Business as usual
Rejected by newspaper editor
The recent Umno general assembly was hard to ignore. Even Pakatan Rakyat die-hards who claimed Umno had passed its glory were tuning in to news reports and blog posts to keep up with the latest. Young people and non-party members too wanted to know what in-coming party president and prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had to say, and they wanted to know who would be the new leaders entrusted to salvage the bruised party from further ruin.
What happens in the Umno general assembly affects not only party members but the whole country. By convention, for as long as Barisan Nasional dominates parliament, the Umno president and deputy president will become the country’s prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively. It is also usually the case that members of the supreme council are appointed into cabinet. In this regard (and whether one likes it or not) Umno’s business is everybody’s business.
The assembly was particularly important this year because things were not well with the rakyat. We have been in a state of political restlessness for a whole year and are anxious about the impending economic depression.
We knew from the onset that the outcome of the general assembly must provide some sense of confidence for the rakyat. More importantly, the assembly and the party elections had to reflect the changes demanded by the general electorate. If not for the party’s own survival, for regular Malaysians to feel assured that their grievances were heard.
The Umno delegates knew this, and they knew they had the power to act. They also knew since March 8 last year that women and the young were two caucuses they could not afford to neglect. These are groups that are becoming increasingly informed and demanding. To make things trickier, they exist within the party and without.
The delegates knew they had to win, win back and maintain support from these caucuses. And they knew that in their weakened form, they had to take drastic measures.
For these important caucuses the Umno delegates voted into the supreme council Datuk Bung Moktar Radin, the Sabahan whose greatest contribution in parliament was to use abusive and sexist language against his colleagues. They also installed Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, chief of the ‘failed and forgotten’ Putera Umno.
For Malaysia’s mothers, women professionals and activists as well as the women who make up 60 percent of all graduates produced year after year by our local universities, the delegates delivered just one representative to the supreme council: Datuk Dr. Norraesah Mohamad. And in the spirit of reform and renewal, they voted overwhelmingly for Khairy Jamaluddin despite his unpopularity and the stern warning against bribery issued by the party’s disciplinary board just a week before the elections.
So, the Umno delegates have exercised their right and power to elect their heroes and role models. Meanwhile, Pakatan Rakyat is poised to continue their offensive against Barisan Nasional in the upcoming tri-elections and the rakyat too will continue to be restless and anxious. Looks like it is business as usual in Malaysia, everyone. What’s for lunch?
how to make civil servants
1. crack 5 eggs into a bowl.
2. beat the shit out of the eggs until egg yolk and egg white become ~ one.
3. let egg mix settle in room temperature.
4. meanwhile, make tea and telephone close friend to gossip.
5. after 3 hours, hang up and heat a pan on low fire.
6. eat lunch.
7. pay bills at post office.
8. return to kitchen and check on pan. if properly heated, put egg mix into pan. make sure
no ants in egg mix.
9. fry egg mix for 7 minutes.
10. if mix is properly pancake-like, turn off fire.
11. put pancake-like egg thing onto plate.
12. use pizza cutter and arbitrarily slice pancake-like egg thing until properly severed.
13. civil servants ready.
sinis
nampak gaya macam keadaan dah berubah
yang lemah kata dah jadi kuat
apa guna kalau manusia masih disembah
orang waras tetap meluat
katanya demokrasi
katanya pula opresi
macam pernah dengar semua ni
macam slogan yang dah basi
jadi sekarang ke mana arahnya?
ada yang kata porak-peranda
tapi tengok macam sama saja
bising-bising benda yang tu juga
alahai, manusia tak sedar diri
perjuangan nafsu terus diburu
esok lusa mesti mati
Isra’il dan Jibra’il hanya menunggu
wahai orang-orang yang jahil!
kuasa …
satu arang batu membara yang ku genggam kuat di dalam tanganku;
perit, tapi ku tahan.
satu sumpah yang puas ku cari merata-rata di bumi ini;
khianat, tapi ku sanggup lakukan demi kebahagiaan.
satu idaman golongan yang fakir dan jahil;
neraka, itulah hadiah ku untuk sesiapa yang cuba merampasnya dari diriku.
kuasa …
akan ku hidupkan mimpi-mimpiku;
akan ku jadikan mimpi-mimpiku sebagai mimpi-mimpimu;
akan ku kaburi matamu dengan banyangan perkara-perkara yang indah
kerana aku boleh.
kuasa …
tidak perlu ku memaksamu untuk mempercayai dusta-dustaku;
tidak perlu ku mengajakmu berpihak denganku;
tidak perlu ku menyuruhmu sama-sama membenci musuh-musuhku
kerana kau akan tunduk dan setia kepada diriku.
kesetiaan yang berpihak kepada kuasa adalah satu kesetiaan yang utuh
yang membuat manusia sepertimu tidak peduli
apabila ku coreng muka-muka Si Jahanam gelojoh
yang ingin merampas kuasa dari dalam genggaman tanganku.
takkan kau bantah menyoal apabila ku menghinanya dan kerabat-kerabatnya
bila ku menutup periuk nasinya dan menzalimi anak-cucunya;
kerana kau tahu
kau setia, kau percaya kepadaku, kau kagum.
tetapi aku tahu
kau takut kepadaku, kepada kekuasaanku, dan kemungkinan besar akan kau ku binasakan juga.
… Ya Allah!
apakah salahku?!
apakah dosaku?!
apakah yang telah terjadi?!
sekelip mata ku dalam keghairahan
arang batu yang membara di dalam tanganku hilang!
hilang begitu saja walaupun tapak tanganku masih perit kesakitan.
di mana kuasaku itu?
yang ku genggam kuat tadi?
ke manakah ia?
persetan! ia di dalam genggaman Si Janaham itu! neraka kan ku buatnya!
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