Some time ago, at the height of the Altantuya murder case frenzy, there was a press conference at PKR HQ, where a private investigator, Balasubramaniam, announced that he had made a statutory declaration[1] regarding his appointment and activities as a PI on behalf of Razak Baginda. Of course, the dude retracted it a day later, or rather specific points of the stat dec, in a new stat dec. One of the points that was not retracted, however, is point 7, which I reproduce in full here:
7. Abdul Razak Baginda informed me that he was concerned by this as he had been advised that Altantuya Shaaribuu had been given some powers by a Mongolian ‘bomoh’ and that he could never look her in the face because of this.
It’s taken me a while to write this post, because I lived in hope that someone would make a big deal out of this, but it seems that no one (or rather, no one with authority) has until now. So much so, it has led me to believe that the vast majority of the population seems willing to accept the above statement as “normal”[2].
But then, this is a country where a “faith healer”[3] is a Member of Parliament.
This is a country where people organise sembahyang hajat to pray that a former PM be laid low by a heart attack, after he fired his DPM.
This is a country where the National Fatwa Council plans to issue guidelines on swearing[4].
This is a country where stories of haunted houses, orang minyak, toyols, pukau, and so on are accepted as mainstream.
This is the Nation of Woo.
On the plus side, we seem to be a non-discriminatory Nation of Woo, since we have people of all races and religions accepting astrology, feng shui, bomohs, witch doctors, hypnosis, The Secret, numerology, magnetic bands, psychics, ekcetera with equal credulity. No inter-Woo commission needed.
Endnotes:
[1] That’s a link to the subscription-based online comic. There are reproductions of the stat dec in full elsewhere on sites where you don’t have to pay.
[2] Either that, or most people don’t actually bother to read the declaration in full while engaging their brains.
[3] Harun Din, in case you’re wondering.
[4] When I first saw the headline, my first reaction was: “Oh, shit …!” Then I realised that it’s guidelines on how to swear on the Holy Book, at which point my reaction became: “WTF???”
Monday, November 10th, 2008,
by gier,
Filed under: Mentera Moden| |
No Comments
Not too long ago (last week in fact) the National Fatwa Council decreed that women should not wear men’s clothes. Because it may lead them to having lesbian secks with other women (who may or may not be wearing men’s clothes, or indeed any clothes at all). For some people (myself included) this ban is about as useful as a bicycle is to a fish. After all, clothes do not make a man (or a woman, dyke or otherwise). You cannot make a person gay by making him or her wear the opposite sex’s clothes. Also, homosexuality is not a disease and some might argue may not even necessarily be against the natural order of things. Further, I’d like to suggest a crazy idea for the wise mullahs in the council: maybe, just maybe, the lesbians were made by God that way? Maybe, just maybe, sexual orientation is not necessarily “obtained”, but is rather built-in? These are not new ideas for many, but it might be a new one for the mullah dudes.
Having said that, a further while back, it seems that the mullah dudes were also deliberating on the magnetic bracelets worn by men. They wanted to “meet with producers and distributors of the magnetic band and see their tests to determine if there are medicinal elements.”
The Johor Mufti then went on to say that “when the council was satisfied with the scientific and clinical tests, it would decide whether the use of the magnetic band was against Islam or not.”
I can only infer that if there were no medicinal elements found, the magnetic bands would be, well, banned. Also, I can only assume that reason for the ban would be because the bands would make men look effiminate — which may lead to ghey secks. Inferences and assumptions, dudes.
Anyway, I’d like to save the mullahs some time and effort in trying to determine the efficacy of these bands in improving blood circulation:
They don’t do squat, o’ my wise religious overlords. They’re a scam, useless quackery, pseudo-scientific trinkets. They don’t improve anyone’s circulation and in so far as anyone can tell, they don’t make you ghey, either. If magnets do improve blood circulation, we’d be putting coils around our homes and switch them on to make a huge electromagnet. Circulate that!
Finally, today there’s news that another fatwa will be produced soon, on Yoga. This is because a UKM lecturer advised Muslims “to stop practising it for fear that it could deviate them from their belief.” He suggested prayer instead. Quite.
The notion that Islam is a “way of life” has become a fashionable one these days, and it seems that the broadest interpretation of it means that personal and public space are one and the same. Not just that, it seems like many Muslims in Malaysia are welcoming the idea of having their lives regulated and “guided” by the wise mullahs and their interpretation of the religion.
