MALICE IN BOLEHLAND ~ IN GLORIOUS 3D! (repost)

Tim Burton describes a scene to Mia Wasikowska who plays Alice

Ever since I saw Mars Attacks  I've been partial to Tim Burton's distinctive approach to filmmaking. As far as I'm concerned, his most magnificent effort to date is Big Fish  (starring Albert Finney, Ewan McGregor, Helena Bonham Carter and Jessica Lange), released in 2003. That's a movie hard to top, the wizardly way Burton mixed magical realism with sheer emotional punch, bringing out some exquisite performances from his cast.


A few days ago I got hold of a DVD of Tim Burton's latest project - a new spin on Alice in Wonderland with some of his favorite character actors (Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Christopher Lee) and featuring a fresh and luminous Aussie face named Mia Wasikowska as Alice.


Most of us grew up watching Walt Disney's 1951 animated version of Alice in Wonderland  (I was a year old when it first came out) - so it formed the basis of (apart from John Tenniel's delightful illustrations) our visual reference for the unforgettable characters that popped up from the fertile mind of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (left) - better known by his nom de plume, Lewis Carroll - as he spun a wonderfully anarchic but mathematically coherent yarn to amuse his young muse, Alice Liddell.

Walt Disney studios contracted Tim Burton to direct a 21st century digitally sexed-up version of Alice in Wonderland sometime in 2007. It's interesting to hear what Burton has to say about his approach to remaking this greatly beloved classic: "It was always a girl wandering around from one crazy character to another, and I never really felt any real emotional connection." His goal with the new movie was to give the story "some framework of emotional grounding" and "to try and make Alice feel more like a story as opposed to a series of events." Burton focused on the Jabberwocky poem as part of his structure. [Source: Wikipedia]

I found Tim Burton's Alice enthralling - though hardly definitive. Indeed I view it as a cogent metaphor for the dysfunctional and absurd political reality we live in.

Under the Red Queen's demented and tyrannical rule, Wonderland becomes Underland - a subterranean dream/nightmare with surreal overtones, where the Jubjub Bird and the Frumious Bandersnatch and the Burbling Jabberwock serve as the Red Queen's law enforcement agencies. Meanwhile a riot squad of playing cards stands ready to quell rebellion with the Underlandish equivalent of tear gas and water cannons - and bloodhounds are blackmailed into the Knave of Hearts's secret service.

In Burton's movie, the helpful bloodhound is named Bayard - but in Malaysia he might as well be called Balasubramaniam.

It's fun trying to match each character in Alice with their symbolic equivalents in Malaysian politics. The Knave represents all the power-craving sleazebags who get off on the vicarious power and privilege of pretending to serve Evil (when, ultimately, all they care to serve is their own inflamed egos).

In the book and original Walt Disney animated film, the King of Hearts (left) is portrayed as fairly easygoing but totally henpecked by his irascible Queen. I thought the pink-lipped poltroon named Najib Razak would fit the role quite nicely - but, alas, in Tim Burton's version the King of Hearts has been despatched (actually, decapitated on the Red Queen's orders when she suspects he has the hots for her younger sister, the White Queen).

No prizes for matching the Red Queen with a notorious character in Malaysian politics - even though the big hair and big head are the only clues you get. Well, okay, she'd rather be feared than loved... having failed miserably at popularity contests.

The Mad Hatter (adeptly played by Johnny Depp) is a bit harder to match, as he is quite a protean character and cannot really be pinned down.

Part fool, part sage, part shaman, part showman, part salesman, part magician, part politician - the Hatter represents everyone who dreams of overthrowing oppressive rule and tyranny. The Mad Hatter is the voice of the artist-poet-philosopher who embodies our collective dream of freedom and joy and whose inspiring performance of the head-spinning, knee-wobbling Futterwacken dance signifies that all is well in Underland as it is in Heaven - and hopefully on Earth too.

In other words, the Mad Hatter is all of us - bloggers, blog readers, regular commenters on Malaysiakini, candlelight vigilers, anti-ISA campaigners, human rights activists, civil society movers and shakers, former political detainees, wearers of Bersih T-shirts, rabble rousers, impassioned changers of punctured tubes and replacers of blown bulbs... and if there is one person I can name who already plays the role of the Mad Hatter - and does so with flamboyant relish - it has to be Hishamuddin Rais.

The Jabberwock (given voice by Christopher Lee) is depicted as a scary manifestation of primordial evil - a ruthless and indomitable foe that can only be slain by the Vorpal Sword. You could say this nightmarish creature symbolizes a primeval will to wield power over others, to subjugate and dominate through fear and terror. It is a monster kept as a pet by the narcissistic Red Queen who rules Underland with whimsical cruelty and surrounds herself with hypocrites, sycophants and parasites.

To me the Jabberwock represents the mindless brute force of jingoistic demagoguery - the sort of chest-thumping bigotry and provincialism characteristic of so many Umno warlords who have risen to power by fanning the xenophobic flames of racial and religious fanaticism. "Beware the Jabberwock!" is constantly invoked by political shit-stirrers like Ibrahim Ali, Ahmad Ismail, Ezam Mohd Nor, Ali Rustam, Nasir Safar, and Mahathir Mohamad. In effect, Malaysia's version of the Jabberwock is called the Specter of May 13.

