Symbols of change

Every move conveys a message. Human expressions are giveaways of inner feelings. Body language is a loud and clear communication. All objects and their placements are a story untold. The rooms in the house and the pictures on the wall all convey something. The power of signaling is a power. Change is a matter of certain symbols and signals that convey positive or negative future actions. In anticipation of these happenings, people respond and follow the signals thus creating a wave of beneficial or destructive change.
The word change is the most talked about noun that is the least practiced verb. As many wise people have said that we all want to change the world but rarely does anybody want to change her or himself. Change is the coveted status that most aspire for but few achieve. The problem is that people are reactive to the thought of admitting that problem lies within, and secondly, even if they admit it the process may require effort and pain that they want to avoid. Many organizations hire change management consultants to introduce changes in the organizations as the resistance to change becomes the biggest barrier to change.
If bringing change at the individual and organizational levels is so tough, imagine how difficult it is to bring a societal and cultural change in a country. Change is a slow process; it's a fast process as well. Some changes can be instant and some forever. The complete process may take years in a country and may require policy and legislative reforms but some initiation of change can play a big role when symbolic change catches on the imagination of the public. These symbols may be as small as greeting styles and standing in queues but their messages can be very powerful that can bring a ripple effect in the society.
The current government in Pakistan has an ambitious change agenda, but even more ambitious is the expectations of the people who have given them this opportunity to govern. The first two speeches of the prime minister were very well received and raised the bar of expectations. The major focus is austerity to save public money. To initiate the process the Prime Minister announced not staying in the PM house and using minimum protocol. These are now being challenged by the opposition and the media. The opposition is criticizing the use of helicopter and the non-use of the PM residence as being ineffectual steps. The opposition has been calculating the cost of the PM house and saying with Pakistan being in heavy debt how saving pittance here and there would contribute to debt retirement.
As far as penny-to-penny is concerned, their objection may have some substance in it. In the context of going by a helicopter and spending Rs 12800 on the ride may look ridiculously expensive compared to a motor driven route. Similarly saving Rs 1 billion a year of PM house's annual expense will not make much dent on $94 billion debt to be paid off. However, these are symbols of change. Their symbolic value is more important than their actual value. They convey multiple messages to people. The message is austerity starts from the top. If the leader refuses to live in a huge palace like house with 524 servants and shifts into a simple 3-bedroom house with 2 servants, this is a message to two constituents, ie, PM's own team and the public in general. The team is now forced to follow the same example. President, Governors and CMs will find it difficult to use their premises for personal purposes. Again, in terms of saving, it may look a small amount but in terms of signaling that every rupee of taxpayer's money counts and every penny saved is a contribution, it is an effective start.
The people of Pakistan are beset with two challenges that prevent them from believing in this signaling. They are used to politicians promising austerity and accountability many times and then see the opposite happening. The other is the lack of understanding of the true democratic system due to low literacy and awareness. The ability to stand up for their rights and make government accountable is low as they are so used to the might is right culture. Thus when they hear from the older parties that constitutionally the non-use of government properties is not allowed as it is a government treasury item they actually believe that this is funded by government money not realizing that the government has no money of its own except borrowing and tax revenue.
Recently, two videos and pictures went viral on the social media. One was the Croatian president painting her own house and the other was the Dutch Prime minister cleaning the floor when coffee spilled on floor. These actions do not mean that their titles and ranks do not allow them to hire people to do this job or that doing it themselves would save millions of dollars of exchequer's money but it simply conveys the message to the public that they are not VIPs, that they are just like the majority in public and they have no qualms in doing menial jobs. The symbolic value is so high that it will force many other people to follow them.
A recent example in Pakistan is the oath-taking ceremony of the Prime Minister in the Presidency. The prime minister said it should be simple with refreshments of just tea and biscuits. There was a whole debate about how much it would save for the government. The amount may be debatable but the message is not. The symbolic value was high enough for the oath-taking by the Sindh government to be hurriedly changed from a traditional elaborate menu to a more restricted one. When Quaid e Azam changed his attire from a three-piece designer suit to a shalwar kameez sherwani attire the message not of saving money but of nationalism, of simplicity of identity.
Change always starts with symbolic gestures and through the official statements, media and the grapevine spreads like wildfire. Will this fire just become a spark and blow off or will it become a passion that will be sustainable depends on the performance, conduct and results over a period of time. For the new government, the symbols of change have initiated a healthy discourse and public engagement on its pros and cons. Its ability to create sustainable change will depend on the 100-day, 365-day and a day-to-day process of reinforcement and accountability.
(The writer can be reached at [email protected])