Politics - A Bane For Friendships And Relationships?

By Norazurra Aziz KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 (Bernama) -- Long standing friendships and relationships can end due to misunderstandings or because ties are no longer relevant. The recently concluded Malaysian 13th General Election (GE13) has highlighted how fragile friendships and relationships can be in light of political affiliations. In a strange twist of fate, in March, on the run up to GE13, a senior PAS (Pan-Islamic Malaysian Party) stalwart in Bachok, Kelantan state, divorced his wife of 22 years because she had switched her political allegiance to Umno (United Malays National Organisation). Shaidi Husin, 45, noted that he had to divorce his wife as he had pledged his loyalty to PAS. This may be an extreme case but more and more friendships and relationships have been lost on the run up to GE13 in the social media that became the political battleground for both sides of the divide. Social media sites - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, - are supposed to serve as a platform to help make friends and acquaintances, but many, knowingly or unknowingly, have been using the sites to drive a wedge between both sides of the divide in cyberspace. THE SOCIAL MEDIA'S MALEVOLENCE Due to the partisan mindset, a friend or acquaintance known for years, who has been together through thick and thin, ends up in the 'unfriend' and 'blocked' list as both sides defend their political stand. Dr Siti Suriani Othman, Senior Lecturer at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia's (Science University of Islam, Malaysia or USIM) Communications Programme, told Bernama that social networking sites such as Facebook and others were highly influential in the Malaysian society today. Dr Siti Suriani noted that social media, which provides unlimited access to make friends, has turned out to be a double-edged sword - it can either make or break friendships. Nonetheless, one should take note of an important psychological attribute of social media - it provides a platform to promote oneself. This means that an individual can post or upload information that may not be true or is lopsided to promote oneself to greater number of people, she said. And when debating on discourses on Facebook (including related to politics), Siti Suriani had this to say: make sure it is worth debating as a discourse is often provocative and defamatory in nature. Moreover, the validity of arguments are often not based on facts and remain vague. IMPLEMENT THE LAWS Siti Suriani noted that the government should utilise the power of social media itself to campaign on the moral ethos behind social networking and create awareness on the impact of irresponsible usage of social media. "With good planning, and by following social media closely, the government can use the same medium to reduce the risks of social media," she said. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH DIFFERING POLITICAL OPINIONS Meanwhile, a housewife, Nor Ezlinda Ismail, 29, said she was removed from Facebook's friends' lists by six of her friends due to differing political opinions. "I used to post positive status on Barisan Nasional (National Front or BN). But there are some who don't share my stand or are affiliated to other political parties; therefore, I was eliminated from their friends' lists. "I realised that they have 'discarded' my name from their lists because I cannot open their profiles and have to re-add them," she said. Nor Ezlinda noted that there is nothing wrong with having differing views over many things, as even husbands and wives may have differing views, and there is no reason why friendships should end because of differing views. An accountant, Anas Hakime Ahmad, 32, said such things should not happen as friendships are more important than political ideologies. "There is no reason to sever friendships and relationships, or even divorce; there is nothing to gain from all these... Never mind differing views. Don't get carried away by your emotions," she added. -- BERNAMA