Beneath the sodium lamp - the vigil against ISA

You said it, Saffron Sister.

*********

It grew out from Pasar Seni and an overcrowded Bar which was otherwise closed. Last night just as the Maghrib prayers cut the indigo air and our Muslim brethren gave thanks to another day of fasting, the candlelight vigil took root.

"Pegawai non-Muslim semua stand-by!" barked a senior-ranking cop. The Muslim cops had to break fast, and that was fine. They really didn't have to be there in the first place. We were only armed with resolve.

We took the path less traveled, the one trekked by WAMI. Wasn't a big group - 150-strong perhaps - which crossed over the bridge by Loke Yew Building, little people with paper fireflies. Spirited, principled. Civilised.

The usual bargaining. And a simple deal made between gentlemen, albeit without the warmth of a handshake - 10 mins to air the Message.





Songs were sung, brief speeches made, and a closing moment of silence. Short, sharp, sweet. And the candlelight troupe, having reached 15 metres from the flagpole, kept its deal and walked away.

And that's the little story few talked about last night - in contrast to the other arm, a mammoth march at a parallel street towards Puduraya.

Two scenarios unfolding almost simultaneously on two ends of the Padang. Two options for this govt to choose. Play it easy under the lonesome watch of sodium lamps without the drama and adrenaline, or draw the world's attention by remaining woefully stubborn and cruel.

Two options, but only one path - Free RPK, free the Hindraf 5, free all ISA detainees.

Pray they have the wisdom.

'None but ourselves can free our minds'

He was 36 years young when he died. Born of a black mum and a white dad, Bob Marley was wise beyond his years. His songs are clear evidence. His unpretentious interviews equally so.

"I don't have prejudice against meself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white."

At another time, he once said (and so appropriate for the likes of Syed Hamid):

"Who are you to judge the life I live?
I know i'm not perfect and I don't live to be, but before you start pointing fingers...
make sure your hands are clean."

Bob Marley's got a message for you and me, from one tropical archipelago to another.

It's about redemption. And about freedom. And standing up to oppression. In these trying times, we mustn't fold. Keep the faith.




Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the 'and of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? Ooh!
Some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
---
/Guitar break/
---
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.
Won't you help to sing
Dese songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever had:
Redemption songs -
All I ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.

Karim Raslan's journalistic ampu

The problem with essentialising is that you end up with large gaping holes in your thesis. It's a convenient trick in mass comm. It's also lazy. Yet all too often, op-ed writers tend to make broad assumptions like they know the world from the comfort of their leather seats. Even sadder, they expect the reader to soak it all up uncritically.

Karim Raslan, in his column in the Straits Times (Singapore), wrote:

Still, there’s no doubt that Najib is one of Malaysia’s smartest politicians. He is well-read and has a rigorous mind. His unflappable disposition is well suited to the demands of governance. He presides over meetings effortlessly, can summarise discussions succinctly and understands the importance of prioritising issues. In technocratic terms, he far surpasses both Prime Minister Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and even Anwar, whose flamboyant style is less suited to the tedium of Cabinet life.

Oh really? And how do you know that? Worked closely with every one of those folks, have you? Enough to go about passing judgment. How astute. Cos if Najib's all that smart and rigorous, why then did you quote him later as saying this:

“We (Umno) are dominant and we have responsibilities to other races. The other races look up to Umno.”

So *poof!* goes the columnist's Najib-is-so-smart claim.

i'm Malaysian. i'm ethnic Chinese, and i don't give two hoots about Umno. If i were to shed a tear when Umno self-combusts and disappears from this earth, it will be a tear of joy. (For that matter, ditto MCA and MIC)

Karim's piece also posits the scenario that ..."Historically, there have been two centres of authority in Malay society: the masjid and the Istana — the first spiritual and the second temporal. There has always been a degree of tension between the two. Umno’s links are with the palace. The opposition Pas has a tight grip on the masjid. Despite what Anwar may envisage, this year could in fact presage a historic shift in power to the masjid."

Presumably Karim asserts that the Malay society is still in this low-resolution stasis.

i say no. i firmly believe Malay society is transcending such definitions (as are the other ethnic groups). There is a new meta-Malay emerging - a Malaysian Malay which sees a sanguine fusion of masjid and istana, observing no conflict between the two - and this Malay is being self-sculpted and imaged in the bedrock of the Pakatan Rakyat even as we breathe. It is from this lens that we can possibly explain the March 8 phenomenon and Permatang Pauh. Karim conveniently ignores this.

Once upon a time i thought Karim was a decent writer. i thought he was, well, astute. But, ah, how we all change with time.

"... to wrestle the earth from fools"

Patti Smith, poet, sister and Godmother of Punk, released the song People have the Power back in 1988. i had just started working and - along with many other great works of art - it sent me into a wonderful tailspin of questions and more questions about the state of things.

Twenty years later, in this fluid period in our history, this song haunts yet again. In many ways it's laser-sharp message is directed straight at us.



Watch it. Believe in it.

We have the power.

For real?

With every passing hour - days are too long in this aspect - the Pakatan's claim of taking over the government becomes more suspect.

It's not that the Rakyat are impatient with the wait. We can wait; so long as it's in a bed of solid substance. Rather, it's the lack of hard evidence that the task has been achieved which make us suspect. With every passing hour - without concrete gestures towards reaching that goal - more and more people will begin to doubt. The Rakyat's belief will ebb. And exponentially too.

So far, we've been served with two press conferences - one on Sept 16 itself, the other this afternoon at 2pm. The content hasn't changed. On Sept 16, a strong stand was made alongside a vague road map. They asked for a meeting with AAB, then asked that we wait for his response. We can deal with that; we can keep the faith, so long as we see clear progress.