It was the bloody beast unleashed shortly after the general election of May 1969 and kept penned up and well-fed by each succeeding Umno regime as a warning to anyone audacious enough to even question Ketuanan Melayu  (Malay Supremacy) - or the necessity of maintaining nine royal households in obscene luxury.


Incredibly, Alice succeeds in lopping off the Jabberwock's head with the Vorpal Sword she retrieves from the lair of the Frumious Bandersnatch (who succumbs to Alice's charms and transforms into an oversized pit bull on which she rides into battle against the Jabberwock).


I take this as an indication that the Royal Malaysian Police may yet be redeemable and restored to proper functioning once a bunch of oversized dickheads roll. Indeed, we the people might even discover that a large majority of the police force is only too happy to help us overthrow the absolutely rotten Umno/BN regime so they can regain their professional pride as police officers and keepers of the law.

As some film critics point out, Mia Wasikowska plays Alice as a mythic heroine in her rite of passage who faces challenges, overcomes obstacles, and emerges triumphant and victorious as a mature woman ready to step out into a larger world. Other reviewers have bemoaned the political incorrectness of Alice Kingsleigh's decision to embark on an entrepreneurial career in China (this was around the period when British business interests introduced opium to the Chinese peasantry to weaken them, before attempting to colonize the country; in the end they settled for a lucrative 99-year lease on Hong Kong).

Yet we have no idea what further adventures may have befallen Alice Kingsleigh as a young woman. Perhaps she bumped into a dashing bloke during a brief stopover in Singapore and ended up as a colonial officer's wife in Selangor; or she might have changed her mind about China and headed to Australia instead, settling in the Northern Territory as the mistress of an aboriginal chief and having a small town, Alice Springs, named in her honor.

Who do I see as Alice in the Malaysian political context? Does she represent a new generation of empowered voters, awakened from political apathy? Is Alice the voice of an assertive educated middle class that chased a white rabbit down an optic-fiber wormhole and gained mind-expanding access to hitherto suppressed information?


For sure Alice is all of this - but I would like to link Alice with a political icon who comes close to being a mythic heroine in real life - Nurul Izzah, daughter of Wan Azizah and Anwar Ibrahim. At 18 Izzah found herself up to her arched eyebrows in political intrigue when prime minister Mahathir arrested her father (the deputy PM) under the jubjubian ISA, accused him of sodomy, and tried to finish him off with a 15-year jail sentence. His daughter sprouted wings and championed her father's cause in the International Court of Public Opinion. At 27 Izzah won an important parliamentary seat on her very first attempt and now serves as the clear, intelligent, compassionate voice of Malaysia's promising future.


Few believed her father would survive this cruel and wretched political exile. However, Anwar was released after 6 years and returned to the political fray with a vengeance, leading a loose coalition of opposition parties to a stunning electoral victory on 8 March 2008 - which should have won them control of the federal government instead of just five states - were it not for massive gerrymandering, last-minute postal votes, and the habitual support of less well-informed voters in Sabah and Sarawak.

Alice Kingsleigh, we learn at the start of Burton's film, is a daughter after her father's heart. As she faces the fearsome Jabberwock alone, she recalls that her father, Charles Kingsleigh, was a visionary who made a habit of believing as many as six impossible things before breakfast. Listing the impossible things she had encountered since her arrival in Underland, Alice arrives at the sixth - "I believe I'm going to slay the Jabberwock!" - whereupon it actually happens.

The Jabberwock's hideous head tumbles down the steps and with the monster's death, the Red Queen loses control of Underland. The White Queen regains power and banishes her wicked sister to the Outlands (because her vows do not permit her to deliberately deprive anyone of life). The Mad Hatter performs his magical Futterwacken dance, initiating the restoration of joy and freedom throughout Underland - and invites Alice to stay on, but she is resolute about returning to her own world where she has unfinished business to attend to - like saying no to an upper-class twit who wishes to marry her.

Tim Burton's White Queen (enchantingly played by Anne Hathaway) is benign, eccentric and greatly beloved. With a touch of black lipstick and some face powder, we could turn Wan Azizah into a Malaysian White Queen.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee (superbly portrayed by Matt Lucas) are truly a classic pair and serve as a symbol for so many apparently dichotomous situations. For me they represent the cacophony of political pundits on both sides of the left-right divide who serve mainly as comic relief.

Nivens McTwisp, the White Rabbit who leads Alice down the rabbit-hole to Underland, reminds me of our civil service: he keeps an eye on the passage of time and performs bureaucratic service to whomsoever happens to be in power.

The Cheshire Cat and Absolem (the hookah-smoking caterpillar) represent the two most prominent aspects of Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) - a Houdini-like evaporizer who eludes capture and categorization with ease, as well as a pontificating pundit of hardnosed political gossip. [At the time of writing RPK was still revered as a political blogger and a potent catalyst for change; alas, the Red Queen's poison got to him and he has in recent years transformed into his own antithesis.]

