Karim Raslan, “Ceritalah” column, The Star, 15th July 2008.
… I asked about his contrarian oil price scheme but his answers delivered with his signature charm didn’t quite persuade me and we moved on…
Straight but unnoticeably stinging. Let’s see how intelligent Anwar Ibrahim really is tonight. Why? Because so far he’s been spreading “sweet pollens” around Malaysia, and to me, nothing that he has said publicly, so far brings any weight or factual arguments. To me, he’s THE DE FACTO “tok guru” of all “Sweet Talk” gurus. Ask Ezam, he might know what I mean. And if you start saying “well, he was a former Minister of Finance before…”, well my friend, in 1998, it was the hard work of professional government staff & executives that saved Malaysia from an economic disaster, not the minister. A minister is just toooo busy being a minister.
Let the fight begin. I have so been waiting for a public debate.
The first Malaysia BarCamp, a jamboree for geeks & creatives, is (tentatively) going to be held on from the 26th - 27th July 2008. Location: Createive Incubator Centre, Plaza KL Sentral. BarCamp is mainly for geeks & creative people alike to unconference themselves with each other. It’s a global jamboree for geeks. I remember the Scouts has something similar like Jamboree-On-The-Air or JOTA. Rides on the same concept. Unconference.
Albeit many stories that you’ve probably listened to too many times, about how that kwai-lo is good at that, great at this, you’ll start to wonder what happen to our own wonders & awed achievements? Where did they go until to the point of… we go?
I am frustrated. Fucking frustrated. Not because of my average salary, not because of my super classic car with squeky noise, not because of you. I am frustrated at the rakyat. And I’m seeing the process of “makan diri”, where the “rakyat” of Malaysia is slowly “makan diri sendiri” with their “hak eleeeh” demands.
For once, I wish for the Opposition to admit that their new job is not easy. I wish for them to admit that in order to make changes, they need at least another 50 years to understand the job. Yes, if you argue that experience matters, I agree, at least. But if you’re referring to a job called government, you must be joking. How the hell are you able to understand 50 years of work in 4 years?
For once, we as the rakyat, must admit that we are stupid dumbfucks. If we are so smart, we don’t need rules. Wait, without rules, we won’t be smart!
But what’s worse, is the bodoh sombong attitude. Most of us, don’t realise that we are bodoh sombong deep down inside. What is bodoh sombong? It means stupid pride. Or ignorant pride. Or whatever.
I am in favour of the Opposition in matters that have feasible future and produces feasible benefits for the people. But that doesn’t make me blind to what BN has done, is doing & will be doing. You have to agree, they did a pretty good job so far. If not, our country won’t be as rich as it is right now. Yes, we may have defects in the government system, but that doesn’t mean that it has failed. If our government failed, we’d all be dead. You can Google for failed governments and I assure you will be ambush with paranoia when you read about what happen to countries with failed governments. But understand this, our country, our people, Malaysian people, are not like the rest of the world.
I believe that there are people out there, who is on the job to ruin the Malaysian uniqueness. It’s not spiritual, it’s reality. Real people filled with real envy. It’s like the 1998 era, where financial manipulation is the key to the game. This time, the game is on our society. The Malaysian society. But we are like the Brits, we care less what’s happening outside & we care more what’s happening inside. Or is it the other way around? It’s like a frog under an empty coconut shell, you know?
I admire our political fights. Especially the aggressive ones. It’s like a chain of thought processes, linking together, trying to make sense of everything. But there’s little of the thinking fights. And that makes the chain incomplete. I mean, we are an almost educated society. We should be arguing about things that does matter. Especially about our daughters.
Tell me, which is better?
(1) A loudmouth politician who say it out loud for whatever it is at heart in order to capture everyone at heart, like a soulful singer?
OR
(2) A loudmouth politician that goes thru every detail, pros & cons, collecting facts & does his/her research, before being a super loudmouth with the rakyat at heart?
I really am beginning to feel that there was something wrong with my vote.
And here is the hardest question of all: without giving up our democratic ideals, in a cynical and disloyal age, can we find a way to let our Rulers rule?
Maybe the real question is, how do we define power to rulers & non-rulers? Humans are historically proven bad with power. And I am on the side of the sultanate. They have historically earned their right as the royal kingdom. Without them, Malaysia would have been another set from the Britannica encyclopedia.
This public does not take much at face value and has a deep distrust of anything emanating from government.
Please, have the sense of distrust toward governments. It keeps them in check. But don’t distrust blindly. Have some common sense.
And please stop asking for Petronas for money. If they give you all the money, we won’t be Malaysia. I’m no economic specialist, but I can roughly understand that Petronas’s money is Malaysia’s money and what the corporation is earning is vital to the country’s future survival once we are out of oil, which is in another 10 - 20 years or less. So, we need to use that money to feed the family. Not spoiling it. Jeez.
