Voranai Vanijaka
We should learn to heed the voice of a madman, we really should. Being mad - not in the literal, strait-jacket, insane asylum Hannibal Lecter sense, but just on the eccentric, rambunctious and off-the-wall side of sanity - he may see and understand things ordinary people may not. He may be capable of a perspective and insight that ordinary people aren't. After all, history is full of tales of the hidden genius and mysticism of the mad.
Rasputin, anyone? How about Vincent van Gogh? Let's not forget Russell Crowe ... I mean, John Nash, as played by Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. And of course, Voran ... okay, never mind.
So Apirak Kosayodhin resigned from his post as Bangkok governor one day after the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) charged him with negligence of duty over the City Hall fire engine procurement scandal, which resulted in damage to the state and the BMA. Well, good on him for taking responsibility.
The former governor also protested his innocence, vowing to fight it out in court. Well, good on him too for fighting for justice.
Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said Mr Apirak has made the right decision. Especially given Samak Sundaravej's less-than-honourable handling of his own charges in the scandal. Good on Mr Abhisit too, for not being a hypocrite on the matter.
Now, at a cost of between 100 and 150 million baht, on top of similar amount spent on the governor election last month, Bangkokians will vote in a new election in January. Hmm, that's not very good for us taxpayers, is it?
A blink of an eye, 100 million down the drain, during an economic recession, no less. We might have actually prevented this waste of time and money, though, if we had heeded the voice of one particular mad man.
Sure, he put up huge growling-and-snarling posters of himself all over town - eyes fierce, Viking-warrior-like posture, purring moustache, swinging a hammer like Thor, god of thunder, ready to smash down his foes (as in beating the crap out of an uppity TV interviewer) before diving into a tub of mead, surrounded by 100 beautiful virgins ... well, not quite virgins ... in Valhalla, which incidentally is located on Ratchadaphisek road.
That's right, Chuwit Kamolvisit had been telling us all along. In fact, he was quite literally screaming at us Bangkokians. Mr Apirak is under investigation! Mr Apirak has been implicated! The anti-graft commission is on him like white on rice! Mr Apirak cost Bangkok "XYZ" amount of money! Don't vote for him! You'll pay for it later!
Did we heed Mr Chuwit's words? Nope. On the contrary, we laughed at him; we jeered at him. We dismissed him as a ranting, raving lunatic. We criticised him for attacking Mr Apirak, for not being a gentleman.
Well, who's laughing now? Certainly not Mr Apirak, and certainly not us, the Bangkok voters, who will have to waste another 100 to 150 million baht and a Sunday, not to mention suffering an alcohol-less Saturday night before the election and putting up with ugly posters and silly antics of all the Bangkok governor wannabe's this coming January. What a New Year present that is.
Oh, we can blame the Democrat party for selecting a "tainted" candidate. We can blame the NACC for allowing Mr Apirak to run in the first place. But really, we Bangkokians are not a bunch irresponsible fools, are we? After all, in the end it was us who cast our votes, and we had Mr Chuwit telling us the deal all along.
Never mind whether or not he was guilty. Never mind if some say his "negligence" is understandable or forgivable. Fact: he was being investigated. Would any of us board a plane that's under inspection for irregularities? I didn't think so.
Perhaps we voted for the "safe" candidate, who turned out to be the most "unsafe" of them all, at a price tag of 100 to 150 million baht. Perhaps we voted because the Democrat party is the "fashionable" party at the moment, the young generation of politicians who look good and sound good. Perhaps we voted out of spite for the ruling party. Perhaps it's the lack of credible opposition, enhanced by political circumstances that handicapped less-known, but legitimate candidates in last month's election.
Whatever the reason is, the perplexing question is: Why did we make the choice of a tainted candidate with an uncertain future, who for the four previous years did, at best, an okay job for a city that needs an extraordinary makeover; despite the fact every day we saw and every day we were told of the risks in voting for Mr Apirak?
Hindsight can be very cruel and yet enlightening; it can teach us valuable lessons. Perhaps we "infants of democracy" need to broaden our minds a little to understand the causes and consequences of the choices we make. This is democracy after all; each and every one of us has a hand in selecting our leaders and shaping our society. If things go the bad way, it's really no one's false but ours.
The price we pay for this particular shortsightedness is an expensive one, and it's especially embarrassing, since a man like Mr Chuwit had been voicing the obvious all along.
Every once in a while we should take a deep breath and just listen to others. There's something to be learned from everyone - be they young, old, sane, friend or foe. Perhaps we might gain valuable knowledge and perspective, and maybe avoid some insanely expensive consequences.
voranaiv@bangkokpost.co.th
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