Both play a very important role in the unfolding of the plot. The Mad Hatter is saved from the executioner's ax by the timely intervention of the Cheshire Cat; and Alice is forced to look within herself to find her true destiny whenever she confronts Absolem.

Her last encounter with Absolem the caterpillar occurs just before he metamorphoses into a pupa; but she recognizes him instantly when he alights momentarily on her in his glorious butterfly form.

Taking a cue from Charles Kingsleigh, Alice's visionary father, let's believe in six impossible things before breakfast - and transform our beloved Bolehland into a veritable Wonderland for all.


ALICE VS THE JABBERWOCKY

[First published 8 July 2010, Reposted 13 May 2013]

To the feudal mind, anyone in favor of decentralized power, equality and social justice must be a Communist!

Somebody left a book in my van a few years ago. I stuck it in the glove compartment and immediately forgot about it... until recently when I spotted it just as I was about to drive to Tanjong Malim and catch a bus to Ipoh.

So I brought the book along to read on the journey. It was an illustrated "People's History of Malaya" titled Where Monsoons Meet - published in 1987 by the Institute of Social Analysis (INSAN). A socialist primer aimed at secondary students, the comic-style book was designed for easy reading and I finished it in less than an hour - but it had significant impact.

Looking at our recent history from a non-elitist perspective reminded me how thoroughly brainwashed my parents' generation was. I recall that my mother and father thought very highly of the Brits. In the early 1950s goods produced in Hong Kong still carried the imprint "Empire Made" even though the sun was swiftly setting on the British Empire. Where Monsoons Meet effectively demolishes all notions of a benign imperialism. The colonizers emerge smelling quite foul.

The "Independence" we were granted in August 1957 was but in name. Before leaving Malaya the Brits had rigged the system so that it would always favor the capitalist elite comprising the Malay aristocracy and a handful of Chinese entrepreneurs.

When the rakyat began to demand better working conditions and more rights, they were brutally suppressed through heavy-handed police action. The Communist bogeyman justified the introduction of a slew of repressive laws. The truth of the matter was: Malaya was a fat milk cow sustaining the Anglo-American economy and they couldn't afford to lose control of the country's rich natural resources.

In short, British rule wasn't quite as halcyon as it may appear to the present generation of middle-class non-Malays. Every dirty trick in the book of governance as practised by Umno was learnt during the ruling class Malays' long apprenticeship with the British Colonial administration.


In the time of the British, indentured laborers imported from India were paid 12 cents a day for their back-breaking work in the rubber estates and on the railway tracks. Even if the local currency in prewar days was worth two hundred times more than it is today, these debt slaves only received the equivalent of RM20 a day. They had to dismount from their bicycles and tabik (salute) whenever a White Tuan crossed their path. The ones who spoke a smattering of English were made mandors and were given the authority to horsewhip insubordinate workers. Rebellion against injustice in the form of trade unionism was roughly and swiftly dealt with. The word "rakyat" was as little tolerated as the word "Communist."

What happened in May 1969 with the coup d'etat masterminded by Abdul Razak Hussein (right), Harun Idris, Syed Jaafar Albar, Mahathir Mohamad, Ghazali Shafie and a few other young Turks in Umno was that a new breed of educated middle-class Malays managed to wrest a measure of power from the traditional aristocracy.

In doing so, they also adopted the self-aggrandizing tendencies of the hereditary elite, hence their fondness for unwieldy honorifics and exclusive "VVIP" treatment.

Forty years down the line, we are poised on the brink of another major coup - this time involving the overthrow of a diseased and dysfunctional feudalistic concept of leadership, in favor of a more decentralized, more democratic, more egalitarian, more accountable, more interactive form of management.

And we intend to accomplish this feat bloodlessly and through entirely legal procedures. However, this is easier said than done - because it has become more than evident that Umno/BN, under the rogue prime ministership of Najib Razak, won't play by the rules.


What is called for at this juncture is optimum clarity of focus and supreme resoluteness. We the people cannot waver for a moment in our desire to shake off the yoke of tyranny and reclaim our civil rights and individual authority as free citizens of a free country. Each of us now has a sacred duty to embody all the qualities we cherish - courage, honesty, compassion, integrity, wisdom, and the ability to love more and more inclusively.

Above all, we must take time out to look inward - realign our inner and outer selves so we can become fully integrated, conscious humans - integers, in effect - as opposed to being merely ciphers; faceless, mindless statistics hypnotized by the BN-controlled media into believing that issues of race, religion, and royalty are real and relevant.

We can endorse and lend our wholehearted support to leaders whose visions coincide with our own - but we must never become dependent on them. Otherwise we will only experience disappointment and disillusionment when these leaders reveal themselves to be just as fallible as anyone else. No use pointing fingers, scapegoating and foisting the blame for failure on others.

We are the redemption and salvation we have yearned for throughout the ages. Happy Regime Change, folks! It can still happen, and sooner than you think... believe in miracles... which only happen from inside out!

