January 6, 2025
Kuala Lumpur – “When I am the abbess, we can do whatever we want,” acolyte Valya Harkonnen tells her pregnant sister Tula.
Although the Bene Gesserit's rules required its members to be separated from their infants, Valya offered to help Tula raise the child.
For those of you who didn't see my December 15th column on TV or read it, I need to explain: Dune: Prophecy is a science fiction TV series based on the Bene Gesserit, a secret organization whose members possess special powers and abilities; the Harkonnen sisters are the assistants who conspire to cover up the fact that Tula is pregnant.
This may be science fiction, and its politics may span galaxies and centuries, but what Valia said resonated with me.
Do you think “when I am the dean, we can do whatever we want” sounds correct in Malaysian politics? Have you ever seen it play out in kampung, state or national politics?
Have you ever seen a politician change after taking power? For example, they promise reforms before coming to power, but do whatever they want after taking power.
As a journalist covering politics, I've seen it all.
Some ardent supporters have styled themselves as defenders of these politicians, who they say have changed. But I believe they haven't changed.
“They are who they are”, like the Face Changers in “Face Changer” Dune: Prophecy. Genetically modified Face Changers can imitate anyone they meet – their form, personality and voice.
It’s not that our politicians can change their appearance, but that their “political appearance” can be whatever their target group wants it to be.
Here's an example that applies to some politicians:
Q is one of the top leaders of a dominant political party fighting for Malay rights. However, when he tried to oust the president under the guise of an anti-corruption cleanup, he was expelled from the party. Since he was no longer fishing in the pond of Malay rights but in the puddle of multiracialism, he changed his bait (from talking about Malay rights to delving into progressive rhetoric) to win over multiracial fish. This multiracial fish is hook, line, and sinker for this politician. But later, when his party went into the general election alone, he let them down.
But for journalists who covered the politician during his time in office, this was no surprise. His DNA is that of a Malay Rights Party politician.
Seasoned journalists covering politics have also observed how power changes a person. Fighting for the people may be in a politician's DNA. but as dune Author Frank Herbert wrote: “Power tends to isolate those who wield too much power. Eventually, they lose touch with reality…and fall down.”
I know politicians who are down to earth when in opposition. But that changed soon after they came to power.
They began to live in a “ministerial bubble”. It’s a bubble filled with yes-men and fake friends who are attracted to power and status. Bubbles detach politicians from reality and make them think their positions are secure.
But not all politicians are like this.
Recently, I chatted with a young politician who had won the position of head of the party-state. Compared to his contemporaries who are in their 40s and no longer take political advice from anyone, I find this young man refreshing.
The politician knows the challenge he faces. For example, he needs to rebuild the party's popularity in the state, where leaders care more about their position in government than the welfare of the people.
However, I wish he knew another quote from Herbert: “All governments face a recurring problem: power attracts pathological characters. It is not that power corrupts, but that power attracts the corrupt.”
To paraphrase Herbert, politicians can never stay away from wealth and all its masks when dealing with issues of power.
Tula had a secret son. Sylvester Francesca, another sister of the Bene Gesserit, is sent to seduce (to be precise, using a mark, a process of gaining loyalty through intimacy) the future Emperor Xavico · Corino. They had an illegitimate son, Constantin Corino.
The scheming Valia orders Francesca to kill the Emperor since he is no longer useful in her ultimate plan to control the Empire (the Dune universe).
“But he is the father of my son,” Sister Francesca told Valia.
“I'm sorry. But you knew this day would come,” the ruthless Dean replied.
brutal. Just like Malaysian politics.
“Don't take gratitude into account,” I told a somewhat naive armchair political analyst who believed that the party president would not be the scapegoat of a politician to whom he owed a great debt of gratitude.
“Politics is cruel. Some politicians will sell their mothers for power.
“When I became abbot, we could do anything we wanted,” Acolyte Varya said, adding “sisterhood above all else.”
She means “Myself above all else.”
