What Mamdani S Win In New York Means To Malaysia

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When US Democratic party candidate Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral race in New York, a lot of people didn’t know who he is. Well, at least in Malaysia.
For me, when I heard his name, the only picture that came to my mind was Adam Sandler’s movie ‘You Don’t Mess With The Zohan’. Sorry, bad joke!
So, who is Mamdani (above)? He is somebody that, in normal circumstances, would not be the mayor of New York City.
The son of Ugandan-Indian immigrants (actually, his mother is the famous filmmaker Mira Nair) talking about rent freezes, free public transport, and city-owned grocery stores. But somehow, people voted for him.
ADSAnd while he was celebrating in Queens, I sat here in Kuala Lumpur thinking, how can I relate this to Malaysia so I can write about it in my weekly column here on Malaysiakini?
So, I wrecked my brain by doing research on ChatGPT (research only, alright!) to brainstorm on how to do so.
So, we in Malaysia love to talk about reformasi, Malaysia Baru and whatnot. But when someone actually tries to do something new, we tell them to stop being so idealistic and more realistic.
Because here, the second you suggest something slightly bold, people start saying, “Dia tak faham Malaysia ni lain” (they don’t understand Malaysia is different).
Are we that complicated?
Now, before anyone starts getting all annoyed and irritated saying that you can’t compare New York City with Malaysia, just chill. I do understand that. Different culture, different economy, different level of political chaos.
We do have our own realities. Our mix of cultures, religions, sensitivities, and an entirely different political ecosystem that operates more like a family business than a civic institution.
So, I’m not saying we can just copy-paste Mamdani’s playbook here. However, his victory still makes you wonder if this can happen here in Malaysia. Why is a place as complicated as New York seem more open to idealism than we are?
Mamdani didn’t wait for permission. He didn’t cater his ideals to make them acceptable. He didn’t ask a party elder for advice on when to speak or how to say it. He just went out there, spoke to the people in five languages, and built a campaign around real issue.
Our young politicians all definitely look the part and dressed nicely, but when they start speaking, the same speech we’ve been hearing since the 1990s comes out.
I don’t think that they don’t care. I’m sure they do. However, in Malaysia, politics isn’t about the change they want to bring. It’s about survival.
You can’t sound too idealistic or people will call you naive. You can’t sound too ambitious or the party old-timers will say you’re still too young. You can’t sound too radical or the people will say you’re too dangerous.
ADSSo, they all learn to be safe and balanced. Everyone loves balance. Unfortunately, it just means that they do nothing at all. They enter the political system and then they just start pandering to how that system has been all these decades.
Solving problems sans politics
Now, if you think about it, most of our real changemakers don’t even go near politics. They’re the ones running food banks, cleaning up rivers, starting social enterprises, teaching kids in rural Sabah, or fighting for workers’ rights.
These people are already solving the problems politicians like to talk about.
However, when you ask them if they would ever consider running for Parliament, they laugh because they know the system won’t allow them to do what they need to do.
Many of them believe that they can make more difference outside the system than within it. It’s probably true.
If all the good people stay out, then who do we expect to run the country? The politicians that you despise so much? But wait a minute? Didn’t you pick those people to lead the country? Maybe we are who we vote for.
Honestly, some of these people do try to enter politics, but like the point I was trying to make above, the passion gets muted and their ambitions get adjusted, to say the least.
The existing political system will pressure them and before long, the same young politician who once spoke fearlessly about injustice is now talking about “unity” so vaguely.
And we, the public, let it happen. We say that that is just how politics in Malaysia is. We’ve normalised it so much that conviction and passion now look like a rookie mistake and basically being a noob.
We get who we vote for
Of course, we can’t just blame the politicians. We need to look in the mirror ourselves.
Like I said, we are who we vote for. So Malaysian politics is really just a reflection of Malaysians. We say we hate corruption, but we still expect it ourselves if it can help us out of a small inconvenience.
We complain about incompetence but then re-elect the same people.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that Malaysia is different from New York City, but different shouldn’t mean stuck or being regressive. Maybe Mamdani won because New Yorkers finally wanted a change. And maybe that is what Malaysians need to actually want instead of just pretending.
So maybe what we need is to change ourselves individually first before we can even start thinking about changing the country.
We need to change the way we think about what’s possible and the way we vote, or we’ll keep getting the same old speeches from the same old faces wearing slightly trendier suits instead of bush jackets.
So yes, we know Malaysia isn’t New York but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn something from Mamdani’s win.
Maybe one day, someone young, intelligent and unfiltered emerges in politics, we can have hope and to be brave enough ourselves to support them and hold them accountable to stay true to their idealism. Maybe. - Mkini
ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academic. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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