[Originally published  2 January 2009 under the heading "No Turning Back". Reposted 5 June 2012 & 6 January 2016]

NO TURNING BACK! [revisited]

As we ease into 2009 following upon BN's spectacular loss of its two-thirds parliamentary majority in March 2008, many of us are resigned to an uphill stretch ahead - at least where economics and politics are concerned. Looking back over the decades, I realize I have been anticipating this exciting phase in our evolution for nearly forty years. I'm talking about the mass awakening that's occurring across the spectrum on this planet right now (aided by Pluto moving into Capricorn on 26 January 2008).

In two weeks all eyes will be on the Kuala Terengganu by-election. The outcome will provide a fair indication of whether we're moving forwards or backwards. A win for PAS will signal that the rakyat has truly had enough of being bamboozled by Umno/BN and is ready to venture into unknown waters on a new political adventure called "participatory democracy."

On the other hand, a win for Umno will indicate that a large number of Malaysians are still driven by fear and greed... and that the long dark night of Umno-style "guided democracy" will linger on a while more before the New Dawn finally breaks, as it eventually must.


While some are already aligning themselves with the Najib Razak camp on the assumption that he will succeed Badawi as our next PM (shudder), others are praying for a miracle - a spontaneous lifting of the curse of misguided pragmatism passed down through countless generations. What we're looking at isn't just the ill effects of 51 years of BN misrule. The problems go much farther back in time...

Somebody left a book in my van a few months ago. I stuck it in the glove compartment and immediately forgot about it... until last week when I spotted it just as I was about to drive to Tanjong Malim and catch a bus to Ipoh. So I brought the book along to read on the journey. It was an illustrated "People's history of Malaya" titled Where Monsoons Meet - published in 1987 by the Institute of Social Analysis (INSAN). A socialist primer aimed at secondary students, the comic-style book was designed for easy reading and I finished it in less than an hour - but it had significant impact.

Looking at our recent history from a non-elitist perspective reminded me how thoroughly brainwashed my parents' generation was. I recall that my mother and father thought very highly of the Brits. In the early 1950s goods produced in Hong Kong still carried the imprint "Empire Made" even though the sun was swiftly setting on the British Empire. Where Monsoons Meet effectively demolishes all notions of a benign imperialism. The colonizers emerge smelling quite foul.

The "Independence" we were granted in August 1957 was but in name. Before leaving Malaya the Brits had rigged the system so that it would always favor the capitalist elite comprising the Malay aristocracy and a handful of Chinese entrepreneurs. When the rakyat began to demand better working conditions and more rights, they were brutally suppressed through heavy-handed police action. The Communist bogeyman justified the introduction of a slew of repressive laws. The truth of the matter was: Malaya was a fat milk cow sustaining the Anglo-American economy and they couldn't afford to lose control of the country's rich natural resources.

In short, British rule wasn't quite as halcyon as it may appear to the present generation of middle-class non-Malays. Every dirty trick in the book of governance as practised by Umno was learnt during the ruling class Malays' long apprenticeship with the British Colonial administration.


In the time of the British, indentured laborers imported from India were paid 12 cents a day for their back-breaking work in the rubber estates and on the railway tracks. Even if the local currency in prewar days was worth two hundred times more than it is today, these debt slaves only received the equivalent of RM20 a day. They had to dismount from their bicycles and tabik (salute) whenever a White Tuan crossed their path. The ones who spoke a smattering of English were made mandors and were given the authority to horsewhip insubordinate workers. Rebellion against injustice in the form of trade unionism was roughly and swiftly dealt with. The word "rakyat" was as little tolerated as the word "Communist."

In May 1969 the coup d'etat masterminded by Abdul Razak Hussein (right), Harun Idris, Syed Jaafar Albar, Mahathir Mohamad, Ghazali Shafie and a few other young Turks in Umno resulted in a new breed of educated middle-class Malays wresting a measure of power from the traditional aristocracy. In doing so, they also adopted the self-aggrandizing tendencies of the hereditary elite, hence their fondness for unwieldy honorifics and exclusive "VVIP" treatment.

Forty years down the line (in 2009), we are poised on the brink of another major coup - this time involving the overthrow of a diseased and dysfunctional feudalistic concept of leadership, in favor of a more decentralized, more democratic, more egalitarian, more accountable, more interactive form of management. And we intend to accomplish this feat bloodlessly and through entirely legal procedures.


What is called for at this juncture is optimum clarity of focus and supreme resoluteness. We the people cannot waver for a moment in our desire to shake off the yoke of tyranny and reclaim our civil rights and individual authority as free citizens of a free country. Each of us now has a sacred duty to embody all the qualities we cherish - courage, honesty, compassion, integrity, wisdom, and the ability to love more and more inclusively.


We can endorse and lend our wholehearted support to leaders whose visions align with our own - but we must never become entirely dependent on them. Otherwise we will only experience disappointment and disillusionment when these leaders reveal themselves to be just as fallible as anyone else. No use pointing fingers, scapegoating and foisting the blame for failure on others.

We are the redemption and salvation we have yearned for throughout the ages.

Happy Regime Change, folks! It can still happen, and sooner than you think... believe in miracles!

[Originally posted 2 January 2009, reposted 25 September 2009]

RECLAIM YOUR POWER NOW! (reprise)

The pheromonal reek of political fever is in the air. It's as if the entire body politic turns into a bitch and goes into heat once every four or five years, and the streets are overrun with growling, salivating mutts each desperate to lay genetic claim on every fecund female in sight. Apart from the maddening noise at night, mating season amongst canines is really a routine affair and can be fairly entertaining to watch. In the human sphere, unfortunately, these ritual mindfuckfests often have dire consequences.

