The marvel is not that Joe Biden won, but that Donald Trump nearly won!
After four nail-biting days, which nearly turned the US Presidential Election Day into an Election Week, Joe Biden has been confirmed to have crossed the magic figure of 270 US Electoral College votes to become the 46th President of the United States.
The marvel is not that Joe Biden won, but that Donald Trump nearly won!
It is a testimony of the power of disinformation and fake news in the era of information that despite ignoring over 10 million Covid-19 cases and nearly a quarter of a million of Covid-19 fatalities in the United States in the 10-month-old epidemic - almost five times the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam war - and painting a false picture in the final days of the campaign that the United States was “turning the corner” in the Covid-19 epidemic when it was raging to a new high registering a record daily increase of 132,540 Covid-19 infections on Nov. 6, Trump was nearly re-elected President of the Unites States.
World-wide, there are now over 50 million Covid-19 cases and over 1.25 million deaths, with the United States leading the world with the most number of Covid-19 cases.
There are 73 days to the US Inauguration Day on January 20, when Biden will formally assume office as the President of the United States.
If the US keeps registering the daily average of Covid-19 infections and deaths since Election Day on November 3, then it is likely that by Inauguration Day on January 20, it would have over 18 million Covid-19 cases and over 330,000 Covid-19 deaths. Awesome figures.
It has been estimated that since he entered the White House four years ago, Trump ha told more than 25,000 falsehoods in office.
We in Malaysia must not take light the power of disinformation and fake news to distract public attention from the 1MDB financial scandal and the abuse of power, corruption and money-laundering of a kleptocracy by the manufacture and dissemination of lies and falsehoods that the DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-Royalty and even communist by UMNO propagandists and cybertroopers.
But all is not lost – that Biden finally won is also a testimony of the power of national renewal and the ability of the ordinary people to save a country from infamy and perdition.
This is a day that Malaysians must reflect and resolve that the “political miracle” of the 14th General Election on May 8, 2018 is not a “flash in the pan” but represented the deep conviction of majority of Malaysians who want the country to become, in the words of Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman, “a beacon of light in a difficult and a distracted world” and to take our proper place in the international community of nations, not for the infamy and iniquity of a kleptocracy or kakistocracy but because of our achievements and excellence in various fields of human endeavour leveraging on our unique position as the confluence of four great civilisations in the world.
The cliffhanger of the US elections this week is both an ominous warning and a great inspiration for Malaysians who feel that Malaysia deserves better in all areas of national life.