The suggestion was put up since Chong Wei is from Kajang, and is considered to match up to Anwar in terms of popularity. To me, it reeks of politicians with waning popularity (if it’s intact at all), trying to revive support from the rakyat by cashing in on sports celebrities, who they know, are favoured by many. It is a known fact that sports celebrities and artistes have indeed more fans than politicians who speak with forked tongues.
The badminton ace himself was caught by surprise by the rumours. However, MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai did not rule out the possibility of fielding Chong Wei. Perhaps he saw it as a good way of reviving the party’s long buried political image. It is a good thing that the Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin threw a wrench on the appalling plan.
“Don't touch Chong Wei. He is a national treasure. As the sports minister, I do not allow it,” he said in a tweet, referring to the plan to use Chong Wei for political purposes. It is one of those rare times when a politician (especially from the current administration) had spoken sense. For humour’s sake, let’s run through the scenario of Chong Wei actually contesting the Kajang state seat. It would not be a fiasco if he did contest and lost (to the much more politically experienced Anwar), as he would not be the first celebrity to have done so.
Over the years, Malaysian politics has seen its fair share of sports celebrities and artistes jump into the political arena riding on their status, only to be met with defeat.
Former national footballer and skipper “Towkay” Datuk Soh Chin Aun contested against Lim Guan Eng (who is now the Penang Chief Minister), for the Kota Melaka parliamentary seat in 1986 and lost by more than 17,000 votes. The last general election saw three former artistes learning the lesson the hard way.
Dayangku Intan (real name Tengku Intan Tengku Abdul Hamid), a singer in the 1980s, stood against Datuk Azalina Othman Said in Johor’s Pengerang seat and lost.
Another celebrity who suffered the same fate was Wan Aishah Wan Ariffin, or better known as Aishah. She contested in the Jempol constituency and suffered defeat to BN’s Tan Sri Isa Abdul Samad.
Herman Tino, whose real name is Masrun Tamsi, lost his deposit competing against Umno’s Datuk Seri Noh Omar in Tanjung Karang.
If Chong Wei contests and loses against a “true blue” politician like Anwar, he can always go back to playing badminton, or retire from badminton, as he will have to one day. But the defeat would surely put a dent on his otherwise clean sportsman image. But what if he wins? Fat chance, but there’s always a what if? Does he have the necessary skills to negotiate his way through and survive in the cut-throat world of politics?
Would he be able to trade his racquet for a microphone? Would he be willing to sacrifice the admiration earned through years of sporting contribution to jibes from the media and fulfilling expectation and receiving disappointment from the rakyat?
Putting Chong Wei into politics would be akin to asking Anwar to compete against the former in a badminton match.
Sports is sports, politics is politics. They don’t and shouldn't mix, just like the potent mix of politics with religion and race.
For the “brilliant” political minds, what next? Datuk Siti Nurhaliza against Nurul Izzah Anwar for the Lembah Pantai seat?
Comment by V Shuman
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