As polling day approaches, opinions fly around the blogosphere and in coffeeshops everywhere. The only place where meaningful debate is conspicuously absent is, alas, the mainstream media. You will find no alternative views on the pages of the national dailies or on any TV channel (all controlled by the incumbent political party, Barisan Nasional, through its capitalist cronies). But that's pretty obvious to anybody with even half a brain cell to call his or her own.

Last week in a coffeeshop I heard someone say something utterly inane: "In Asian countries only a dictatorship will work. We need a strong leader like Dr M!" This was no daily-paid menial laborer, mind you, this man was obviously well educated and from a comfortable middle-class background. We were discussing the tragic and ruinous legacy of Dr Mahathir and the sorry mess the country is in today, largely owing to his megalomanic ambition to crown himself emperor of an evil empire ruled through fear and greed.

Granted, the carrot-and-stick management method has been effectively utilized since the Year Dot: wave a carrot at the donkey to appeal to its greed; and if it refuses to succumb to temptation, wield the stick, inflict pain and instil fear. This approach to government assumes the intrinsic asininity of the electorate.

Judging from the geopolitical state of affairs on this planet, the bulk of humanity certainly appears to be no more than a beast of burden. The word "sheeple" - though overused to the point of ineffectuality (since a great number of humans who subscribe to Christian doctrine seem perfectly content to be likened to a flock of woolly white sheep guided by a Good Shepherd) - is still particularly apt.

Nevertheless I choose to accept the occasional disappointment of overestimating - rather than risk underestimating the intelligence of others. It is in this spirit that I offer my own insights on the true nature and purpose of power, and why each of us has no real option except to consciously reclaim our power from all existing institutions and external authorities.

The whole idea of needing a strong guiding hand - whether you call it dictatorship or shepherding - is in effect a handing over responsibility to somebody else to decide your destiny and future. Now that's fine if you're a child who hasn't reached voting age and you have to depend on Mummy and Daddy for food and shelter. But sooner or later you're going to outgrow your dependency and claim your adulthood. No harm lending an ear to whatever good advice your parents might have to offer - but the ultimate choice is yours.

NO CRIME NO PUNISHMENT

Take the absurdity of drug laws, for instance. Has declaring various substances illegal effectively curbed "substance abuse"? On the contrary, drug addicts now form a growing subculture worldwide - more than 13 million injecting drug users reported, plus an unknown number of unregistered addicts probably ranging in the tens of millions - enough at any rate to fill the continent of Australia to the brim.

The criminalization of any substance serves one purpose only - and that's to inflate its market price a hundredfold. Declare soap illegal and the cost of a single bar could shoot up to RM50. Any streetwise individual can tell you that almost every consignment of marijuana that hits the streets has passed through police hands. On the global level one can state with a fair amount of certainty that the biggest distribution network for cocaine and heroin is controlled by covert agencies like the CIA, working with powerful triads and underworld syndicates, in many cases laundering the staggering profits through Vatican-owned and Mafia-operated banks. Do I have "concrete proof" of these wild allegations? Of course not. However, use your common sense: the drug trade is massive and involves precisely the sort of cloak-and-dagger operation that covert agencies are designed to carry out.

What would happen if trading in all sorts of substances was decriminalized? Well, prices would fall so dramatically that dealing in drugs will no longer be as lucrative. Within a matter of years the supply will fizzle out - along with the demand. Why? Because drug addicts are for the most part rebellious types for whom the prime attraction is the element of danger associated with drug use. Without the romantic appeal of doing something very naughty a lot of drugs will lose their glamor. I mean, if I tell you there's a chemical in chichak* shit that can get you high, you might try it a couple of times out of curiosity. But picking chichak shit off the table and ingesting it isn't a particularly adventurous notion. You might as well get off on sniffing bicycle seats or women's underwear stolen off clotheslines. These might be habit-forming behaviors, it's true - but ones easily outgrown and forsaken. In any case, they pose as much threat to national security and personal health as nail-biting, nose-picking, and masturbating. Imagine: if wanking was declared a criminal offence, our prisons would be bigger than cities like Bangkok, Jakarta and Tokyo. I'd be blogging from jail for sure!

In effect, external government (as opposed to self-government) rules through fear to enforce the outward appearance of Law and Order. At the same time it forces the spirit of freedom underground where it turns into a variety of antisocial tendencies, mostly destructive. Most people have been brainwashed into believing that without strict laws governing social behavior there would be sheer chaos everywhere. Little do they realize that the chaotic or disruptive behavior is a direct result of law enforcement. Authoritarian rule breeds mindless rebellion on all levels. Autonomy, on the other hand, only exists when an individual or organization has attained sufficient self-awareness and maturity to monitor its own behavior and make constant adjustments towards achieving coherence and integrity. In short, you can govern yourself only when you've become a master navigator and are able to steer yourself safely through life.

