Anak si Hamid: Malaysia's Parliament - Our very own Bunkum and Blarney (apologies to Barnum and Bailey) Circus ......

...... but to compare the antics of the MPs to the professional, competent, intelligent and skilful acrobats, jugglers, fire-eaters, weightlifters and clowns is an insult to them and the Circus industry. This I write on the premise that animals are banned from performing at all Circuses ....

...... which reminds me of one my favourite songs from the 70s. It was my late brother Akim who blasted this song every Sunday morning on his super-duper hifi set and his staid school-mistress Kakak just fell for it.

Years and years after his passing I looked for the song on YouTube. The video was just stunning. So I shall use this video to illustrate my frustrations, anger and my sense of hopelessness and helplessness at the state of my Tanah Air.

Keep a lookout for the greedy toff, the clown struggling with the plastic chicken (he is actually a professional clown) and the raunchy-looking lass.

"Stuck in the middle with you" by the group Stealers Wheel was written by Gerry Rafferty, my favourite 1970s singer-songwriter and Scotsman. Ssshh, don't mention this to my official Scotsman-spouse.

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STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU - Stealers Wheel

Here are the lyrics (in blue), with a sprinkling of various pertinent images.

Well I don't know why I came here tonight.

Showdown at the OK Corral

I've got the feeling that something ain't right.

The Grand Solution and Solvers??

I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair.

Pioneers of Selamkan Malaysia

And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs.

Clowns to the left of me!

Malaysia's Future.

Jokers to the right!

Harapan Bangsa!

Here I am stuck in the middle with you.

Keluhan Bangsa

Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you.

And I'm wondering what it is I should do.

The House - of the Rising Sun. Check this song by The Animals.

It's so hard to keep this smile from my face.

"For men may come and men may go / But I go on forever" - from Alfred Lord Tennyson "The Brook". AsH, stop being a nitwit! Tennyson was writing about a clean-flowing river!

Losing control and running all over the place.

The Great and Good Saviours of Malaysia. Do I see Osman, our road-sweeper somewhere in that line-up?

Clowns to the left of me!

Playing up the numbers. With the aid of a state of the art abacus perhaps?

Jokers to the right!

For the Malaysian Opposition, "I get by with a little help from my friends" - who are good at additional mathematics. Ash had to give up the Additional Mathematics Paper when she was in Form Five at Crescent Girls' School - I guess I was not as smart and as canny as the millenials. Note the FCs and FA attached to each Party, I didn't realise that MPs and their Parties are part of a Football Club/Association. I understand that footballers are very highly paid just for chasing and kicking one ball into a net! But then what do we post-war boomers know! But do check that song "Great Balls of Fire".

Here I am stuck in the middle with you.

Those two earlier images (clowns and jokers) are examples of our social media thinkers: (a) their self-image (after Rodin's The Thinker); (b) the reality (after a picture on a T-shirt).

When you started off with nothing

Read the small print at the top of the image, that is a typical advice from lawyers . Look up Shirley Bassey's "I who have nothing".

And you're proud that you're a self-made man.

Beware of self-made men. Also self-serving and self-regarding men AND women. By the way, Ash is aware of the tenets of PC-ism.

Oooooo-ooo-ooooooh

And your friends they all come crawling.

Aaah! Where would we be without our heroes and mentors and sifus and gurus?

Slap you on the back and say

What a kind and touching comment. I used to write quite a number of such testimonials for my former students. In fact we teachers had to do this for each and everyone of our school leavers in their School Leaving Certificates. I must have done hundreds.

Please ...

Trying to make some sense of it all.

Who will give them a testimonial?

But I see it makes no sense at all

......or maybe a Datin or Tan Sri? But titles cannot ease their exhaustion or compensate for the lost family-time.

Is it cool to go to sleep on the floor?

These people (civil servants and other public servants like the police and Armed Forces) just eat and sleep. Such criticisms have been thrown at them during the last government - that their numbers should be drastically reduced. Thank you whoever you are (in that image above) for your dedication and steadfastness. You make a truly magnificent Bangsa Malaysia. People like you deserve a place in our History textbooks.

I don't think that I can take anymore.

You have the nation's eternal gratitude. You are the nation's only inspiration and hope.

Clowns to the left of me!

Where are the good capitalists?

Jokers to the right!

You seek them here/You seek them there - where are the good capitalists?

Here I am stuck in the middle with you.

It's a thankless job. Come rain or shine, you diligently carry on with your duties. You help to maintain a semblance of normality and sanity by keeping our streets clean and healthy. You deserve the title Tokoh Anak Malaysia!

When you started off with nothing.

The mother of all reconciliations or just opportunism???

And you're proud that you're a self-made man.

Or maybe 122+1 cheers for the next Ayam yang berkokok. I wrote that in 2016!

Ooooo-ooo-oooooh

And your friends they all come crawling.

Slap you on the back and say

Please ...

Well I don't know why I came here tonight.

The Dewan Rakyat had been touched by Covid 19! Mind you, it's a conspiracy by the DG and the incumbent PM.

I've got the feeling that something ain't right.

It's the Government's fault. The Government failed to "improve the standard of ventilation" in our hallowed hall of horror!! Kerajaan Gagal!!!!!

I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair.

And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs.

Clowns to the left of me!

Our Gallery of ___________ . Fill in the blank space yourself .

Jokers to the right!

Kerajaan Gagal!!! Bring on the Corporate Cavalry and pressurize the Government for more subsidies "or else the economy will collapse". Where are the caring and patriotic Capitalists?

Here I am stuck in the middle with you.