detractors who want to see UMNO dead and buried.

Mahathir, who reached out and gave political life to Anwar and Muhyiddin is now desperately seeking relevance through the most obnoxious, but "time-tested and proven will not fail" means at his disposal, the use of race and religion to win gullible Malays to his side. He is now doing so with the connivance of his once friend-enemy-friend Mahiaddin. The other politician he gave life to, DSAI, seeks Tun's early political demise. And of course, Mahiaddin and Anwar are at each other's throats in disagreement.

These three, Mahathir, Anwar and Muhiaddin, should, more than anybody else, understand that Politics is no longer a Zero Sum Game because they, more than anybody else, have been up, down, up, down and up again ad nauseum. They have been with each other, against with other, and gone through so many other permutations that it must tell them that what is true today, may not be so true esok. The only constant has been two things. They are Malays and they are Muslims.

Think about that! You have the chilies, belacan, limau kasturi, salt, and sugar...all the ingredients you need to make sambal belachan...and you still got it wrong!

The Malays today have everything they need to be worthy of a place in Malaysia among the "others" BUT any Malay with half a brain knows that the "others" are way, way ahead of us. I remember just sometime back when I and a group of Malay friends were asking ourselves just how Ismail Sabri could ever become prime minister.

Today we see Muhyiddin...already burdened with numerous corruption charges...vainly trying to keep his head above water...while PDRM and MACC are looking for his son-in-law to "help with inquiries". Mahathir must find each day just that little bit harder to get through because of age and because he is running out of issues to make himself relevant. DSAI, not even one year into his tenure as PMX, knows that he is swimming against the tide...he is losing the Malay votes, his Madani government lacks thrust, trust, and tenacity and he knows that the results of the recent state elections are not good for him.

And if things are not good for Mahathir, Muhyiddin, and Anwar, then it is not good for the Malays ...and by extension...not good for Malaysian too. In all honesty, I do not know what the solutions are to the pathetic state of our nation today, but thgis much I know we must do.

This is our nation. This is our home. We must make our own future. How we do so will be for us to decide - limited only by our commitment and the means we have at our disposal, to do the things we must. I am 75, and I do not have to be nice to anyone, anymore, and yet I know that the world does not revolve only around me. So I tell myself this. Reach out to those that read what you write. Engage them and tell them that together we will be able to do more. Together we can keep these political bastards more honest. At the end of the day, the least that I can say to myself is simply this....I tried.