The ultimate goal of self-governing autonomous individuals living symbiotically within self-governing communities requires that we constantly strive to reduce the influence, dismantle the machinery and abolish the concepts of external authority and government. Part of the process requires that we replace dysfunctional government with one that functions well enough to choreograph a conscious evolution towards the day when its job is done and it can go on permanent vacation, leaving us to govern ourselves as sentient adults.


_____

* chichak (pronounced "chee-chak") = common Malaysian household lizard

[First posted 16 February 2008]

ARE WE STILL WAITING FOR THE MESSIAH? (reprise)

I haven't written about local politics since the Great Reset of May 9th, 2018, apart from a 500-word overview for The Edge's Merdeka Special.

There are several reasons for my silence. First, I have been preoccupied with the construction of a guest facility behind our house which has consumed much of my energy and all of my cash reserves. Secondly, now that Barisan Nasional is no longer in power, I feel that my political crusade (which began after October 1987) is more or less accomplished. Thirdly, people are getting much more vocal on social media now that the fear has receded and the cacophony of clamorous voices isn't something I wish to add to, although I look upon it as the grating sound of a nascent democracy akin to construction noise (which we tolerate when it's our own house that's being built).

So why do I feel compelled to put in my two bits' worth now? Truth be told, folks, I'm fatigued by the quarrelsome adversarial nature of political rhetoric. I have never liked to argue for the sake of argument, which I regard as nothing more than a competitive sport, a game of semantics. cunning lingual exercises that never penetrate beyond mere superficialities.

Above all, I have never subscribed to the notion that authentic change can be effected on the political level, that all it takes is to replace one captain or manager with another. It's the very idea of being subject to external authority, generation after generation, unquestioningly surrendering our innate power and sovereignty as conscious individuals, that needs to be reassessed and outgrown.

So why did I publicly endorse, consistently over 20 years, the prime ministership of Anwar Ibrahim? The answer is simple: I am no game-player and find politics every bit as tedious and banal as courtroom proceedings. I generally prefer engaging my right brain and gut feelings to getting embroiled in hair-splitting left-brain exercises. That's why when Anwar led a massive rebellion against Mahathir in 1998 I decided to monitor him closely. His determination, stoicism and tenacity impressed me greatly, so I made Anwar my political avatar.

Through Anwar I could be vicariously involved in the grubby, sordid world of political power play, without physical risk to myself. I can't imagine enduring 10 years of imprisonment for my political views - but Anwar did and I wholeheartedly admire his fighting spirit and resilience. To me his astonishing perseverance against all odds qualifies him as a bona fide national hero.

Anwar Ibrahim was politically crucified in 1998 by Mahathir, who spared no effort to humiliate and crush his adversary. Not only did Anwar survive six years as a political prisoner (and, I believe, at least one attempt to poison him with cyanide), he successfully resurrected himself as a messiah and led the opposition coalition called Pakatan Rakyat to a near-victory in March 2008, then again in May 2013. Indeed, were it nor for the all-too-obvious partisanship of the Election Commission which aided and abetted massive electoral fraud, I'm certain BN would have fallen five years ago, and Anwar anointed as Malaysia's 7th prime minister.

I was overjoyed, like many others, when Anwar Ibrahim received a full pardon from the Agong on May 16th, 2018, vindicating his 20-year battle against the behemoth BN. It was a great relief for everyone who can't bear to witness such grotesque travesties of justice, and a poignant moment indeed for his beautiful family. For me, it didn't matter who deserved the most credit for removing the utterly corrupt BN from power. Whether we succeeded with Mahathir leading the charge... or voters silently resented Najib's brutal incarceration of Anwar... or the rotting white elephant in the room named 1MDB finally began to stink too badly to be ignored... it's purely academic now. I'm certain it was all these factors, compounded with the collective will of a sizeable majority of young voters, that won the great victory against cynicism and fatalism.

What prompts me to speak up now is the vitriolic antagonism I see directed against Anwar, even before he made his "PD move." Cherished friends whose opinions I respect and value have risen up as a bilious phalanx of vociferous opposition in an attempt to thwart Anwar Ibrahim from fulfilling his political destiny.

He's too ambitious... a political chameleon... he endorses the reactionary Turkish dictator, Erdoğan, whom he regards as an ally... Anwar will be forced to pander to the religious fundamentalists, just to maintain his power base. 

That's what I hear all the time on my Facebook newsfeed. Anyone who makes a career of politics has got to be ambitious and adapt chameleon-like to changing circumstances, so these are actually positive traits. As for cozying up with the likes of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan... well, it could just as well be Paul Wolfowitz, Bashar al-Assad, Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin or, God forbid, Donald J. Trump. End of the day what we think we know of public figures is mostly from media reports. Anyone can be easily demonized by media shills with an occult agenda. Remember what the Zionist-controlled media did to Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi? One day we might even discover that Winston Churchill was far more villainous than Adolf Hitler, and that Barack Obama was, in truth, a Manchurian candidate installed by the CIA on behalf of the Deep State.. so keep your mind open (at least a crack).

