Ghosts in our Minds ....

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"f you do not agree with government policies, don't be a government employee. Resign."
- A. S. Cheek

"As supreme council members,
they should uphold the ethics...."

- MMT

"Ex-deputy president of SAPP and current Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah Raymond Tan, claimed on Saturday that he had been instrumental in preventing the arrest of party president Yong Teck Lee in June in relation to allegations of corruption."
- MSM reports.

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We now have the right people to advise Malaysians on ethics
- one is AS Cheek and the other, MMT.
We then have a currently retained Deputy CM - Raymond Tan - confessing to the media of what could have been regarded as abuse of power or obstruction of justice/investigation. (He may have just signed his political death warrant, though).
With people like these to lead us, who needs educationists, ulamaks/priests/ philosophers or thinkers?

What we see is a bunch of incompetent and corrupt "leaders" who seek to grab at anything to protect their interests. Ethics is the furthest from their mind despite the diarrhoea of rhetoric.

But then again how different are we the rakyat from them?
Just take a look at the number of signitories to the petition appealing for the release of barbaric ISA - HERE.
A paltry 21,000 ......
That's coming from the MILLIONS of hits (per day, mind you ...) at Malaysia Today and Peoples Parliament.

We know of the many "reasons" Malaysians give for not signing - all these despite sucking up to Malaysia Today and reading it "for information only" - like it is a freakshow. Almost all the people I know are quite unanimous in their approval of RPKs gung ho style, bravery and expose.

Those who may have signed, do not presume to be "holier than thou" here - no, not for a minute. They simply express their disgust at the disease mentioned below, and have taken the first step to dispel it. After all, the standards and willingness to commit oneself is quite relative to the "circumstances" - emotions, family, job, finances, contracts, politics, faith, the "fear factor", etc etc etc.
To "us" guys who refuse to sign, remember these "reasons" the day your children are deprived of the "material luxuries" you now enjoy despite being deprived of the dignity that you silently crave for.
It won't be too long if we choose to infect/reinfect others with this same diseases we carry - Fear, Apathy, Selfishness.

However, I do not believe that they are entirely to blame for this phenomenon - they have been brought up to believe in these things by the likes of the people mentioned above. We have been brought up to live in fear of the politicians' retribution - more so under the doctrine/creed of "Mahathirism", wherein we willingly sell our souls, humanity and rights for material gains to varying degrees (as I've said before- me too, to a certain extent).

Even more intimidating is the inbridled power of the ISA, which can be used "as deemed necessary" by "leaders" - even if it is simply for the sake of silencing the truth, and spreading the idea of fear. In fact, so pervasive is its influence, that many actually believe in the necessity of ISA to "keep the peace" in a "multi-racial" society, which proudly portrays the benefits of racism and apartheid, described/spun in the media as "racialism" and the "NEP".

It is what many a businessman wants - just make the money, have a PR status in Australia/ US/ UK and what not. That's why TDM implied that those of chinese descent "don't mind 'racialism'", as long as the economy/ their bread & butter isn't disturbed. Actually, it isn't a "chinese" sentiment - it is a Malaysian sentiment that cuts across all ethnic communities, although it is more pronounced among certain sectors. There is a lack of will/ hope among Malaysians to achieve true nationhood.

In other words, we are supposed to just make money and 'mind our own business', don't speak of anything that might be deemed "unethical" or "ungrateful to the authorities" - or your dreams to migrate may be shot. What we breed is nothing but resentment towards a system that systematically convinces us that we deserve to be deprived of rights. We shouldn't discuss or speak of what we may perceive as "injustice", as they are "sensitive" -to do so would render you an enemy of the state, and a "trouble maker".
This is especially important if we are in the civil service which is to day subservient to the government, and not the supposedly the apolitical "in His Majesty's Service" - hence Mr. A.S. Cheek's call to resign, if you're deemed not agreeable with government policies through an impartial discussion/debate.

In other words, what we who support the idea of 'detention without trial' do, is to permit and encourage the propagation of ignorance, fear and distrust among the various communities, as a means of working with the system- thus leading to a fractured state which is far from the desired "nationhood" that is preached.

If this is what Malaysians want, so be it ......

Here's a message by a reader of Malaysia Today, which would describe things very well:-
written by batsman, September 23, 2008 10:07:33
Sorry to be wet blanket, but it is a fact of life that most big social movements or even revolutions consume their own leaders. Even Harun Idris was consumed by May 13. I believe RPK knows this very well. He fights because he wants to not 100% because of us. He fights behind bars as well as when he is free.
Of course, it is much better if he is free. But he is not. And he is not free to say what he thinks either, so commentators - no need to be "holier than thou".
RPK himself is clearly for the ISA to be abolished. He said as much in his article on the detained Hindraf leaders. Often followers tweak the beliefs of their leaders. Even the Prophet himself suffered this fate with countless "followers and faithful" tweaking his teachings. Generations of "tweaking" have created the mess we now have. The latest "tweaking" being Hadhari.
So ... no need to be "holier than thou". We love RPK. We want him out, but there is no need to be "holier than thou". I can't speak for RPK, but I find such "holier than thou" attitude quite nauseating.

written by batsman, September 23, 2008 11:19:13
Cruzeiro - who is the coward? The guy who refuses to sign or the guy who seeks to hide among millions of signatures and dumps shit on those who do not sign because there are too few signatures and he cannot hide so well?
RPK has his causes and he fights these causes. Those who dump shit on people who did not sign the petition have only one cause - to get people to sign the petition. For this they distort the values and teachings of the teacher and place themselves on a high pedastal. For this one single fight in the armoury of fights that we should have, these people are willing to forego good taste and good principles. Too big egos, I say.

To those who wish to sign - do so please. But do not dump shit on those who do not and adopt "holier than thou" attitudes.
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To 'batsman' and his ilk, I have only one thing to say - nobody dumped it on them.
It's just that they don't see that they are in it.

Addendum:

Since "batsman" was curious to know what people think of those who did not sign the petition are (and I didn't have the heart to say it), here's what the govt MSM -
the NST Editorial calls them today -
"opportunistic malcontents and anonymous cowards who constitute much of his constituency turn whistling elsewhere for their entertainment." - HERE.

"Batsman" and all you cheering/saddened guys who have a million reasons not to sign,
I hope you read this, and now know how you're regarded by the Govt
and know thyselves better before coming up with a "defense".....

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