Bleh! Not this guy!
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008,
by gier,
Filed under: Mentera Moden| |
4 Comments
Are you unsure whether you should be a supporter of Pakatan Rakyat? Well, we can help you by providing a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the opposition coalition as they attempt to take over the government which you had (apparently inadvertently) voted for in the last elections.
A SWOT analysis is a tool used by consultants to draw tables in their reports for their clients, or when they decide that a report does not have enough bullet points. Additionally, it is also a tool for the consultants to indicate to their clients that they, the clients, should pay the consultants a lot of money. So, a SWOT for Pakatan Rakyat would look like this:
| Strengths |
Weaknesses |
- Consists of three non-racial parties which are representative of the following ideologies:
- Social democrats who believe in fighting for an equal and secular “Malaysian Malaysia”.
- Islamists who believe in fighting for a welfare state, which will eventually be an Islamic state.
- A right-of-centre party set up to fight for justice and fairness for the people, starting with their own founder.
- It will be a coalition of equal partners.
- Has dynamic leader, hell-bent on toppling the current government because of the government’s ineptitude, corruption, nepotism, cronyism and several other -isms (and scams involving land).
- Has a collection of professionals, civil society members, clerics and former members of the ruling coalition to ensure a transition would not be too onerous.
|
- See item 1 in the Strengths column.
- See item 2 in the Strengths column.
- Has dynamic leader, hell-bent on toppling a democratically elected government by enticing the government’s MPs to crossover into his coalition, effectively forcing a regime change without going to the polls.
- Has a collection of street demonstrators, agitprop practitioners, hard-line fundamentalists and former bitter members of the ruling coalition to ensure that a transition would be a circus.
|
| Opportunities |
Threats |
- Has indicated that they would call for fresh elections within a year of gaining power, to seek a proper mandate from the people.
- Has pledged to free all ISA detainees upon takeover.
- Has indicated that they will repeal certain Acts, such as the PPPA, the UUCA, and certainly the ISA.
- Has pledged that the New Economic Policy and its successors will be replaced with a New Economic Agenda, which would eradicate poverty for all races as one of its main thrusts.
- Has pledged to reform the judiciary.
- Has indicated that the 3rd vote may soon be available again (that’s local councils and municipalities, by the way).
- May allow greater freedom of expression, the right to assembly, peaceful marches and gatherings.
|
- May not call for fresh elections within a year, and may instead wait until 5 years later, to shore up power and influence so that they can ensure themselves of gaining the mandate from the people – and the opportunity to gerrymander.
- May appoint up to 5 Deputy Prime Ministers, one each from the Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan and Other communities, resulting in a continuation of the aforementioned circus.
- May be conducting a myopic hunt for abuses of power, corruption and other nasty things (allegedly) committed by the outgoing government that they might forget to actually govern.
- The New Economic Agenda which would eradicate poverty for all races may end up exactly like the New Economic Policy.
- May find that delivering on their promises may not be that easy.
- May end up having to deal with endless assemblies, marches and gatherings started by the deposed government parties.
|
So, there you have it, a brief SWOT analysis of a potential Pakatan Rakyat government. We hope that it has helped in your decision making process.
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008,
by gier,
Filed under: Mentera Moden| |
3 Comments
Yessss!!! Today is Malaysia Day, the country comprising of the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. Except Singapore is now ex-Malaysia. After the General Election on 8th March 2008, the people of this country had been promised – repeatedly, incessantly, without let – that today, 16th September 2008 a new dawn will emerge. We were promised – repeatedly, incessantly, without let – that after 51 years of being led by the same racial-based government, a new beginning will emerge.
The people of Malaysia was reminded – repeatedly, incessantly, without let – that on the 16th of September (insyaAllah!) a new, non-racial-based government will be put into place, one that is not delineated by parties which represent exclusively the Malays (UMNO), the Chinese (MCA), the Indians (MIC), the Malays, Chinese, Indians and Others (Gerakan, PPP, err … ) and the, uh, other parties (PBS, PBB, SAPP, some more, some more, ekcetera). We were informed – repeatedly, incessantly, without let – that a new coalition which represents (sort of) left-wing social democrats that believe in a secular Malaysia (DAP), (sort of) right-wing neo-fundamentalist killjoy conservative Islamists (PAS) and (sort of) right of centre, cult of personality, equal rights to everyone, all children of every race are my children, justice forever (PKR) will unseat the current, ossified and putrid, ruling coalition.
