Selam (**) kan Malaysia

A fateful portent??

.... snipped from ...

......  a gathering of the saviours of Malaysia.

Got back home just 36 hours ago and it looks like I'll have to get into diving gear if I am to be saved by the above as they bring down the wretched vessel that is Malaysia.

It seems all is not well  and so we have this gathering of  chalk and cheese, a motley crew of men, coming and crawling from the  hallowed halls  and woodwork of politics, civil groups and the media.  How  can their Campaign benefit the Rakyat - except to " sapu chat di rumah yang burok".

We were often reminded ; when elephants get into battle, we - the hoi-polloi - have to get out of the way.

It's difficult for this septuagenarian to distance herself from this made-in-Malaysia soap opera.  It brings to mind the fable  about  "The Horse, Hunter and Stag".

A quarrel had arisen between the Horse and the Stag, so the Horse came to a Hunter to ask his help to take revenge on the Stag.  The Hunter agreed, but said: " If you desire to conquer the Stag, you must permit me to place this piece of iron between your jaws, so that I may guide you with these reins, and allow this saddle to be placed upon your back so that I may keep steady upon you as we  follow after our enemy."  The Horse agreed to the conditions, and the Hunter soon saddled and bridled him.  Then with the aid of the Hunter the Horse soon overcame the Stag, and said to the Hunter: " Now, get off, and remove those things from my mouth and back."

" Not so fast, friend," said the Hunter.  " I have now got you under bit and spur, and prefer to keep you as you are at present."

But I have to make a slight change to the above fable.  The Horse and the Stag actually inhabit the same territory and have a very similar diet.  Although they have four legs they are not as well constructed to outwit the two-legged Hunter's shewdness and tactics.

In this tale about the Horse, the Stag and the Hunter, what lesson can be learned?  Don't you get a feeling of deja vu?  It has happened before in  the history of the Malay domain : during the fall of the Malacca Sultanate, the acquisition of Singapore, the creation of the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States, the Unfederated Malay States, the Malayan Union and  even the terms of  Merdeka in 1957.


One last thought before  I  leave to catch up on my jet lag : Jong Pechah, Yu Kenyang.

Humpty Dumpty in Malaysia

AsH will be going home from home in a few days' time.  Here's my mental preparation for the return to a hothouse - weatherwise and political.

When the prospects for the future of my Tanah Air seem so gruesome, perhaps I need to look back - to what we were like - or rather, how we were portrayed - way back in 1839.  In fact, the Malays were never really in charge of their own fate and their future.  But certainly, looking back to my experience of 70 years, we are masters of shooting ourselves in the foot and stabbing each other in the back.

The Malay from ......

....... a May 1839 encyclopaedia, 20 years after Singapore was 'founded' by Stamford Raffles.

According to this encyclopaedia the 'mental powers (of the Malays ) are little developed'.  Look through the old books referring to the Malays and you'll find no end of negative comments about our mental and economic prowess.  In a way it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy that has landed the Malays in their present state of disunity and cretinous infighting.

However the element of bodoh-sombong cannot be discounted.  Also some of our prominent politicians have also shamelessly added another factor : that of 'shame' for which only the Malays are guilty of. I suppose, in this post I can be accused of the same malfeasance for exposing our 'pekong di dada'.

When Humpty Dumpty fell from the wall, "All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty together again".  Is there a lesson to be learned from this nursery rhyme?

Perhaps we can pick up more tips from the fables of Aesop - which we old-fashioned ex-teachers would resort to - in attempting to teach morality to our young ones.

Take this one.

Politicians anywhere in the world are adept at horse dealing - just observe what's going in the Presidential  Primary in the US, the Brexit campaign in UK and the shameless power struggle in Malaysia. 

2.  Politicians have a knack of making promises and trying to please all just to attain their place in the halls of power.  One who works without principles and manages to eat his cake and keep it, will end up like this.

This lesson is also applicable to Malay men who have a propensity for multiple wives!!

3.  What motivates the policies of those who are power-hungry?

Malaysia has an abundance of bald men and flies!!

4.  What is the price of disunity and greed?

Viva the Reformation??!!

Promises? Hope? Glory? Perfidy?

5.  As for the rakyat who inevitably become  cannon fodder in the battle of the Caesars, take heed of this tale.

Equality is what the elite -  made up of the articulate and powerful and rich - promise to the dispossessed!!


Finally let's take a leaf from one of  P. Ramlee's fables Labu Labi; in his song Yang Mana Satu Idaman Kalbu.

For all confused, jaded and outraged Malaysians - as we have to make choices (or should we?) - think of P. Ramlee's lines.

Hai tukang masak, aku tak sudi
Hai tukang cuci menyakitkan hati.

....even though we are persuaded by......

Inilah dia yang di carinya
Misai tebal, ular sawa

Ini orang nya idaman dara
Lawa tiada manis ada.

It usually ends up in deciding between ...

Biarlah setan atau pun hantu
Cukup bulan makan batu.

Biarlah hantu atau jembalang
Balik kampung, tanam kacang.

And in another room, in the background is the kingpin counting his money:

Tak habis habis dengan asmara chinta (politik)
Kan lagi bagus lagu nasihat ....... bagaimana dapat duit,
Macam mana nak jadi orang kaya !!!

Good Night and Good Luck  Malaysians.