Progress? Hardly. Today's was a rehash: Again asking an audience with the Prime Minister. This time to call an emergency session of Parliament.

Now, why would the Prime Minister want to do that, Anwar? A similar gesture had been delivered to Abdullah via your troupe on Sept 15. He scoffed and called you a "nuisance". In street language, he told you to F-off. Yesterday he dangled the possibility of ISA on you. In the spirit of sopan, you're already done the right thing, and yet you repeat the storyline again two days later.

Progress? i don't think so. Especially when in the press conference, someone asked what if Abdullah turned you down again? Your reply: The PR leaders will meet to discuss the next course of action. (.....duh?)

i mean, hasn't this been factored by your team of strategists? Haven't the various scenarios been rehearsed? Are you SERIOUSLY putting that much premium on Abdullah calling for an emergency House session?

It is signs like these which make me ponder about how real Anwar's claims are today. Much as i'd want to see that happen, i find doubts bubbling within me.

If Pakatan has it, Pakatan must act. Lose the Rakyat's faith and you lose everything.

Their agenda stinks

And don't they know it!

Happy birthday, Malaysia

i'm going out to get me a honkin' big Malaysian flag. When the announcement is finally made it'll be flying outside my house.

Nope it won't be Sept 16. But it shall be soon. i know it, feel it. Anyone who was there tonight at the Kelana Jaya Stadium felt it.

It's the trembling of Merdeka in our bones. We are a nation again.

Thank you, Umno

i'm surprised they still haven't figured this out.

Every right action the BN has failed to take only unifies us. And for every cruel blow, we emerge stronger. The Bangsa Malaysia project has been accelerated, in large part thanks to them.

Back in March '08, when Anwar first mooted the plan to get 30 MPs to defect, i wasn't hot about the idea. It wasn't right. i was sure the Abdullah govt would wake up and make deep changes to remain relevant. More than logical, it was common sense. The recent GE was a severe spanking by the people after all. Let's wait for the next GE to decide who rules, i thought. Most people i know felt that way. Even the Pakatan partners seemed ambivalent.

But the new Cabinet was announced and i shook my head in apprehension. And, true enough, the trials began.

Instead of making reforms, they defamed Penang's LGE over the NEP, and tried to stir the racial pot. Didn't work. Abdullah himself - without any prior checks - slammed Guan Eng and was embarrassed as a result. To 'atone' for it, he pulled the plugged on Penang's key projects.

Instead of getting to work, they tried to portray Nizar as a DAP stooge in Perak. But it brought those folks closer. Today, try slipping a blade in any Perak crackline if you can.

Then came the Toyo confessions, and the relevation of AAB himself about how they went a-courting PAS. They blitzed the Malay agenda. We were tested. And we became even more Malaysian.

Instead of working to wake economy, they threw in some vintage TNT - codenamed Saiful - and dangled the Islam carrot. But Muslims know, Islam is Faith; and Faith is never a carrot.

And the air of Permatang Pauh was made foul as they burned the flesh of Malaysia, even as they are legitimately responsible for safeguarding this estate. But even as we are charred and scarred, our spirit grows. The phoenix is rising.

The Pakatan Rakyat persistently continues to moot the plan for a change in govt.

i am all for it. All my friends are for it. Eagerly.

We shall not wait four years for a team that hasn't shown ANY interest in a better Malaysia. We shall not allow a team that seems hell-bent on breaking this nation.

Sept 16, 2008? With open arms.

AAB and gang, u will pay

The pattern is clear.... you know it, i know it. We shall grind through it. We must. This ISA round will be the last.

And when this regime is ousted, we shall remember.

It ain't gonna work, Ahmad Ismail

Go ahead, Ahmad Ismail, blame your brothers and sisters.

******

Remember! The patience of Malays and Muslims has its limits. Do not push us to the wall, where we will be forced to reject the Chinese for the sake of our survival.

******

Go on. Divide us up - via your clumsy lo-res lens - into Malays, squinty-eyed, yellow-skinned Chinese, Indians, Kadazandusuns, Dayaks, Melanaus and all the various colours of the People's rainbow. Drag that chengal curtain across the medan masyarakat.

******
Let us not let it go to waste as the flames of anger among Malays and Muslims has reached new heights. Let us take embrace this anger and come together as Malays and Muslims throughout the land so that we can turn the voices of the Malays into one that will unite all Malays and Muslims into one single movement.

******

Scream May 13 all you want, Ahmad bro.

Don't know what you're harping over. Cos in this 21st century, all we know is Anak Bangsa Malaysia. Elegant as an orchid, sweet as the evening's mango showers, cheery as any serambi. Totally made in Malaysia.

And you still can't see it? Pity.

Reference:
Malaysian Insider I and II
Malaysiakini

Still as sleepy, still as hollow

The Prime Minister remains in denial.

At Kepala Batas, he was reported thus by Bernama:

Abdullah was referring to the alleged racist statement made by Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail at a ceramah (talk) during the recent Permatang Pauh by-election.

He said Ahmad had explained that he had made a statement based on historical facts and that it was not a racist statement as reported by a local newspaper.

"He (Ahmad) regrets that it has come to this and is upset that what he had said were historical facts, but were misinterpreted by the particular newspaper while the other newspapers did not do so."

Dumb will dumb remain. Like his unconditional alliance towards Saiful's assertions and his deputy's swearing vis-a-vis a Mongolian woman. Let's not even get into the hive of flip-flops these past five years.

The sweet smell of power has had him intoxicated; inundated from saying the right thing, not to mention doing the right thing. The pitiful stumblings of a creature who's forgotten his soul.

This man is hopeless.

i'm so ready to see him and his pathetic bunch booted out. Onwards Satria Malaysia.