The Overbearing R&R Factor.

It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is that they can't see the problem.

-G. K. Chesterton, Scandal of Father Brown (1935)

It's R&R - not relaxation & recreation or Rolls Royce, but Racism and Religiosity.
(Do not misconstrue what I speak of - Religiosity is not Religion, and neither is it Spirituality)
Until and unless many Malaysians from all walks of life can look in the mirror and admit the fact that they have these two evils deep in their hearts, the nation cannot snap out of the slumber and decadence that it is in.

"CORRECT" - We all know who the architects of these two evils are, and we also know who made it worse by subverting the constitution and undermining the judiciary - but that's a different story.
What I wish to speak about is, the people.
Do they even realize that this has become a problem, that is shredding the very fabric of the nation - slowly but surely?

Evidently not. They are blinded by the ego-boosting rhetoric of their respective spin-doctors and clerics who masquerade as political leaders and Judges. They want to believe it. In fact they almost beg for it, so as to hide their weaknesses and insecurities. So convinced are the people by these lies, that honest men shudder at the prospect of speaking of the truth about this Evil. Such is the grip of lies on the people's minds, that not just ordinary people shy away from truth, but even the Judiciary prefer to appear impotent, rather than mete out justice without fear or favour.

The not-so-honest politicians on the other side of the fence too, refuse to confront these issues head-on, lest they be stuck with a badge & labeled as being a traitor to their race/ religion or (if you're on the other side), an enemy of state and the people and so on and so forth.

We can vote the opposition to power and then vote UMNO back to power if we don't like - but the fact remains that neither promises to bridge the gulf that divides and fractures the nation.
Would there be a difference? I seriously doubt it - this is simply becos Race & Religion are almost as good (if not better) than hard currency in Malaysian politics.
This is simply becos the people simply are not ready to build a nation based on dynamic and progressive ideas/ ideologies of nationhood - they still prefer to indulge themselves to petty kampung, feudal politics of sectarianism. Whatever the issue that crops up, the decision ultimately depends on either race or religion.

As it is, we "proudly" carry our MyKad that states our Race and Religion. It isn't enough that we are all human and Malaysian - we silently accept being branded like cows. (At least cows make some noise).
Fill up any official document - at least one or both will be included in your bio.
This is something I find absolutely disgusting and demeaning.
We don't need to be "profiled" like criminals.
We don't need to be stereotyped.
We don't need to be differentiated based on Race or Religion when filling up a form for a business or job or whatever.
My name, NRIC number, address, profession and a few other relevant factors is all they need - nothing more.
Why the profiling?

With this in place, what do we make of all the propaganda on "Unity" that is drummed into us by our politicians and clerics? Oh yeah - we have some politicians who'd say that it is bad, but shy away from condemning it wholeheartedly. He'd always find a "but" to insert into his argument in support of racism, by hook or crook!
It is all nothing but hypocritical HOGWASH.

Take a good look at our political parties - they all shamelessly flaunt their sectarian agendas. One for religion. Another for race. Even if they have a multi-racial facade, there are politicians "entrusted" to welfare of certain ethnic groups. It seems to be beyond the scope of our politicians take us for our similarities - they prefer to take us for our differences! Not just that, they choose to highlight these differences.

They just cannot see us all as human beings and Malaysians first, simply becos they cannot understand the very diversity that enriches the nation.

It is not to say that we cannot have lobby groups to address relevant issues - it is just that the primitive premise that "R&R are the cornerstone of the political structure of the nation", is fundamentally flawed, and it invites disaster in the long run - and we would end up a failed state.

The people, being so gullible to the propaganda machinery and leaders who seek to exploit our differences are to blame for this.
R&R, being an effective tool to garner support, by using "fear tactics" of trouble, "they" seek to stoke the fire of insecurity within each community. "They" fear that with unity among the people, they would be rendered vulnerable to the dictates of the masses.
Trust, understanding and unity appear to be the enemy that they seek to destroy in all of us.

Moving on to the other R, it is beyond me to understand the desire of clerics who seek political power - don't they see that politics can corrupt their theology.
But I suppose most of them study religion - not theology.
(There is a subtle but significant difference here - Theology starts with God; Religion starts with Man - go figure, guys .....)

Power is the ultimate goal of all these politicians masquerading as clerics. Religious laws are nothing but instruments of control that the sheep would fear to question lest they invite "divine retribution" in the hands of their human masters. The objective of all religious laws appear to be that of intellectual emasculation of the man on the street. The relentless "war" on secularism, and the "evils" of it are drummed into the blinded "faithful" in their quest for power. The message of secularism is craftily hidden by these God-men from their followers. They wouldn't want the "faithful" to know that, "Secularism is a device that seeks to protect religion from the corruption of politics and politics from becoming usurped by religion", to quote Muqtader Khan (refer : The Myth of Secularism : Religion and politics are mutually Constitutive).

Sadly, the masses, the "silent majority", is cowered by the vociferous but intellectually impotent religious zealots. The politicians on the other hand, keep them "breeding" so as to intimidate the "opposition", and thus facilitating the execution of their agenda of greed and rape of the economy. After all, to these religious zealots who'd rather live in misery in return for the rewards of afterlife, the economy is the last thing on their mind.

To the political opportunists who also jump the bandwagon of religiosity, the appearance of success (with all the physical trappings of "modernity") is definitely more important than real success.
The question of nationhood, modern political sciences, sustainable development, progress, globalisation and wealth management don't figure in their equation.
It is imperative, that the people willingly surrender their rights to men who can apparently understand the mind of their Almighty (that has been reduced to a few books written by man).

The absurdity of puny minds restricted to religiosity, being able to comprehend the impossible, and that people willingly surrender their right to such as these, is in itself, incomprehensible.
All that matters appears to be the subjugation and control that the political/clerical elite can exert upon the unthinking masses, thus enslaving them.
And the wonder of it all is - these "slaves" are pretty much happy about being relieved of their intellectual burdens!
They are happy to be told what to do and what to think, by their political masters who appear to be god-like in their eyes - and when things go horribly wrong, it would be perfectly logical for them to persecute the scapegoats for their "evil practices" (which has rained the wrath of god on everybody else) .... like that would turn to showers of blessings from the Almighty, overnight!

These R&R factors have been and will be the overriding factors in determining the direction that the nation takes in the next few years.
These next few years (probably 10-15 yrs) will determine what the future holds for all Malaysians.
As things are, the politicians, clerics and the people appear to lack the courage to face the truth and abandon the old feudal, racist and religiosity that is today being used to subvert the nation.
The future does not look too appealing, any which way we look at it.
The day when all else is lost, let us pray that there will still be hope.