Imagining & Hoping

"Remember, remember, remember the 13th of May - interracial clashes, fire and blood. I see of no reasons why this bloody incident should ever be forgotten"

Striking blue and white banners parade trees, lampposts and streets. Entangled to each other, flags of a white moon surrounded by a sea of green looked as if they were being swallowed wholly by the vast blue ocean of those banners. Not far away, light blue flags with vivid red stripes at the edges confining two crescents curved outward were fluttering frantically in the air as the swift wind persevered to shake them off from the fence.

I couldn't help but to notice how similar each places looked alike as they were inundated with the same raves of blue, green, red and white. Repeating faces that could only smile motionlessly appeared everywhere to subdue drivers into believing that each of their smile was genuine and sincere. And the lifted hands were made real like they were meant to outreach to the people who were scrutinising at the posters mindlessly to keep themselves occupied while waiting for their buses to arrive.

I couldn't help but to drown myself in my own imagination while travelling back home that somehow the hectic streets of the capital were resonating with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture whilst moment exactly when the clock struck midnight on the 12th May, the Sultan Abdul Samad building that stood majestically in front of Dataran Merdeka which housed the Malaysian High Court were erupting in sudden flashes of bright, colourful light and basked with massive heat together with huge chunks of bricks thrown into every single direction.

I couldn't help but to imagine that my idiot box would go blank for a few seconds at the afternoon only to find a man in a P.Ramlee mask engraved with a wide grin taking responsibility behind the artistic demolition of the old court complex earlier and uttering about the possibilities of democractic freedom and practice of liberal speech, expression and action in this country as promised by our forefathers 50 years ago, while conjuring up the wounds of the May 13 bloodshed to serve as a palpable reminder for this nation the very next day.

I couldn't help but to imagine that every newspaper in this country reported nothing but only the faked and fabricated illusive triumphs of this country, while TVs and radios endlessly spewing chants of Malaysia Boleh every minute to draped over the incompetency and lies that this country had to put up away from the sight of her people and the world.

I couldn't help but to imagine that the sense of renewed hope in the hearts of the people when the familiar mask of P.Ramlee erased the doubts in them towards reclaiming what's right of them from the country and repainted their inner insight that once blackened their beliefs into hatred for each other since the young and the old were not allowed to convey matters that were buried in their mind for so long publicly, which but could only manifest into something far much more sinister and catastrophic if saved too long inside instead.

I couldn't help but to imagine that critical-minded citizens together with resilient bloggers who truly cared for this country, were slowly vanishing from the forefront of the battle where vans of mysterious figures clad in ISA jackets bagged each and every one of their heads with black hoods and bludgeoned them into disappearance and silenced death without a trickle of blood left for anyone to retrace.

I couldn't help but to imagine that a year later on the May 13th, the nation marched confidently to the Parliament with great pride for unity and understanding imbued in their hearts as one which was portrayed vividly on their P.Ramlee masks, to witness the raze of the historical building in a spectacular explosive fireworks accompanied by the spirit-elevating Overture as a symbol of a new country that rose taller than her dark past which marked as a new resolution and hope for her people.

I can't help but to hope for the best for this country, for her people, for my dear family members and friends that the best would turn out from this coming General Election; that everything that was once promised to her people and by the government, would be fulfilled without hesitation and with utmost obligation that fights to ensure the rights of every citizen; rather than just becoming another nonsensical string of the crow's ugly harks that deceived the trust of the nation over and over again.

I can't help but to hope that this country would not need a masked vigilante and unnecessary fireworks-bombings like my imagination had invoked to save herself from continuing her voyage on this damned path where many crooked politicians lurked around for opportunities that would eventually lead her to her downfall.

I can't help - but only to continue imagining and hoping persistently in my heart.

Recommended extra reading: A year of bull, broken promises, “blog-heads”, bigots and bravehearts (Aliran)

 

Mamma Mia - here we go AGAIN

Over countless times, I am really shameful to even acknowledge myself as a Malaysian. This is one of those times.

