-Haris Ibrahim, The People's Parliament.
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"Change these stones to bread, and they'll follow you ...."
- The Devil
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Someone once said that everybody has a price - and that almost anyone would trade away his/her deepest convictions, at that certain price, so as to replace it with envy, pride, greed, lust and delusions of grandeur.
All of us will be tempted at one time or other, by those who rule, to trade away our rights and conscience for some fleeting comforts - real or imagined.
More often than not, in the absence of civil society and a social conscience, the people are often short-changed, and are comfortably oblivious to it.
As a result, one's perception of right and wrong becomes perverted, as the conscience grapples with the challenge of justifying one's evil actions, until it slowly dies off completely.
It happens, when the people trade away their souls out of pride.
The pirates are bound to exploit the corrupting power of this pride to their benefit - albeit, democratically.
Today, we have politicians who would deny us all rights, for all the wrong reasons - apparently out of fear of this or that, when it is they who tend to provoke these imagined fears, so as to benefit from it.
- ...Do not speak of the "social contract" - it may provoke racial tensions, and it's seditious.
- ...Do not throw away the NEP crutch- you should fear being dispossessed, and that you cannot compete with the "pendatang" industry.
- ...Do not question cronyism - it is in the interest of enriching not just the poor and the middle-class, but also the rich and connected (of a certain "politically defined race" only, though). It is to achieve "equitable distribution of wealth among races" through preferential licencing and opportunities for plunder in failed/mega projects. Only then can the rempits and makcik shout for joy that "their people" are "successful.
- ...Do not question when you are denied opportunities - it is part of "the social contract", and you're a "pendatang". You have to be eternally grateful that you're given the opportunity to serve "god's gift to mankind", who happens to have a fetish for the anally inclined.
- ...Do not speak of the legal implications of conversions (that's the latest)- you should fear the "sensitive" nature of the topic, lest it "provokes tension".
- ...Do not challenge the "authority" of the Government - we're "pantang dicabar"(and it isn't our culture)!
- ...Do not question Petronas accounts or the numerous "mega-concessions" - it is under OSA and trust us when we say that it is well managed. They only invest in F1 or send numerous 4WD troupes to god-forsaken deserts to test their oil.
This phenomenon is uniquely Malaysian ......
- do not speak, do not write, do not debate, do not ask, do not think - we just need to "keep the peace".
Is such a peace worth it, even if it strips you of all human dignity?
I'm not so sure myself - maybe it is .....
If so, what was so wrong about being a colony of the Brits? We certainly had plenty of "peace" and wealth was created by them in rubber , tin and trade ..... except for one unavoidable war.
Stalin once said that, "the common man is like the chicken whose feathers you have plucked out, and yet, would come to you for some warmth and food, despite the pain that you have inflicted upon it".
It was his idea that pain should be inflicted upon man, so as to get them to follow you in submission ....
The pain of 5.13, when citizens succumbed to blackmail and sold their souls to the devil, has got the nation in a stranglehold.
(yes - once again, it goes back to that fateful day, when high treason was committed by certain parties, who today use it as a scare tactic to intimidate a peace loving people)
One that's choking the lifeblood out of of this nation - through that cancerous "miracle" called NEP.
The "people were grateful" for the peace & bread, and they blindly followed despite the pain .... and the rest is history.
To some, the remedy for all the ills today is purely economic - hence everyone can be brought.
Values of Morality, integrity and conscience had no place in the grand design.
Only the price needs to be haggled over - sometimes it is chauvinistic rhetoric, sometimes it is lucrative/cheap contracts, and at other times it is just powerful political posts.
Often though, just chest-thumping patriotism and a glittering skyline to gawk at would do well enough to capture the imagination of the gawking "proles" - while the beneficiaries of "affirmative action for the rich" do shopping in London with the plunder of the nations wealth.
Everybody can and should be bought - it is how the politics of Malaysia works for the future, under the rule of "certain parties".
It was this NEP that was used as the vehicle to artificially create "the rich" of a certain "politically affiliated race" through the sins of envy, pride and greed. The "privileged rich" were used as heroes to inflate the racist pride & ego with plenty of hot air and mediocrity, instead of real industry.
The result, is what we have today - a state (no, not a nation - we do not deserve that stature/distinction as yet) which is rotting from the corruption that's been eating it from within for the last 25 yrs.
It is all about "giving enough" to some people, so that a certain "bogeyman"-race isn't victimised for their industry ..... and that "enough", is subject to the whims and fancy of the pirates.
Malaysia is today, like a beautiful woman driven to ecstasy on her first experimentation with drugs, and is now is about to burn-out after the fun, dreams and the delusions of grandeur are gone .... and the reality and pain of the addiction becomes a burden, and yet crawls back to her tormenters (ala the "Stockholm Syndrome").
She is a slave who gives in to the temptations of materialistic hedonism and the dependence, that is promoted by the "drug-barons" who hold her at ransom.
Lost in her stupor and corruption, reason and righteousness makes no sense - she'd give in to anything and anyone for sustenance, while peddling her seductive beauty ..... and "cold turkey" is a horrific prospect.
The "cold turkey" that we may have to endure for the next few years may indeed be painful, as the "drug-barons" and oligarchs of old would never give up without a fight .... not when the plunder has to stop, before they've had their fill.
Amidst all these, there is Hope once again in the hearts of the people (unlike previously), in the form of none other than Anwar Ibrahim himself.
In substance however, it is actually civil society and the awakening of the national conscience.
Caught unawares, pirates are grappling with it this "new phenomenon" and are trying hard to snuff it out at its infancy, through sheer intimidation and the occasional carrot.
It is not proposed here that the people take to the streets at their whim and fancy in rebellion, nor do I suggest that we start bearing arms against our brothers in the name of racism or religious chauvinism.
What we need is to start thinking and doing more to promote active debate, without getting worked up, filing sodomy charges or going MIA after making SDs.
But sadly, fear mongering, stifling dissent, inquiry & debate seems to be the the order of the day. It is the only way they seem to know how to respond to ideas- with the primitive "flight or fight" reaction, using threats of "instability" as an excuse.
There's this story about a conversation between a man and a young lady ....
The man propositioned to this attractive young lady for a million dollars.
The woman was shocked, and remained silent.
After some time, the young lady asked the man, "A million dollars ......?"
The man said "Yes", and was silent for a moment before he continued, "Excuse me Dear - I really don't have a million ..... but would settle for ten bucks?"
The young lady, in a huff, replied, "What do you think I am!!?"
And the man promptly replied, "I think we have established that - now, we are simply haggling over the price ...."
It remains to be seen, if we be that woman who is seduced by a million bucks and ends up being short-changed, or the proverbial "Stalin's chicken" that hobbles to his tormentor for warmth and food .....
And all these, while unblushing racist megalomaniacs speak of the fears of retribution- as "gratefulness", and brag about their "achievements" in building phallic monstrosities, and pseudo-entrepreneurs via "affirmative action" (for the rich mainly), and leaving "chicken feed" for the people .....
Faced with powerful "subversive elements", the ultimate price we pay for justice may well be the "Peace" as we know it.
Could this be the price of Justice and Democracy?
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"......., the Chinese were very grateful.
......... the Chinese votes were overwhelming, helping to give the BN party the 2/3 majority, despite Anwar's black eye".
"........ wealth distribution through affirmative action in the economic field had contributed towards eradicating the identification of race with economic function...."
- Mahathir, "Cronyism & the NEP", CheDet.com
The depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable reality, and at the same time, the most intellectually resistant fact.
- Malcolm Muggeridge
