To resign or not to resign — Lings eternal poser
"To resign or not to resign...that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer,
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?"
No, this is not Hamlet's soliloquy/dilemma in the Shakespeare drama. More likely that of MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik.
For one notes:-
Ling had, in the month of June last year, repeatedly dismissed rumours that he would quit his party and ministerial posts (Ling dismisses rumours of resignation for the third time, June 28).
In an about turn two months later, he had submitted an undated resignation letter to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in late August last year and indicated his willingness to vacate his ministerial post at any time ( Ling sends quit letter to PM, ready to step down 'any time' ).
Now once again, he said that he would "soldier on" and remain in his cabinet post as long as Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not accept the resignation letter ( Loyal Ling to soldier on for PM ).
All these flip flops, twists and about turns in decision are baffling to many Malaysians. A friend asked me what was the meaning and implication of submitting a resignation letter undated to the prime minister and see if it were 'rejected' in the context of Malaysian political milieu?
By right, an act of resigning is supposed to mark a rupture, a quitting, the ending of something in the case of Hamlet, his life by suicide, in Ling's case, the ministerial position in the cabinet.
Every resignation is therefore connected to and signify disappointment. The implication is that resignation is the honourable course when recent circumstances, controversies and criticisms have created such a negative judgment of his tenure as cabinet minister that he is, whether justly or unjustly, denied the moral and political legitimacy to carry on the high office and will be placed in an undignified position if he were to carry on, notwithstanding.
By recent "circumstances, controversies and criticisms", reference is made to:-
The reason therefore why he says that he leaves it to the prime minister to accept or reject the resignation letter is not only because that decision is the PM's prerogative to make, as always, but it also contains an implicit admission: that he dares not presume he has the objectivity of judgment to determine whether in light of these prevailing circumstances, controversies and criticisms, his continuance of the ministerial position is morally or politically tenable or not.
Which it will clearly not be, if his continuance of position, ostensibly in service of country and party members, will subject him further to the indignity of being criticised and humiliated.
Ex-reporter pointed out that while The Star skewed the headline that the PM "rejected" the resignation, what the PM was caught on camera as saying was that he was still thinking and deliberating about it ( Misreporting of Ling's resignation caught on camera ).
The significance of PM "rejecting" the resignation is that it signifies and doubly reaffirms the PM's continuing confidence in and support for Ling's carrying on in spite of prevailing circumstances, controversies and criticisms.
It implies the corollary that the prime minister's continued confidence might also douse, diffuse and eliminate the criticisms and controversies generated by other quarters who for reasons of their own would have to keep within the good graces and patronage of the 'Boss'.
From these perspectives, the whole rigamarole of tendering resignation and awaiting PM to accept or reject is a shrewd move to bring matters to the head "support me in all my difficulties encountered or I will have to go". It is calculated at political survival and incumbent upon Ling to make, given the circumstances.
The only problem is that when it is made once too often as in the past the PM's drawer probably had three or four of such undated resignations its underlying intent and motivations become entirely predictable, and detractors will say "here we go again, another "sandiwara" (stage play), a popular watchword in our political lexicon.
Unlike past instances, this time around, the offer to resign is couched in unusually self-effacing and modest terms: "We are loyalists. I was trained as a young soldier in military college and I have been a good soldier all along. I take orders from my bosses very well. That has been my attitude from the day I was a school boy, young politician, and now middle-age politician. I am still a good soldier."
For how can anyone (Ling included) be so 100 percent sure that the PM may not, for a change, and this time around, just date the undated resignation letter?
The PM himself is resigning later in the year. Circumstances have changed. He has a mind of his own to compute political calculations.
More 'effort' then has to be made to procure his rejection of the resignation letter. Hence, the ingratiating tone of the good soldier analogy.
What is probably unfortunate is that such remarks may not go down well with others within MCA who look askance at what is tantamount to an unashamed admission of the MCA president being a foot soldier of Umno or BN president.
Then again, that no MCA president present and past can remain so without Umno president's endorsement is also true. No matter how unpalatable, Ling has openly acknowledged that truth with words.
To his credit, however, he has by deeds acted slightly contrarily in not entirely following THE orders of the 'general' at least on the language switch and errant Penang duo issues. He has instead sought compromise and accommodation of conflicting demands of BN and his constituency in these instances. One can't fault him on that or the need to secure fresh endorsement from the PM because of these or other recent developments.
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