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Saturday 13 September 2008

If All Else Fails, Use ISA

A few people were genuinely upset over Ahmad Ismail calling the Chinese (and by proxy, Indians) "immigrants" and "squatters" in Malaysia. If the truth be told, I found it more amusing than upsetting.

But Ahmad Ismail was given a three-year suspension from UMNO, and no legal punishment, while Tan Hoon Cheng, the journalist from Sin Chew Daily who reported it got thrown under the ISA.

Now I'm upset.

Some people were upset at Khir Toyo making allegations that Teresa Kok, MP for Seputeh, had called for the mosque to cease sounding the azan from its loudspeakers because it was "annoying" the non-Muslims.

I found those allegations funny because it was so obviously false - the amplifier was damaged, that's why the azan wasn't sounded. It was even stated in a small, inconspicuous corner of the same newspaper reporting those deceitful accusations by Khir Toyo.

But Khir Toyo, who was so obviously trying to stir up Muslim sentiment is roaming free, while Teresa Kok has been thrown under the ISA.

Now I'm upset.

Raja Petra Kamaruddin had his blog, Malaysia Today blocked from access. I found it hysterical, because it barely impacted us. The clinical precision with which we switched websites and disseminated information is awesome.

But RPK just got thrown under the ISA. They're expecting more bloggers to be taken in.

Now I'm upset.

And this is precisely what the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional wants me to feel. They want a knee-jerk reaction from me.

This action is meant to be unreasonable. The government wants to agitate me and turn me against my fellow Malaysian - the classic "divide and conquer".

They tried to agitate the Chinese by calling them names to get them to riot. It didn't work.

They tried to agitate the Malays with the story that their religion was being threatened. It didn't work.

They haven't bothered with the Indians. The last time the Indians took to the streets for a cause that was to a degree, somewhat selfish and individualistic, both the Chinese and Malays even backed them up! It just won't work.

You know why? We ceased being Malay, Chinese and Indian and simply became Malaysians. To some level, we have lost the distrust we once had for each other.

That's why we're not going to fall into their trap. We're not going to riot or cause chaos.

Because that will only lead to an Emergency Rule, and you can kiss all notions of democracy goodbye when that happens.

7 comments:

Pat said...

Now, I'm upset, too.

And, yes, we're NOT going to riot and cause chaos.

Looks like we're a lot smarter than some give us credit for, eh, Crankster?

Pat

Unknown said...

Well they are cowards! With 3 days to go and all they can do now is intimidate us with ISA.

Folks, love your country as much as it loves you.

Crankster said...

Definitely much smarter, Pat. The current government assumes we think like they do.

But most of us are well-educated and we're able to think for ourselves. They're shooting themselves in the foot.

Naga, yep, they're cowards indeed. Pakatan Rakyat has been pushing BN into a corner, and this looks like their last attempt to remain in power.

Unknown said...

Rather upsetting, Crankster, but as Pat says we are a lot smarter than they give us credit for. We can thru them and hopefully this "scheme" of theirs will bring Malaysians of ALL races closer together. I feel we are much more united than we have been but sad that it is at the expense of others who have sacrificed on our behalf.

Anonymous said...

They all happened on Thursday and it will go down in history as our own version of 9-11.

We can now savor the full meaning of what was so vaguely mentioned before - the meaning of ketuanan melayu.

Their PM tells the world that he wants to hear the truth, then when one is made, he drops a suspension on the culprit but throws the reporter into jail. What about her family? Why did he say a day before the nab that they will have to think three times first before applying this isa thing?

A blogger argues how the behaviors of some politicians are against the faith they profess to practice. For that he gets thrown into jail. Is it really not because they see him as a threat not so much to the juvenile sensitivities of those self-officiated religious bodies, the reason offered, than to them directly for his also raising in his blog other heinous misdemeanors?

And the press. What was asked of them by the PM? He wants to hear the truth. They gave that. His weasel-faced botak throws the book at them. Look at the Sun's editorial on Ahmad who for instance. A balanced piece looking to bring the people together despite the obviously seditious remarks made by that goon. The editorial turned a fact into a clarion call for harmony. Wasn't that wise and exactly what they themselves should have done if their minds weren't so fixated on ham-fisted tyranny?

And the MP. She tried to save the day even to the extent of saying she wouldn't mind but they had to nab her despite the mosque clarifying lightning had knocked out the PA system. So, if there was no you-know, how could she have you-know-what?

How does the whole world see of all this? Hypocrisy, and corruption of democracy by the application of double standards. The dacing of Barisan Nasional is lopsided. They might as well apply something closer to their archetype:

http://tinyurl.com/3mo6ll

This is the same old lallang thing all over again. To hit one bad child of the same family, they must hit all the other children who didn't do anything wrong. Go ahead and get Unesco to appoint us consultants for great parenthood. We sure have defined that supremely well.

The one thing no sane-minded citizen will take is injustice. Any race. Those who are clinging to the tailcoat of Umno in the hope that it will change should now admit that the day Umno changes, Hannibal Lecter turns vegan.

And that mugabian madman has joined the fray to label the Chinese as believers of race-based politics. He adds that they supported him even when the Malays didn't during the previous election. That only confirms one thing - that he has all along been using the brit's divide-and-rule method on the malays. He intended his statement less for the ears of the Chinese than for the Malays in PKR so that they will feel threatened enough to swing their support to Umno.

But he misses one thing - that all have finally become Malaysians united by the common threat of Umno. Those in Umno today can see for themselves what their rabid leaders have become - too weak to change mindsets from negative to positive, too spineless not to use the temptation of irrationality to stir divisiveness. This government gets an F in every department - from politics to unity to economics to dispensation of truth and justice.

Let the rakyat remember these dark days. May their circumcisions be overdone.

Trixie said...

Hi there! Thanks for popping by to me via blackbox!

I'm not a very political person, so none of this really made sense to me lol.

All I know is I love Malaysia, esp living there as a kid when my aussie parents were in the Airforce. So I truly hope your country gets run the way you want it to!

Crankster said...

Fergie, it's indeed, very sad that people have had to sacrifice so much for us.

Goblok - whoa, I can feel the anger radiating from my screen. :) I'm really incensed as well!

Walla - The PM and his weasel-faced botak can go straight to hell. I hold those two personally responsible for the ultimate and premature fall of BN.

Trixie. Hey again. :)