I am a lawyer and society expects me to talk about the legal aspects of fake news, the law, and related matters.
However, I am also a Muslim. Shouldn’t the Malaysian public, who are so used to hearing so many “Islamic” views, also expect me to give my religious views on fake news?
Correct me if I am wrong, but I have not heard any passionate arguments in the religious context against fake news as I hear on many other matters. Is the issue of fake news not “religious” enough?
Back to fake news in Malaysia. No one can deny that it is rampant in the political arena – if by fake news we mean false and untruthful statements.
A former prime minister and minister had gleefully confessed in public that they did not mean what was written in their election manifesto. They simply drew up the manifesto, not expecting to win – meaning they were not expecting the support of the people.
To date, not one of the top echelons of the political party has been charged in court. This means that it is all right for them to make false promises knowingly to the public to capture votes. Is lying not a sin and unethical?
A false manifesto is not only a lie but cruel, because it gives false hopes to the people. Whichever way we look at it, it simply shows that some politicians have no qualms about being blatantly and publicly unethical. The irony: they aspire to lead the nation by lying!
Is politics exempt from truth and ethics? This is something that responsible citizens must discuss and decide. They must decide if they want ethical politicians, or false hopes and mere rhetoric, especially religious rhetoric.
As a Muslim, I find it extremely sickening when I come across an unethical and hypocritical Muslim politician parading his false piety shamelessly on the political platform. This is something Muslim voters must learn to evaluate so that they do not vote for wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Citizens must start the conversation and insist on good ethics and adherence to principles in the political arena. Some politicians adhere to dubious principles like “in politics, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies” and so on.
‘The end justifies the means’ kind of thinking to achieve political ends leads to racial and religious conflicts. Many politicians have no loyalty to a cause that benefits the people, other than their own vested self-interest.
They are ever ready to change political parties when their political survival is at stake. If loyalty to a political party at the expense of the welfare of the people wasn’t bad enough, imagine how much worse loyalty to their own personal self-interest is.
Spouting fake news and practising fake ethics have become so common to some politicians that they no longer see it as “wrong”. They become it.
Hence, the solution seems to be yet again, for the people to take ownership of the nation by, among other things, creating the kind of leaders that we want.
Such an important task can no longer be left to the political parties in the country alone.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.