And yesssss! the new government today, 16th September 2008, will be one founded on transparency, accountability, competency. It will be fair to all races, all sections of society, without fear or favour, while protecting the special position of the Malays and other indigenous peoples, as well as the position of the Malay Rulers.
This new government will abolish the ISA, restore the independence of the Judiciary, ensure equal distribution of wealth to the people, abolish poverty, rejuvenate the economy, remove the Printing and Publications Act, the University and University Colleges Act as well as other unfair, cruel and draconian acts which impinge on the freedom of the people.
And because the new government recognises that there might be ethical and moral questions on the manner in which they seized government, today 16th September 2008 (Malaysia Day), there is a committment to hold a new General Election within 6 months to a year. So that this new government will obtain a proper mandate from the people, many of whom have supported them from before the 8th March General Election to this fateful day, 16th September 2008, where a new dawn, a new beginning, a new Government is formed!
Furthermore, this Pakatan Rakyat Government is a government of the people, to serve the people. And the leaders of this new, social democratic secularist Islamist centrist government WILL NOT LIE TO THE PEOPLE.
16th September was the date, which is today. We see that the leaders have not lied, about the number of cross-overs that they’ve got. The leaders have not lied about the change of government on 16th September.
And that’s why, today, 16th. September, Malaysia Day, the fateful day …
We still have the same government we did yesterday.
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008,
by gier,
Filed under: Mentera Moden| |
No Comments
Saya cuma nak cakap, Datuk memang hebat. Penyokong-penyokong Datuk pun, ish … hebatlah. Memang pahlawan Melayu abis-abis. Saya memang kagum dengan tindak-tanduk Datuk tu. Ye lah kan, pegi koyakkan gambar Koh Tsu Koon tu, memang power. Lepas tu, ancam nak bunuh reporter sorang … ish … ganas! Mengancam, sungguh mengancam. Lagi satu, masa Datuk bagitau kat cina-cina tu toksah jadik macam Yahudi kat Amerika tu … terpegun saya dengan kuasa Datuk berpidato. Saya lansung tak terpikir nak kaitkan orang Malaysia dengan Yahudi. Kat Amerika lak tu. Intelek Datuk sememangnya tinggi menggunung. Lagi tinggi dari Bukit Cina kat Melaka tu.
Tinggal saya cuma nak cakap je lah, kalau Datuk pikir semua Melayu akan sokong Datuk kalau ada apa-apa, Datuk kena pikir lagi sekali lah ye. Sebab saya sendiri akan berada bersama-sama orang Malaysia. Tak kira lah bangsa apa pun. Bukan Melayu je tau.
Tu je la saya nak cakap. Kthxbai.
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008,
by gier,
Filed under: Mentera Moden| |
2 Comments
It all started with that Mahsuri lady. So, the husband wrongfully accused her of being naughty with some other dude while he was away and got her skewered. She bled white blood (probably bad case of leukemia) and cursed Langkawi for seven generations … resulting in a cluster of islands that was untouched and pristine. With clear waters and fantastic weather.
Legend then has it, the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia lifted the curse on the islands after the seven generations were up, turning it into a tourist destination with no tax. Big hotels sprung up, cigarettes were cheap, that sort of thing. It resulted in an overpriced, crowded place which were no longer untouched and pristine. The waters stopped being so clear, but the weather didn’t change. Curse or no curse, God does not play dice.
Fast forward a few more years, and here we are.
These days, not really cursing la, more swearing … which is not that far from cursing, really. Then there’s also oathing with statutory declarations, with is not really swearing, but not that far also. A bit like cursing, actually.
If I were to summarise all the cursing swearing and oathing that’s been going on, it’d be like this:
“I swear, so help me God, under the Act from 1967, that I had a penis magicked by a bomoh so that I cannot see the face of the Mongolian model, shoved into my C4 strapped arsehole, witnessed by the wife of the Deputy Prime Minister, who prayed in a Hindu temple, which had no signs of penetration (t.r.o. the ACA with sexual favours) and does not involve any helicopters or submarines (except the butt diving kind), where my assistant was involved in the hotel room. I make this oathing and swearing under duress, with a few mistakes which were corrected by an Imam from Sabah who votes in Penang and works in Kuala Lumpur. This I declare, while being attacked by government funded islamist armed terrorist, in a Chinese temple.”
