Winners stand alone

Winners stand alone

25 Apr 2025 • 9:00 AM MYT



TheRealNehruism
Writer. Seeker. Teacher

Image credit: Sinar Daily


During Pak Lah’s funeral, the way that Anwar was photographed being cordial and affectionate to Muhyiddin, and Azmin especially, has become the talk of the town.


Some people are wondering whether the cordiality that was expressed between Azmin and Anwar is an indication that Azmin might be returning back to PKR. Azmin and Anwar go a long way back after all. Together with Anwar, Azmin is also a founding father of PKR, who commandeered PKR during its most challenging years, when Anwar was incapacitated in lieu of being in prison.


That there is a rumoured rift between Anwar and his current number 2, Rafizi is also fuelling the rumour that the reconciliation between Azmin and Anwar might be on the cards. Returning to PKR might be a win-win arrangement for both Anwar and Azmin. Anwar could use Azmin back in PKR to balance Rafizi’s influence and ambition, while Azmin might appreciate a position back on the deck of a victorious and powerful PKR, a party that he himself had contributed immensely to build, rather than be stuck in a sinking boat called Bersatu.


Other people, on the other hand, are ruing bitterly about the hypocrisy of our politicians.


“In front of the people, they smear each other and say the nastiest things about one another, but when they meet each other, they kiss each other’s cheeks like they are delighted to meet each other, as if they are long lost friends or best friends forever,” some people are saying, after seeing the warm interaction between Anwar and Azmin.


This idea that politicians have two faces – one which they show us and the other which they show each other, is not new.


I have been asked previously whether I actually believe that our opposition and the government MP’s in the parliament are actually opposed to one another, when they are known to enjoy each others company in the canteen of the parliament, after the parliament session is over and the politicians from both sides of the divide are done hurling abuse at each other and trying to get each other thrown out of the parliament.


The people who ask me this question, in other words, are asking me whether we, the people , are deluding ourselves in believing that that any of these politicians are even standing on our side, in opposition to the politicians that are standing against us, or are they are actually all just a part of a same team, who are merely showing that they are against each other to win our support, so that they can use our support to gain status and position for themselves?


Well, I actually believe that the confrontation that politicians have against each other is real, not pretense.


As a category of people, I rank politicians in the same category as sportsmen and warriors, who dedicate their life in the pursuit of glory and victory.


I think that politics, save for war, is the highest level of competition that people participate in. Compared to sportsmen and warriors, I even believe that politicians might be the more competitive people, on account of the fact that in the field they are in, the stakes are high as it is the prize..


Our history books are littered with examples of what people who play the game of power are capable of doing. Brothers have no qualms murdering brothers, fathers kill sons and sons kill father, all for the sake of power.


Following that example, I have no doubt that if an ambitious politician believes that by doing something – no matter how heinous or terrible – he or she will be able to defeat their opponent and win more power and position, they are capable of doing it.


However, I also believe that the cordiality that they display towards each other, as how the MPs of all colours are purportedly enjoying each other’s company in the parliament's canteen after the are done trying to defeat and humiliate each other while parliament is in session, or as how Anwar and Azmin exuded warmth and appreciation towards each other at Pak Lah’s funeral recently, is also not fake.


Highly competitive people appreciate relationships in a manner that is different from how regular people like you and me, who are not used to competing in an intense manner in our daily lives, appreciate a relationship.


Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi most likely do not hate each other, although they will do their level best to defeat and perhaps even humiliate each other on the field. Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson, or the late great George Foreman and Muhammad Ali also share a close bond, despite the atrocities that they commit against each other in the ring.


If somebody punched us, defeated us and humiliated us in front of everybody, like how Muhammad Ali punched, defeated and humiliated George Foreman, we will likely entertain an everlasting enmity and hatred towards them.


But amongst fighters whose job is to compete and defeat their opponent, it might be the case that their enmity and hatred towards each other doesn’t extend beyond their pursuit of victory and glory.


To win against their opponent and seize glory and victory for themselves, they might go to extreme extent, but when they are not competing against each other, they might actually appreciate each other’s company, even if they are on opposite sides, because it is only they who know how it is like to be them.


So if you ask me whether the warmth that Azmin and Anwar displayed at Pak Lah's funeral means anything, my answer will be no, it doesn't.


For high level politicians like Anwar and Azmin - a kiss on a cheek says nothing about their relationship. The only thing that matters between two high level politicians, is what do they win, who do they defeat and what glory and triumph they can garner. Considering that there is nothing for Anwar or Azmin to win, or any common enemy for them to defeat, or any glory or triumph that they can garner by being on the same side, Anwar planting a kiss on Azmin's cheek is just a formality - something that likely arose out of habit that otherwise has no meaning.


All it probably means that Pak Lah's funeral was a neutral grounds, where the question of winning or glory does not rise, and without having a the issue of who shall win or lose, whose glory overshadows or dims whose glory, politicians are able to put aside their competitive spirit and killer instinct, and enjoy each other's company.


When they get out of the neutral ground and enter the arena that will decide who wins or loses, then you will see their competitive, vicious, determined and relentless side, where they will try to "kill" each other without blinking an eye.


People like sportsmen, warriors and politicians likely have no friends or enemies. All they have is a goal.


Their goal is to win a trophy, a battle or the throne, and for the sake of their objective, they will make friends with whoever they think will aid them in gaining their goal and be enemies whoever it is that stands in their way.


Someone who is their friend on account of helping them achieve their goal today will turn into their enemy tomorrow if they are standing in their way, and vice versa.


Every politician worth their salt probably understands this unwritten rule about the game, so that likely might not really appreciate their allies, nor rue their opponents, even when they have worked together with their allies or tried to destroy their opponents for years or decades.


I doubt if a politician is even capable of loving or identifying with their family in an intimate manner. When you are a politician, I think you will always entertain the possibility that even your spouse and children might someday stand between you and your desire for victory and glory, and if they do, you will have to treat them like an opponent, and try to defeat them by any means necessary.


In the end, a politician is a winner, and a winner always stands alone.