COMMENT A cancerous breast might require a mastectomy for the patient to survive. What does someone who is steeped in illusions require for coping in this world, particularly in the political arena where misconceptions abound and their holders blithely go about as if protected by Teflon from the rude intrusions of the real world?

They say in the rough and tumble of the world of partisan politics, reality wheels everyone into surgery for an illusion-ectomy. That seems to have happened to Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz.

He is a colourful character in a cabinet not terribly endowed with the species, Now and then, he is apt to say things that make the notebook and recorder crowd sit up and notice. The latter are grateful because in politics, only bores are insufferable.

Nazri is not a bore but he can be boorish and this is a pity really. If he can just - as he veers on to slightly dangerous turf - apply the brakes, he could comes across sounding interesting without seeming to be infuriating.

Consider his reaction last January to the suggestion that things were not propitious for the success of his ministry’s Visit Malaysia Year 2014 because the ‘Allah’ issue was heating up again and social activist Marina Mahathir had highlighted the absurdity of attracting tourists to a country where there was little or no moderation in matters of faith and belief.

“Who wants to visit Malaysia where there is no moderation?” queried Marina. She was prominent in a small but intrepid band of largely Muslims rallying in support of Christians who were warned by an assortment of Muslim groups not to use the ‘Allah’ term in their Sunday rituals of worship.

Nazri let loose with pugnacity

When Nazri, who would have been apt to chide the fire and brimstone crowd for their impetuosity, was asked to comment on Marina’s misgivings about Visit Malaysia 2014, he let loose with a peculiar blend of pugnacity and petrifaction.

“In a football team, I’m a striker,” said the minister. “I’m like Wayne Rooney... I have to score goals... if my defenders are lacking, I cannot do anything. I just have to ignore it and score more goals as what’s happening right now, is not my problem and I don’t care... they have other ministers to look into it.”

This reaction had all the elements that make Nazri simultaneously quotable and querulous. Had he stopped after saying “... I just have to ignore it and score more goals ...” he would have been quite nicely placed with respect to the issue that the boo-boos of his colleagues in the cabinet are not something he could do much about; therefore, he had best mind the water that works his turbine, regardless of the shortcomings of his confreres.

This would be a defensible stance, but Nazri’s implied disclaimer of collective responsibility which governance by a cabinet of ministers chosen from elected Members of Parliament mandates was naive.

This naivety was implicit when he suspended the Visit Malaysia 2014 campaign two-and-half weeks after the disappearance of Flight MH370, a crisis that had woeful implications for tourist arrivals from China, a prime catchment area for the success of the campaign to attract tourists to Malaysia this year.

Own goals scored by colleagues

Had own goals scored by his colleagues in the home, defence and transport portfolios not occurred, thus preventing the MH370 disappearance crisis, Nazri could conceivably have netted many goals to make Visit Malaysia Year 2014 a thumping success.

Had relatively small mistakes that impacted on his tourism portfolio been made by his fellow ministers, Nazri could plausibly have shifted into a Wayne Rooney-mode to overcome these deficits with a scoring brilliance that could transmute the dream of a successful Visit Malaysia Year 2014 into reality.

But, now, with a disaster as colossal as MH370 is shaping to be, there can be no “... it is not my problem... I don’t care...” escape clause for Nazri. Harsh reality has intruded and the illusion that he can, silo-like, insulate his portfolio from collateral damage stemming from the mistakes of his colleagues has been exposed as naïve.

The question is, will Nazri continue to persist in the sleepwalker’s insulation from reality that stumbles on concomitant sectors, will not rain acid on his turf?

TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for four decades now. He likes the profession because it keeps him in touch with the eminent without being under the necessity to admire them.