Yeah, that should about cover it. More than seven generations. At least twenty, I reckon.
Monday, August 25th, 2008,
by gier,
Filed under: Mentera Moden| |
1 Comment
I’ve decided to put my thoughts here, instead of on the OtherMalaysia site, because it’s more a personal thing, rather than anything else. I put TOM on hiatus because Farish has decided to “shut down the Othermalaysia research group project.” It was a unilateral, dictatorial decision made on his own, by himself, whilst alone, without first checking with the research group. Of course, the research group was a group of two, i.e. him and me, but that’s by the by. No hard feelings, really. But if he ever decides to stand for any sort of election (like class monitor or captain of the softball team), there’s no way I’d vote for him, that’s for sure. Hah!
But seriously, at the end of the day, Farish was, and is the heart and soul of The Other Malaysia and I am, at best, a blood vessel. If we were a rock band, he’d be the vocalist and lead guitarist and I’d be the dude playing percussions or that little triangle thing that goes “ting-ting-ting” when you smack a little rod on it.
And Farish has crashed and burned.
What often sustains a left-leaning civil activist (is there any other kind?) is a passion for justice, fairness and equality. What drives the activist is anger and hope. And if you’re a political scientist and historian, you get to lean from much further back, and see much further forward than most others. Add to that the ability to write in such engaging style and you get Farish A. Noor.
But sometimes, anger gets spent and hopes dim. It happens, even to the best amongst us.
Farish has never been one for partisanship, never been one to take sides for the sake of being on a side. What this has meant is that he would get brickbats from every side, whenever an attempt is made to expose hipocrisy, inconsistencies and, far too often for our liking, sheer idiocy of politicians and leaders of this fair country.
For far too often, rational discourse and engagement have been suppressed for the sake of preserving the status quo, or to forward even more draconian and ridiculous measures to “protect” the fragile state of this artificially constructed nation. And yet, artificial or not, it remains our nation and one that is loved dearly by Farish.
So, there you go. He seems to have run out of gas for the moment.
When The Other Malaysia site was started, is was a labour of love for the both of us. We had not much of a budget. Not even a shoestring one. It was more like a lint budget, really. I asked Farish what he wanted the site to look like, and he drew some lines on a piece of paper. He sent me a bunch of pictures, and said that he wanted the Chelapa Minang sketch to be the logo. Except that it should be split in half, and arranged at either end. Oh, and he wanted it to be white on black. I just whacked.
He sent a bunch of old articles, wrote a couple of new ones, rehashed a few others and we were off. We grew slowly and eventually averaged about 1,000 readers a day which was not bad considering we weren’t exactly the sort to pander to any prevailing sentiments and basically did no promotion whatsoever. The spike we received during the election period was intriguing, but I thought it was just a case of people hitting whichever website they could to see if there was any information. I recall at the time Farish was busy getting himself molested in front of a mosque, deep in the north-east heartland.
But anyway, for what it’s worth, for an undetermined period of time, the Other Malaysia website will be on a hiatus. All the stuff that’s on there can still be accessed and maybe one of these days I’ll actually have everyting categorised properly. It’s not the only resource for Farish’s writings anyway, since he’s always taken the attitude that it’s more important to spread the articles to as many sources as possible, as opposed to getting eyeballs to the site. An arrangement which suited me just fine.
Will Farish write again? I hope so, and maybe I can piss him off enough to get him to do so. But don’t hold your breath.
Friday, August 22nd, 2008,
by gier,
Filed under: Mentera Moden| |
2 Comments
So, those crazy lawyers, eh? What can you do. So many people had objected to them holding the open forum, which was held in their own private property with the doors closed. But they went ahead and did it.
That’s why there were 100 300 500 1000 ? protesters outside the building, shouting slogans warning the crazy lawyers against challenging Islam. Somewhere along there was also a warning against challenging “Ketuanan Melayu” and “Hak-hak Istimewa Melayu”. That the forum wasn’t titled “Conversion to Islam and Melayu[1]” was something that must have escaped the protesters completely.
The multi-party gathering was quite unique, apparently, with a report on the online comic saying that the UMNO-backed guys had colour banners and the PAS/PKR guys had photostated text only. Dunno if the UMNO-backed flers had their banners supplied by Elegant Advisory. Hah hah! Cheap shot, sorry.
