INDEPENDENT VS PAKATAN – SHOWDOWN IN KK?

KOTA KINABALU 27 FEB 2011: Since the fateful March 2008 political tsunami in Malaysia, the escalating number of by-elections has gradually unveiled itself as a Trojan horse; touted at first as a gift of democratic rights for the people; now unmasked more as a political avenue for the parties to gauge their popularity and triumphantly thump their chests.

With the tendency of some frail politicians to proverbially kick the bucket and the 16^th by-election just recently over, one may be forgiven for naturally assuming that the ‘Independent vs Pakatan – Showdown in KK?’ could be the headline for the 17^th.

Thankfully, it’s not! However it may unfortunately describe an age-old hunt malaise, which has allegedly reared its ugly head in the recent 10^th KK City Tourism Treasure Hunt 2011 (as claimed and hotly debated here).

Make no mistake.....it is never the intention of this article to either validate the authenticity of such so-called claim or point finger at anyone in particular of such past malpractice; however this seeks to unequivocally appeal to the conscience of all parties to consider its repercussion and do the right thing in future hunts.

The Problem

For those uninitiated and fresh in the hunting scene, conspiracy theory about conspiracy in treasure hunt is nothing new. The act of collusion (or Pakatan in Malay language) has been the brooding subject of great debate in the past, present and definitely in the foreseeable future.  

Increasingly, recent treasure hunt events have struck a worrying resemblance to an election; much hype and publicity before the event, fun and drama during the day and accusation of phantom hands among the winners in the aftermath.

The Integrity of the Participants

When two or more teams unethically collude in treasure hunt, swapping answers in their bid to outperform the rest, the whole conduct smacked of an unsportsmanlike behavior at best; and despicable scam at worse.

That some unashamedly justified the cheating act as their resourceful way to be the hunt champion, is as laughable as suggesting Soi Lek’s sex romp video as his ticket to porn stardom.

To even remotely suggest a conspiracy as an act borned out of necessity (rather than desperation) to dislodge the hegemony of regular winners is to make a mockery of the concept of level-playing-field. In this case, the end can never justify the means; and it will never be.

If one were to apply such innuendo in other sports, what’ll be next? Field a 22-player team to break Barcelona’s indomitable dominance in soccer? Or forming a relay team to outlast Duncan Kibet, the fastest Kenyan long-distanced runner in the marathon? How about getting 3 shuttlers to simultaneously play against Datuk Lee Chong Wei in badminton tournaments to overcome his supremacy?

Just like Rome wasn’t built in a day, great hunters are not born or made in a single hunt. Many of them have survived the hard way - consistently grew up through the rank and file of hunt newbies; persistently learned the trick of the hunt trade through trials and errors, and diligently sharpened the analytical abilities through hunt experience.

There is simply no short cut to greatness; as Jim Collins aptly said in his book “Good to Great” – “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline”.

The Vigilance of the COCs

Secondly, COCs must steadfastly put their feet down on this controversial issue. Whatever happens during the hunt, the need for clear-cut rules is no longer one wishy-washy COCs can dismiss with claims like “it’s only hunt for fun” or “it’s very hard to stop them”; more so in events where the monetary stakes are astronomically high and the transparency of conduct is intensely scrutinized under the public microscope.

Harsh punishments are notoriously hard to come by for the cheating participants, as COCs sometimes rather turn a blind eye and prefer a quiet, uncontroversial event, instead of handling a confrontational allegation.

Often those misguided hunters vindicated such ‘Pakatan’ with the absence of stipulated rules against such coalition.

“COC never say cannot mah!” was the common defence for such so-called misdemeanour. Another convenient line was “Orang lain pun pakat juga” (Others are also colluding too).Well….such lame excuse is surely based on a fallacy, as two wrongs don’t make a right!

For a start, COC must lay down the law, leaving no room for ambiguity – no coalition among teams can be tolerated in treasure hunt, or else instant disqualification will be the heavy price to pay for any team caught red-handed!

Of course, the tricky bit will be how COC can police such regulation, given the advent of technology and gadgets. That will be the future topic for discussion in the hunt fraternity.

Likewise much consideration can also be injected into the hunt structure to make any Pakatan irrelevant; which may involve tweaking the question difficulty, the point distribution and the challenges.

The Willpower of the Hunt Organizers

Finally and not least, the hunt organizers have a pivotal role to play. 

Many a time when thorough investigation was called for, the powers that be adopted a lackadaisical approach and their resolve was found exasperatedly wanting, when either the hunt offenders were conveniently let off the hook, or a slap on the wrist was deemed as adequate penance.

The inevitable result was a prevalent sense of injustice, which is typical of Malaysian scene; perhaps certain cases of Mongolian model and self-strangled political aide may readily spring to mind.

Any complaints of such hunt Pakatan, furnished with substantive proof should not be treated with deafening silence. Should the evidence be irrefutable, they must be prepared to throw the book at the culprits.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, there can never be a cure-all panacea from a single side to make treasure hunt the event that we have come to love; and rid its ills that we have come to detest.

It takes a collective, concerted effort from all parties - the integrity of the participants, the vigilance of the COCs and the willpower of the hunt organizers!

Independent vs Pakatan – ….let’s hope that the next time this headline pops up, it’ll be in the next upcoming General Election, rather than in the sport that we passionately call ‘treasure hunt’!