Don't be duped by BN's Bread and Circuses

Don’t be Duped by BN’s Bread and Circuses

The term "Bread and Circuses" (Latin: panem et circenses) is a figure of speech for a fake sense of satisfaction or the “feel good” factor. In the case of politics, the phrase is used to describe the garnering of public approval through manipulation and/or the instant/quick mere satisfaction of the shallow requirements of the citizens. In other words, as "panadols" for quick fixes. Juvenal (a Roman poet) defined it as “a simplistic motivation of common people”. The phrase is taken to describe a populace that no longer values civic virtues and the public life. To politicians, it connotes the winning formula for the survival of the Roman Republic for centuries. Both the Roman Republic and China’s Han dynasty lasted for 500 years. The former used “bread and circuses” whilst the latter was an absolute monarchy. Instead of winning the citizens’ approval through excellent public service and policies, the Roman Republic gave cheap food and entertainment. The Roman Republic provided the bread and circuses in order to order to keep the Roman citizens from becoming too discontent with their lives. The Roman government provided the citizens with enough food (bread) so they wouldn't starve and enough entertainment (circuses) so they would be amused. Hence, the Romans elected them again and again.

BN’s breads are the 1Malaysia goodies and handouts (BR1M Part 1 & 2, free tyres for taxi drivers, smart phone allowances for young adults, FELDA’s RM15,000, pay rise for civil servants, etc). BN’s latest “ bread” was announced by Najib : “Najib Announces RM2.98 Billion for Sabah next year” (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/najib-announces-rm2.98b-for-sabah-next-year/).

BN's circuses shows are the alphabet soup management (ETP, GTP, NKRA etc); not forgetting tarring the roads before any General elections. Another great circus show was Najib’s "groundbreaking" announcement in his Malaysia Day's speech. He said the government shall repeal the 3 Emergency Declarations and the draconian statutes like ISA, Printing Presses and Publications Act and Banishment Act. They were BN's powerful weapons to curb opposition and Rakyat who do not accept the government's policies. Why should BN take away these powerful weapons ? It is actually for BN's political survival. Like the lizard's survival skill. The lizard will shed its tail in order to escape for its predator/death.

Food (or bread) for thought : is BN using the age old formula of “Bread and Circuses” to survive another general elections ? Are we gullible enough to allow that to happen again ?

N.B : Steven Sim’s article “Is A Country A Brand?” also touches on bread and circuses.

********** 

 Chinese translation by CC Liew :

别被国阵的『面包和马戏』给骗了

『面包和马戏』（Bread and Circuses）或在拉丁文中称为『panem et circenses』，指的是向群众说好话或『美好感觉』的人。从政治角度而言，这名词用来形容那些在民众肤浅的需求下，通过操弄和让群众有快感的情况下，以获取公众瞩目的行为。换句话说，这犹如只能止痛，不能治本的『班纳杜』止痛药。

罗马讽刺诗人朱韦纳尔（Juvenal）称之为『老百姓的单纯动机』（a simplistic motivation of common people），这个名词被用来形容不再尊重公民美德和公共存亡（the public life）的民众。

对政治人物而言，这是罗马共和国称霸几个世纪的致胜守则。罗马共和国和中国汉朝分别维持了近五百年，前者利用『面包和马戏』，而后者则是君主专制政体。罗马共和国不通过优良的公共服务和政治以赢得公民的支持，反而只提供公民廉价的食物和娱乐。罗马共和国提供面包和马希，以便罗马公民不会为生活而过于不满。罗马政府提供公民们足够的食物（面包）好让他们不会饿肚子，通化市还有足够的娱乐（马戏），以便他们能开怀大笑。结果，罗马人一次又一次的投票给他们。

国阵的『面包』是『一个马来西亚』名下各式各样的甜头（一马援助金第一期和第二期、德士司机的免费轮胎、给青少年的智能手机津贴、联邦土地局的一万五千令吉、公务员加薪，等等）。国阵的最新一个『面包』是刚宣布的《中央政府“大计划”发展沙巴，纳吉宣布明年拨款30亿令吉》（http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/211647）

国阵的『马戏』即是一盆满是英文字母的大杂烩（ETP、GTP、NKRA等等），当然也不忘在全国大选前铺一铺马路。纳吉的另一个精彩『马戏』是他在马来西亚日演说中的『破天荒』大宣布，他说，政府应该解除三项紧急状态，以及废除恶名昭彰的法令，例如内安法令、印刷法令和驱逐出境法令，这些曾经是国阵的强大武器，以用来钳制那些不接受政府政策的在野党和人民。

为何国阵宁愿放下这些强大的武器呢？其实，这只不过是为了让国阵能够继续苟存，就像蜥蜴的生存技能，蜥蜴能甩掉尾巴，以逃避捕食者或死亡威胁。

让我们深思：国阵是否正在利用『面包和马戏』的伎俩，以让自己苟存到下届全国大选呢？我们是否还是如此天真烂漫的再度让这些事继续发生吗？

註：沈志强在最近发表于火箭报的英文版文章《国家是一个大面包吗？》（Is A Country A Brand?）也触及了面包和马戏的论点。