Anyway, the protesters managed to get the forum stopped, in the end. Though it must be said that the UMNO-backed guy, Jais his name was apparently, managed to insult the Chinese, the Indians … and – this is unverified, may well be hearsay – the Jews … which was certainly odd since there weren’t any Jews at the forum.
In the aftermath, there were calls for the application of the ultimate solution to shutting people’s mouth in Malaysia … the Internal Security Act. The UMNO flers were asking for the head of the crazy lawyers to be sent to Kamunting. Which UMNO flers? Well, according to this report, there’s Ali Rustam, CM of Malacca; Datuk Shahaniza Shamsuddin, Information Chief for Puteri UMNO and Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim who is described as the “Pengerusi Sekretariat Pembelaan Rakyat” though don’t let that fool you. Azeez is that Putera UMNO dude who used to hang around the Mat Rempits, trying to reform them from “nutjobs racing around the streets in the middle of the night” to “nutjobs racing around the streets in the middle of the night who support UMNO“. Yes, that’s the one. Yes, yes, the one who went to that “health centre” in Subang to help out a mate who got caught with his pants down and arms around some Chinese tourist who overstayed.
The PKR fler, Zulkifli Nordin didn’t call for the ISA to be applied. Actually, after the forum, he didn’t call for anything at all, since he seems to have disappeared. Never mind having Zulkifli calling for anything, he himself doesn’t seem to be callable. Even the police say they’ve no idea where he is, and that he’s not ISA-ed himself.
The PAS fler, Salahuddin Ayub has also clarified that he doesn’t support the use of ISA on the head of the crazy lawyers. He also said that he was at the protest simply to “monitor” the PAS flers who were there. Sure dude, I believe you. I mean, that’s why you were talking on the microphone to the assembled crowd, eh? And standing next to that dude with the loud hailer, screaming his head orf? Yeah … sure.
So, who’s the other guy who called for the ISA to be used, then? Well, it’s a DAP guy, believe it or not. Senawang asemblyman P. Gunasekaren said that the protesters should all be sent to Kamunting. I can only assume he did it in jest, though.
The Internal Security Act … the weapon of a bully, that’s what it is.
–
[1] Some wit once told me that converting to Melayu is actually quite possible and fairly easy. The Constitution says nothing about looking like a Malay, after all.
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008,
by gier,
Filed under: Mentera Moden| |
3 Comments
So, those crazy lawyers over at the Bar Council will be holding an event called “Conversion to Islam: Art 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, Subashini & Shamala Revisited”, on Saturday, 09 August 2008. According to the blurb, the event is to discuss “How should conflicts in matrimonial and family matters i.e. divorce, custody, maintenance and distribution be resolved, upon conversion to Islam of one party in a non-Muslim marriage: Ought the Civil Courts to have exclusive jurisdiction? ”
It’s a very interesting subject, I think, even though I won’t be attending due to other, more pressing, matters. Anyway, as to be expected, there’s a whole bunch of people protesting the event. On last count, there’s:
The Deputy Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Abdul Razak, where he said, “We are not stopping public debates. It is something healthy, but it should be organised in a closed manner.” … A closed public debate … how does that work?
UMNO Youth, where Exco member Datuk Pirdaus Ismail said, “It is pointless to organise forums based on intellectualism, professionalism or controversial issues when the safety, peace, harmony and stability of the country were being compromised.” … Yea, verily, keep your head under a shell, don’t be intellectual or professional … Where do they find these people?
Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Dr. Zahid Hamidi, where he said, “Walaupun sudah buat pada siri pertama forum Memeluk Islam dan hujung minggu ini siri kedua, saya bagi amaran, majoriti senyap masyarakat Islam di Malaysia belum lagi bangun untuk menyanggah mereka, tetapi jangan suruh kita bangun.” … Don’t challenge the silent majority indeed … The problem with the silent majority is because they’re so silent, sometimes you don’t even know if they actually care, or if they’re even a majority. I, for one, would love to have this majority voice out, for good or ill. At least we can have a chance at a dialogue. Openly. Not in a closed session. Not even a “closed” open session. Open, as in O.P.E.N. In public. With other people …
The Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, who said, “Kalau ada perkara yang kita tidak puas hati, ada forum (cara) untuk kita menyelesaikan masalah tersebut, bukan melalui perbincangan terbuka yang boleh membangkitkan salah faham atau ketegangan.” … This is a “forum” wot the Bar Council is holding, albeit an O.P.E.N. one, where anyone can come in.
Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM), whose Secretary General, Khairul Ariffin Mohd Munir feels that the issues should be discussed only by those in the know, i.e. “dalam kalangan mereka yang mempunyai latar belakang dalam bidang berkaitan.” … In other words, constitutional lawyers know diddly squat, and Muslim lawyers who are not approved by the likes of you know even less …
Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim), where the Director General, Datuk Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz was reported to have released a statement which stated, among other things, that the Bar Council should instead “mendidik rakyat mematuhi setiap keputusan mahkamah, termasuk membabitkan hak orang Islam dan hak keistimewaan orang Melayu.” … Exactly, you crazies at the Bar Council! Why debate these things la? Just tell the people to just abide by the decisions of the court, including those involving the rights of Muslims and the special “right” of the Malays. The rights of other races … haiyaa, don’t invite trouble, ok. They got rights too, but that’s a different story, ok.
And finally (even though there are others, but I’m bored already), PAS have joined the chorus. In an emailed statement, the President, Ustaz Dato’ Haji Abdul Hadi Awang said,”PAS is of the opinion that the Bar Council’s initiative, which is secular in nature, will only confuse the real understanding of Islam and cause undue tension. To guarantee stability between different religions and races, PAS calls for the forum to be cancelled.” … Secular in nature … Confuse the “real” understanding of Islam … My head spins …
Look, these guys are MISSING THE POINT, in my humble opinion. In all these statements made by these people, not a single one of them chose to actually touch on the subject of the forum, which is about the rights of the non-Muslim partner in a marriage when the other partner embraces Islam. This is not a conversion issue, not an apostasy issue, not the rights of existing Muslims issue, not a Malay rights issue nor any other issues relating to the status of Islam in the country or the special “rights” of the Malays as entombed in the Constitution. And, no, it does not say “special rights”. It says “special position”. Not rights, my fellow Malays, but a position which essentially recognises that Malays are not equipped to compete with the “migrant” races — at the point of Independence, 51 years ago. And that’s not the Article in the constitution that’s being discussed here anyway.
And why can’t it be an open discussion? Because it might raise racial tensions? For whom? The Malays? Why? Can’t the people at least listen to the other side of the story first before immediately assuming that it’s a threat to the Malays and Islam?
Doesn’t Islam preach tolerance and understanding? I have written about Subashini before, and even then, I questioned whether the treatment given to her is fair or not. I wondered if it is not, in fact, zalim.
Thursday, August 7th, 2008,
by gier,
Filed under: Mentera Moden| |
2 Comments
So, this Sunday there is supposed to be a “1 Million” march or rally or something, to be held at Stadium Shah Alam Padang Timur Stadium Kelana Jaya. Ostensibly, it is to protest against the fuel price increase, which have burdened the rakyat. Or, it’s an anti-inflation march. I’m not really sure myself, in all honesty. My fault, I’m sure for not being civil society enough, or summink. However, the following reasons are why I think the rally (or whatever the thing is, since it also includes entertainment, apparently) is rubbish:
1. The expected turn out is “thousands of people”, which I’m afraid to point out is less than 1 million. So, it’s false advertising.
2. I actually think that the rise in fuel was inevitable, and Anwar’s assertion to reduce the fuel price “when I am Prime Minister” to be a rather blatant populist statement. I hate the price increase, but then so do everyone else. But to plunder the country’s reserves and Petronas just so you could get into power is just careless.
3. It’s an extension of the Pakatan Rakyat’s strategy to whip up the rakyat’s support for them to topple the government. How about actually doing some governing, eh? I, for one, refuse to be led by the nose and used as a pawn or part of some leverage to pressure others. I’d like to see what you can actually do first, okay. And right now, not fucking much, apart from making noises, and marching and rallying, it seems. BERSIH was different, because it was for a free elections, so that people can actually vote properly. For government. For democracy. For the right to have Gwen Stefani and Ella concerts.
4. And the biggest reason to not go to the rally: Because I fear that it’ll turn into another Anwar love fest with the braying, shouting, screaming fanbois and fangirls agreeing with everything he says after having left their brains at home. The only thing worse than the sycophantic drooling masses of the Cult of Anwar is the sycophantic drooling masses of the Cult of Mahathir. Even then, I’m not so sure.
Like some others, I am hoping that the business of government will eventually return to governing. That means you too, Pakatan Rakyat.
Bleh!
Friday, July 4th, 2008,
by gier,
Filed under: Mentera Moden, Politics| |
2 Comments
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