On the eve of Christmas at Gurney Drive in Penang, the island folks gathered around to celebrate the coming of this year's Yuletide hold a riot to debunk the myth behind the existence of St. Nicholas like unlike most of the other places or cities on Earth. As usual - to mirror the fact that we are a species who are highly clueless, despite our greatly-praised intelligence, on what to do on the eve of festive days year after year *not anymore - gatherers marked the commencement of the highly-celebrated day riot with a countdown childlish artificial snow warfare. To ensure the smooth progress of the evening celebration riot, a small team of police was present to contain the erupting excitement operate as snow-spraying accuracy practice dummies for the crowd. The video below tells the whole story with a mixture of Hakka, Mandarin, Boo, Yay, Wah-Seh, Bluek etc narration.

At the first glance of the video, numerous questions pummelled at my brain. At the end, it looks more like the MHA (Malaysia Hooliganism Association) having a recruitment drive while spreading their teachings and running a petition to be officially recognised as a political party in disguise. It is also one of the follow-up rallies eversince the BERSIH and Hindraf which had just recently taken place. And according to eyewitness accounts and certain off-record reports together with the press, the unorganised event takes place thrice a year (eve of New Year, Merdeka and of course the most recent one, Christmas) and in a few places simultaneously most notably in KL, Penang and Johore. But suprisingly, instead of having riot-control personnel dispatched like the former two rallies, this one will only have a few police officers with maybe a Waja or two sent out to single-handedly suppress the aggresive and menacing force of the crowds who are mostly youth and physically healthier with very much smaller waistbands than them. Guess the remaining of the force were at home stealing Santa's cookies and milk.

Somehow, the most highly-anticipated and hugely-attended drive of all three is definitely going to be the one on Christmas eve, since Malaysians are really bright in this geographical point that the country has only two climatic outcomes which are either shine or rain - but not snow - due to its location near the equator. In a desperate (but vain) attempt to reenact the white Christmas that folks of the northern hemisphere enjoying but can only be watched in the idiot box by the people here, Malaysians have to resort to the cheaply and mass produced artificial snow spray sold only in canisters to create the atmosphere in a really tiny, micro degree. Elsewhere while everyone is contemplating of the possibilities of a terror Christmas, anthrax-containing presents and a suicide Santa Claus; Forbes is having a major issue in deciding should the uselessful artificial snow spray canister be totally ignored from included in its list of 'Top 100 Most Important Inventions of The Century'.

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Proper story available here - another great Malaysia Boleh! story of the 'First World Infrastructure, Third World Mentality' volume. Click here for an earlier story from the same mentioned volume.

It's noticeable from the video above and other related videos on YouTube that most of the crowd members were Chinese youth. And I have to say the pre-Christmas celebration did really look like a cheapskate Chinese version of the earlier Hindraf rally, with an added dose of hooliganism plus uncivility but minus the violence and bloodshed. People in other places/countries danced, clubbed, cheered, drank etc and some even engaged in sexual intercourse in the middle of the countdown. While some who were highly intoxicated in the Christmas spirit had already started countdown 86400 seconds before the clocks struck midnight on the eve itself. They were enjoying themselves and celebrating Christmas. And we here celebrating under the rain of empty canisters, rubbish, paper boxes etc. And after everything was over, venues everywhere looked more like white Christmas-themed dumpsters. Being a youth myself, I think these bunch of monkeys are really bored because 'fun' is not used or gained by invoking the anger of others or causing a menace, harm and damage to the public. It is also not meant for humiliating anyone including ourselves and degrading our mentality.

Look's like the conclusion I shall leave for you to draw as there's nothing much to be said about everything, from the mentality of the community to the efficiency of the authorities and the Vision 2020 joke that we are telling the whole world it's in our grasp. Because this ain't the first one, it also ain't the last one either.