Ah! Fine Young Calibans we breed .....

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Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter,
And seek for grace. What a thrice-double ass
Was I to take this drunkard for a god,
And worship this dull fool!
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest: Act V, Scene I

"If this trend continues to grow, I fear that it will create an unhealthy writing culture, a writing culture which nurtures lies, a writing culture which is unethical and ready to ignore fact and one that will have a negative influence on the development of the people's minds," he said.
- Raja Nazrin worried about writing trend, TNG

“Still, we will strive to use our intellect to answer those questions that are raised in these (critical) socio-political blogs, rather than to resort to these laws all the time.”
-Rais Yatim, New info czar dines with bloggers, MalaysiaKini

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At first take, one would've thought that he was approaching bloggers accross the board. When Rais says that “It is important that prominent bloggers remain credible, because their critique is accepted by the masses”, one might be tempted to believe that this guy is being pro-active.
Oh yeah, he's got these "rules" - He did also say, “There are certain rules and tactics for blogging which are a long part of our culture as Malays and Muslims."
(So his target audience are Malays and Muslims ..... and the other don't have to comply with these stupid rules! Yippee!)

From the above quotes, it is quite obvious that he first and foremost seeks to play the race and religion card to apply his "intellect", which he claims he intends to use. He plays these cards so that he can get people/ bloggers to toe the racist agenda of the state propaganda - this is after his Umno pals and the MSM mercenary "journalist" railed and verbally abused bloggers as being "unemployed housewives", "monkeys" and what not.
Now the fall from grace of the Umno warlords is due to the anti establishment bloggers who successfully reached out with messages that resonated with the general public.

These guys who attended the "dinner" (which was presumably paid by taxpayers), on the other hand are pro Umno bloggers anyways - so what exactly is our Rais trying to do? Preach to the converted, or just give them some free makan? Maybe there are other incentives too ... I wouldn't know. (incidently, the "big guns" among the bloggers are the very same guys who attended the "sime darby meeting").

Just what is on the minds of these government lackeys/politicos? Keep harping on racism and religiosity through their stale "Ketuanan Melayu/Budaya Islam" and hope to win the hearts of their citizens all around? Now they want people like Syed (ha ha!) to start an online campaign using Melayu and Islamic culture to win over the non-Malays? Oh no, I forgot- I think they don't care about the non-Malays.
All that matters to them is their Fascist ideas of Racist supremacy - and they think the Malays are stupid enough to fall for their Malay unity rhetoric.....

Moving on - there may be some credibility to what Rais's belief that many Malays, and maybe some "Malay" Indian Muslims too (I promised RPK not to say "mamak" - lest they feel insulted/ belittled, and their Umno membership be revoked), would fall for these govt propaganda - The "literature" peddled by DBP and our govt-sponsored "intellectuals" is definitely a shining example of their achievements - hence Raja Nazrin's comments lately.

However, before HH Raja Nazrin speaks of literary/ethical "values/standards", he should comment on our education and ethical/philosophical standards of our politicos in power, which lies in the pits. The "crutch-mentality" and the desire to be a suck-up for the sake of financial rewards, is uppermost on the minds of these lackeys who claim these exalted position. (It is anybody's guess if the "bloggers" who Rais preached to, fall in this category).

Only then he should be commenting on the standard of gutter journalism & "literature" practiced in the Malay MSM & tabloids/ mags which makes fools of its readers, and borders on seditious to boot ....

The "arts"/ the media are simply a "mirror" - it reflect the philosophy/ culture of the society in which it is "nurtured".
Fine young Caliban this guys is ....... and they rage at what they see in the mirror!
He ("Mr. Info Czar" & others like him, while in denial about the state of affairs, simply don't like the reflection they see. It is a pity, comment they should, on the ethics & philosophy of their own backyards, before going a notch further to lecture others on standards and "rules".

IMHO, each one of "them" who attempt to appear to speak for excellence - is just one more among many who are barking up the wrong tree and attempt appear "intellectual" for political mileage..... or do they truly happen to mistake the trees for the forest?
In all probability, it is the former - but (considering their "intellect"), the latter cannot be ruled out.

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CALIBAN: No more dams I'll make for fish
Nor fetch in firing At requiring;
Nor scrape trencher, nor wash dish
'Ban, 'Ban, Ca-Caliban
Has a new master: get a new man.
Freedom, hey-day! hey-day, freedom!
freedom, hey-day, freedom!
STEPHANO: O brave monster! Lead the way.

- The Tempest 2.2

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