Can all these well-informed, highly intelligent and articulate friends be utterly wrong? Yes, they can. Their judgment may be clouded by their own biases, fears and prejudices. After all, they are mostly the same "street-savvy" Anglophilic crowd who delight in dismissing Donald Trump as a buffoonish boor, unfit to occupy the White House. That's right, folks, this may come as a shock to you but I have nothing seriously negative to say about Trump's presidency, which I view as instrumental to a Great Geopolitical Reset.

Notwithstanding DJT's apparent lack of lexicological range, I am inclined to regard him as the reincarnation of some ancient Roman emperor who has been given the opportunity to step up to the world stage at this evolutionary juncture as a wild card (or more appropriately the Joker), even as the entire deck is being reshuffled. 

Enough of meaningless labels like left and right, liberal and conservative. Life is way too complex and fluid to fit into a simple binary context of Good and Bad, Right and Wrong, Democrat and Republican, Whig and Tory, Government and Opposition. If you can be so easily classified as either this or that, then it's probable that you haven't been completely candid with yourself. Or perhaps you have been conditioned to rely on ideas and opinions injected into your psyche by the plutocrat-owned miseducation system and mass media - instead of your own instincts and intuition.

I doubt if there has ever been a political figure of note who isn't somehow controversial - who inspires admiration from some and triggers fear and loathing in others. If the founders of the world's main religions were active in today's cybernetic world, imagine what the media pundits and shills would have to say about them - whether they be Krishna, Laotse, Confucius, Siddhartha Gautama, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad or Baha'ullah. Imagine the scandals buzzing around them like bluebottles, the stinking muck raked up, the nasty remarks, cynical deconstructions, scholarly critiques written about these long-gone icons. Humans, time and again, have created gods to adore and worship - only to rip them apart or crucify or debunk them when they suffer a collective mood swing.

Perhaps it's time we begin to accept responsibility for how we experience the world around us - instead of hoping for a messianic cult figure, some great savior to rescue us from the confusion and mayhem of everyday reality. Don't you think it's puerile of us to still believe that a single president or prime minister or guru figure can set aright all that has gone wrong in the nation, resolve all problems that beset humanity, and lead us all to the Promised Land?

Having said that, I'm painfully aware that the vast majority of my fellow citizens may not be ready as yet to upgrade their own software and become self-governing entities. They must be given time and a conducive space to take their first faltering steps into an unknown, but potentially glorious, future. If I were to do the unthinkable and offer myself as a political candidate, my open disregard for all forms of institutionalized religion would scare, shock and offend too many. I probably wouldn't survive a week in politics. However, someone like Anwar has not only survived, he actually seems to thrive in the midst of controversy.

Nobody can dispute his resolve, tenacity, resilience and inner strength. His remarkable rise in politics, followed by a fall of mythical proportions, and his ultimate resurrection and ascension, lead me to conclude that he is indeed capable of overcoming all obstacles and inspiring the entire populace, regardless of racial or religious conditioning, to transcend the artificial divisiveness that has kept us from becoming a truly splendid and accomplished nation.

I don't reside in Port Dickson, but if I did, I would support Anwar Ibrahim in his quest to be reinstated as an active Member of Parliament. Those who condemn his strategy of triggering a by-election through the voluntary resignation of an incumbent MP do so without a full understanding of all the nasty intrigues going on behind closed doors. This species of low-grade jostling for positions and power has long been part of political culture everywhere - not just in Malaysia. Non-players and outsiders only know what gets reported - or leaked.

Occasionally an internal rift reveals itself like a crack in the wall, weakening the prospects of a particular political party owing to petty ego conflicts. Unless you are fully immersed in the water, it's impossible to know what's lurking below the surface, and even then you can be caught off-guard by sabotage and the invisible machinations of rivals. This is a game of thrones I myself have chosen not to play, except by proxy.

There appears to be a contradiction here: while I have never taken economics or politics all that seriously, I am at the same time aware that the 3D Matrix is still largely influenced by the primal drives for money and power. A single individual at the helm, with the unwavering support of a large enough majority, can dramatically alter the course we chart as sovereign nations. A charismatic leader can steer the ship of state towards dangerous reefs by publicly preaching unity while privately sowing seeds of discord and discontent - but he or she can also opt to play the pivotal role of maintaining harmony and stability during a major transition between eras.

On April 14th, 2008, I was present at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kampung Bahru when Anwar Ibrahim made a stirring comeback speech in which he declared it was time for us to replace Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) with Ketuanan Rakyat (Supremacy of the People). The response was unanimous and absolutely moving. Looking around me, I saw locals in white skull caps and robes enthusiastically cheering Anwar for his vision of Greater Unity and Harmony, transcending artificially imposed racial and religious barriers. It was as if we had finally stepped across an invisible threshold between adolescence and adulthood as a nation. I saluted Anwar for articulating this truly powerful sentiment and he reinforced this vision by intoning at every subsequent ceramah:

"Anak Cina anak saya, anak India anak saya, anak Iban, anak Kadazan, anak Melayu semua anak saya!" 

I am inclined to believe that, after ten years of unjust imprisonment as a political dissident within a tradition-bound feudalistic establishment, this is essentially what Anwar Ibrahim desires to be congratulated and remembered for. His destiny, I am still convinced after 20 years, is to steer the nation back on its intended course - to evolve gracefully into a unified, harmonious and mature melting-pot of diverse cultures, looking forward instead of backwards.

