By Muhammad Najib Mohd Taib
With Donald Trump winning the recent U.S Presidential election, I could not help but noticed that the media have mentioned the name Putin more than they ever used to before. As such, seeing how Putin was regarded for playing a big role in the Election as rumours gave the impression that he could be among world leaders who would incite another world war, it developed curiosity in me trying to understand the person in the name of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, or popularly known as President Putin of the Russian Federation.
After doing some research and viewing of some video recording about the man, it turned out that for me, beneath the cold blood looking eyes, and low-tone firm voice that brings shivers to some, for me, he is the man filled with high spirit of patriotism, and very much with the love to protect his country from any threat.
What makes President Putin different from other world leaders? With his education background in Law, he is well equipped with knowledge that helps to promote his country’s interest. He is the first president who used and control by himself a mini-submarine to plunge it into the Black Sea to look at an ancient Byzantine shipwreck. He is also the first president that I know capable of riding a Russian jet fighter. Riding a formula-1 car? Putin as the President done it. Being the former KGB agent, a Russian security agency, with a 9th degree black belt in karate (higher than Chuck Norris!) is what makes President Putin considered the no.1 fighter if all the presidents and leaders of the world were to put in a special MMA cage.
How many presidents and leaders in the world that make a live questioning one on one interpersonal session between President and its people? Well, if there are, President Putin is one of them. During the live questioning session, he also answered a question from one of his people on how to catch your boyfriend cheating, and the answer President Putin gave is simply charismatic yet funny at the same time. Another amazing act that President Putin did was to extinguish a forest fire, by piloting an airplane loaded with water like some kind of super hero. That’s something rare to be heard from someone who is considered to be one of the most powerful individuals in the world.
President Putin’s childhood is just like ordinary childhood of people from the 50s and 60s. He grew up in a small communal apartment, and his hobby is just to chase the rats that been infested in the apartment to pass the time and now he is the President of the Russian Federation, one of the world super powers. Now talking about his patriotism, what I admire about his characteristic is that, after I watched his interview and statements, he always stated in between the lines that,“My interest is to uphold the interests of the citizens of the Russian Federation.”
Putin has done so many great things for his country. Russia during the Yeltsin reign (former president before Putin) was in the brink of destruction as not only the country was considered poor in the economic sector, but also lacked of food supplies and shortage, with the extreme weather, people of Russia are barely surviving. The government was also not functioning properly as well, as each state in Russia basically has its own interpretation of the law. After President Putin came to power, big and massive changes happened to Russia and its people. Less corruption is one of its main changes. The important one is that from being a country left with the remnants of the Soviet, under President Putin’s reign, Russia turned into one of a super power in the world.
One last thing that makes me intrigued about President Putin is that, nowadays, the western media reign superiority in providing information throughout the world. As such, it could not help that the tendency in the media to be slanted more towards the western point of view, however, as not many people know, President Putin loves to attend conferences and meetings with knowledgeable scholars all around the world to discuss matters of global interests. To my surprise, the answer that Putin provided somehow showcased a different point of view of certain issues compared to what has been mentioned by the mainstream media. As such it gives people both sides of a story that are related to global issues and provided people with sufficient information in weighing who is the bad guy and the good guy in this world.
Although there are many controversial rumours surrounding President Putin, to me after I have done my research, I believe that the man possesses a characteristic of a good statesman which is firm with his beliefs and principles, and does everything by putting the concerns of the Russian citizens at the top of the list. ***