In a perverse way, the outcome of the first Reserved Presidency, a non-event, was a fitting finale to the reserved presidential election (which has now become a non-election).
How so?
* The Malay community never asked for a Malay president, and now we have one. I wonder how many in the community will be jubilant.
* A confirmation that meritocracy is not sacrosanct, and it can be disapplied selectively. We wonder when the next disapplication will be.
* An affirmation of the perception that Malays need a crutch and will only “succeed” upon affirmative action.
* The question that is begged to be answered is why the Community had failed to come up with a qualified candidate for the Presidency (other than Mdm Halimah)? Has the bar been set too high that it excludes others who would be willing and able to be President? Or is the community not good enough?
* Singaporeans generally will not be pleased. Apart from the fact that other non-Malay communities have been denied the opportunity to field candidates, Singaporeans too have been denied the opportunity to cast votes, the most basic form of democracy.
* Mdm Halimah can’t be too pleased. She would have won a presidential election which was open. She would have won a presidential election that was reserved. But she has been denied that opportunity to have the electorate’s mandate.
Source: Nizam Ismail