There, I have broken my silence.

5 October 2018

Exploiting Religious Insecurities (reprise)

A Malay Student Front representative (left) gatecrashes the Bar Council's forum yesterday on Islamic conversion, yelling: “I represent Umno. Stop this forum! Don’t insult Islam! You... Chinese, Indians, go to hell!” (Photos courtesy of Malaysiakini) 

Never a dull moment. That sums up Malaysian politics since the 12th General Election on 8 March 2008. Even as the nation celebrates the 61st birthday of prime minister elect Anwar Ibrahim in eager anticipation of a smooth transition of power come September, we are rudely reminded of the wide disparities that divide Muslims from non-Muslims, Malays from non-Malays. Disparities easily exploited by those frightened by the sweeping transformations underway and who can always be counted upon to resort to the race-and-religion card to protect their own vested interests. 

At this crucial juncture in our political evolution, we have to keep a cool head and stay calm. Five months after the political earthquake that forever altered the course of Malaysian politics, there are still many who fail to comprehend the big picture. Scared and confused by the rapid changes they see around them, they can be easily goaded into creating havoc on the streets - thereby giving the fascist BN government an excuse to declare an emergency and reclaim their power through military rule. Don't forget who's still in charge of the Defence and Home Ministries.

We must not allow reactionary forces to whip up ancient fears and resentments in order to thwart our collective dream of a mature, multiracial, multicultural nation at peace with itself and prospering as a harmonious rainbow family. Remember, 300 misguided religionists do not speak for 27 million. No matter where you go, you will find a handful who cling fanatically to narrow, sectarian beliefs. In a healthy, mature society, opposing views can be expressed without recourse to violence. The Bar Council, after all, hosted the forum mainly to bring certain "sensitive" issues into the open by encouraging intelligent public debate. The timing, as it turns out, wasn't quite right.

Nevertheless, it's particularly depressing to note that Zulkifli Noordin, PKR's Kulim-Bandar Baharu MP, was among the leaders of yesterday's rowdy protest over the Bar Council forum. What message is Zulkifli sending to all those who have put their faith in a Pakatan Rakyat government? That when it comes to questions of Malay rights and religious freedom, nothing will change? This, of course, puts Anwar Ibrahim in an awkward spot. If he advises people like Zulkifli within PKR to downplay religious differences, Umno will be quick to use that as evidence that Anwar will sell out the Malays. After so many decades of Barisan Nasional's racist policies and divisive politics, it will take some time for the people to voluntarily break down the walls of interethnic mistrust and build solid bridges of understanding and love between the various communities. With Pakatan Rakyat in charge of the Ministry of Information, the powerful reach of the mass media can be utilized to foster genuine friendship and the spirit of cooperative symbiosis amongst all ethnic groups - rather than keep racial and religious issues simmering undebated and unresolved. 

Allow me to use an analogy to illustrate the situation we are faced with in Malaysia. Let's say we're flying 20,000 feet above sea level in an airplane and a few of us are veteran skydivers eagerly anticipating the moment we hurl ourselves from the aircraft and experience the sheer ecstasy of freefall before we pull the cord of our parachutes and float gracefully down to the ground.

Now, can you imagine the fear and hesitation you might feel if you've never done this before? Do we despise the novices in our midst and jeer at their cowardice? That would be extremely unkind and uncouth. We mustn't push them either - because we would then be responsible if, in their panic, they forget to pull the cord and plunge to their deaths. Those of us who have long outgrown our emotional attachment to a particular belief system can be compared to veteran skydivers who have taken that leap of faith into the unknown many times before. The novices have yet to experience the sense of freedom one feels when liberated from childhood indoctrination and social rituals. Naturally, the unknown scares them. They cling to the safety of the aircraft rather then hurl themselves wholeheartedly and gleefully into the freedom of speculative metaphysics, rational secularism, agnosticism, atheism, or pantheistic mysticism.

But, given a little more time and encouragement, they will one day become veteran skydivers too. In other words, when dealing with folks who are emotionally attached to a particular belief system - and who closely identify with belonging to a specific ethnic group - it's pointless to force the issue or waste your breath trying to talk them out of it. Just love and honor them wholeheartedly regardless of their belief systems. Remember, it's really a question of software preferences. Some people are constantly upgrading to the latest versions of everything - while others haven't even taken their first tentative steps into the digital age. Some folks are neophiles (swift to embrace the new) and others are neophobes (terrified of new ideas). In any community, some individuals serve as the accelerators of evolution; while others function as the brakes. Good driving requires that we step on the accelerator more often than the brakes - which means the more adventurous and open-minded members of the family are the natural-born leaders, while the more conservative ones keep us from speeding too fast and colliding with obstacles. They're the ones who remind us of our origins and heritage and keep us rooted to terra firma, to Mother Earth. I have absolute faith that given sufficient time, all belief systems begin to mellow or break down into simpler elements - and yesterday's fanatics will be tomorrow's sages.

[Read Moris Farhi's excellent essay, God Save Us From Religion! First posted 10 August 2008]