Petaling Jaya (The Star/ANN) - The live debate between MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng on Saturday will be eagerly watched by many at the venue in Berjaya Times Square Hotel and even more via Astro.
The protagonists will square off on the topic, "Is the two-party system becoming a two-race system?¿ at the conference organised by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute and MCA think-tank Insap.
It is as political as it can get, and will certainly raise the temperature a few degrees considering that the 13th general election is somewhere on the horizon.
But a little bit of heat is not a problem as these two leaders are definitely going to use their oratory skills in a gentlemanly manner, well aware that this is not a campaign ceramah in some town hall or hawker centre, but an opportunity to clarify their stands on various hot issues, especially those that affect the Chinese community.
They may be viewed as fighting cocks, as one commentator put it, but they will know the proper decorum when it comes to a televised debate of this nature.
In the lead-up to the debate, both have referred to each other as "worthy opponents¿, with both seemingly suggesting that they are the underdog.
That the debate will be in two languages - English and Mandarin - and that they will also entertain questions from the floor, certainly makes this clash of views even more exciting.
Malaysians will hopefully be able to see, and appreciate, what a proper political debate should be like.
While debates of this nature are not unique in the democratic world, in the Malaysian context, they are few and far in between.
In fact, we can count the number of such political debates on two hands which is certainly a small number when we have already had 12 general elections so far.
The reluctance of political leaders to take on each other, one-to-one, appears to be reflective of the Asian culture but this is something that must be encouraged for the good of a maturing democracy.
If we have more of such civilised debates where the politicians can disagree without being disagreeable, it will minimise other outlets of expression that cause inconvenience and even violence if not carried out properly.
Debates between politicians, after all, are part and parcel of any democracy. In fact, in Parliament itself, our MPs are engaged in debate each time the august house is in session.
Parliamentary observers, however, do lament about the quality of the current House debates, often pining for those earlier years after Merdeka when our MPs stood out for their oratory skills.
Some of the MPs today are more prone to shouting and name-calling than scoring points with their wit and gift of repartee.
Debates should be encouraged, not only among politicians themselves but between politicians and the people at large.
The days of introducing policies and reforms without adequate consultation and debate with all interested parties are over.
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