When the good life makes a minister poorer of empathy
Spare a thought for Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (pic). He lives in a different stratosphere than 99% of Malaysians.
Have you seen his palatial home in the tony neighbourhood of Bukit Tunku, just a short distance away from the Prime Minister's private residence? If you are one of the thousands of motorists travelling along Jalan Duta daily, you would have seen his house.
In his world of plenty, he and his family members want for nothing. The best food. The best accommodation. The best clothes. The best cars. The best air travel. The best holiday destinations. Domestic helpers. Drivers. Bodyguards. Gardeners.
This is his nice, comfortable, sterilised bubble.
He has little clue about the daily hardship of Malaysians; whether it is the clerk at the Treasury with a hand-to-mouth existence or the marginalised on the streets in Kuala Lumpur who often have to forego a hot meal.
When he talks about reaching out to Malaysians and being one with them, what he really is referring to are his exertions with Umno members.
When he talks about empathy (in the very rare occasion when he does talk about empathy) it is with regard to his party members. Not about ordinary Malaysians.
Because his world is his nice bubble.
So, Malaysians should not have been surprised that the Federal Territories Minister asked soup kitchens in the city to shut up shop, and spoke about the homeless and indigent in our society as if they pieces of litter.
He has since fallen back on the chosen defence of the Umno minister (“I was misquoted”). This is a really puzzling defence given that Tengku Adnan is now asking non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to help the government provide solutions on handling the vexing issue of the homeless in Kuala Lumpur.
We can only imagine that the good minister must have realised his great folly after his initial statement unleased a gush of criticism.
So now, he is backtracking in the only way he knows how: to pretend he was misunderstood.
But he wasn't misunderstood. We understand him perfectly.
Like many ministers, big shot Umno politicians, he lives in a different world than most Malaysians; in a world surrounded by an excess of everything.
The most important thing missing in this world is EMPATHY – sadly that is what every elected representative and minister must have. Pity that some have no space for that in their palatial mansions or their own hearts. – July 5, 2014.
