Malaysians no longer 'mild'
Hazlan ZakariaPublished: Jun 26, 2010 1:12 PM | Updated: Jun 26, 2010 3:28 PM
COMMENT I believe that if you distill the essence of civil activism and bottle it, you can grade them according to country of origin. I call it the Nando's theory.
I believe that if you distill the essence of civil activism and bottle it, you can grade them according to country of origin. I call it the Nando's theory.
Developed from long incisive dinner-table discussions with my fellow patriotic chicken lovers, the theory took shape from the four types of sauces you'll find on offer at the chicken meal chain store: "Lemon & Herbs", "Mild", "Hot" and "Extra Hot".
As we dig in to the meal, my friends and I once proposed that if the chicken is the nation, then the sauce is surely the state of civil awareness and activism.
As the ruling party or coalition (whose distinctions are often blurred) dine upon the chicken (.i.e nation) with gusto, the sauce (civil awareness and activism) serves as the check and balance and the flavour of their severity.
The spiciness of civil society ensures that one does not dine too hastily, forgetting to give more than mere left overs to the populace, the very people who elected them into power.
Obviously, "Lemon & Herbs" equates free reign plunder, "Mild" indicates a blinkered downtrodden public, "Hot" keeps the powers that be in check, and "Extra Hot" signals people's power.
When it comes to Malaysia, we always give it the thumbs down, hovering between "Lemon & Herbs" and "Mild", hardly ever above that.
We attribute this to two major failings.
'Tidak Apa' attitude
The first is structural: the Malaysian public's infamous 'tidak apa' (couldn't care less) attitude. It is the "it's okay", "government know best" and "there's nothing we can do" mentality that the nation has unfortunately taken to heart.
It is a far cry from the multi-racial multitudes who, during our early inception, thronged the streets to defend the nation's sovereignty and the Malay Rulers against McMicheal's Malayan Union.
After 50 years of being buttered up and lulled by holidays, subsidies, the feather stroking of the government, we have forgotten that we have wings. We are hobbled, clipped and live in a cage of our own making.
The second failure is the government's constant branding of people's power as a "Western invention" that is destructive to our "Asian values".
Despite the ruling parties' origins and roots in the mobilisation of the populace to bring about change, they now do their utmost to stifle civil activism in the new generation.
Witness, the Universities and University College Act (UUCA) and the plethora of draconian acts (ISA, EO, DDA, PPPA) used to silence dissent.
Our very own Zionists?
Somewhat similar is the practice of Israel, whose origins hark back to terrorism against the British. Indeed the first Zionist premier Ben Gurion was linked to the very Jewish terror group, the Stern Gang, that assassinated the territory's British minister resident.
But the ruling Zionist regime now clamp down upon any imagined inkling of terrorism among the Palestinians, whose land they occupy with paranoiac certainty.
Knowing the power of terrorism first hand, the Israelis want to ensure there is no repeat performance with themselves at the receiving end.
Similarly, the BN regime now clamps down on those very same dissenting voices and civil activism which once put them in power. It appears they are also like the Israelis, afraid to lose what they deem is theirs forever.
They forget it is not theirs to begin with, but only borrowed in return for service. It is one social contract they chose to ignore, despite harping on another 'social contract' which they claim grants supremacy to some.
No longer meek or ‘mild'
But the flavour of local politics may have changed, as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announcement late last night showed. For the first time, society has collectively risen to pressure the once-mighty ruling coalition (or party?) to its knees. The sauce is no longer ‘Mild'.
The spectacular reversal of the issuance of the sports betting licence due to tremendous pressure and nationwide protests (left) by civil society was unanticipated, and at this level unprecedented.
My circle of Nando's patriots are thereby forced to reassess our Malaysian civil activism rating from "Mild", inching ever so slightly towards "Hot" and hopefully in future, to "Extra Hot".
The incident has sent the prime minister a clear message: The sauce is no longer mild.
The advent of internet media and independent publications have forcefully lifted the veil of suffocating political ownership and control of the mainstream media is a major contributing factor.
The propaganda blinkers which once covered public perception have been pushed back.
Two things will hopefully result from this. For the powers that be to take notice and no longer feed us only civil activism table scraps from the generous offerings on our own plate, and for the public to realise that we do have the power to reclaim ownership, despite government best efforts to make us cower.
People Power!
Developed from long incisive dinner-table discussions with my fellow patriotic chicken lovers, the theory took shape from the four types of sauces you'll find on offer at the chicken meal chain store: "Lemon & Herbs", "Mild", "Hot" and "Extra Hot".
As we dig in to the meal, my friends and I once proposed that if the chicken is the nation, then the sauce is surely the state of civil awareness and activism.As the ruling party or coalition (whose distinctions are often blurred) dine upon the chicken (.i.e nation) with gusto, the sauce (civil awareness and activism) serves as the check and balance and the flavour of their severity.
The spiciness of civil society ensures that one does not dine too hastily, forgetting to give more than mere left overs to the populace, the very people who elected them into power.
Obviously, "Lemon & Herbs" equates free reign plunder, "Mild" indicates a blinkered downtrodden public, "Hot" keeps the powers that be in check, and "Extra Hot" signals people's power.
When it comes to Malaysia, we always give it the thumbs down, hovering between "Lemon & Herbs" and "Mild", hardly ever above that.
We attribute this to two major failings.
'Tidak Apa' attitude
The first is structural: the Malaysian public's infamous 'tidak apa' (couldn't care less) attitude. It is the "it's okay", "government know best" and "there's nothing we can do" mentality that the nation has unfortunately taken to heart.
It is a far cry from the multi-racial multitudes who, during our early inception, thronged the streets to defend the nation's sovereignty and the Malay Rulers against McMicheal's Malayan Union.After 50 years of being buttered up and lulled by holidays, subsidies, the feather stroking of the government, we have forgotten that we have wings. We are hobbled, clipped and live in a cage of our own making.
The second failure is the government's constant branding of people's power as a "Western invention" that is destructive to our "Asian values".
Despite the ruling parties' origins and roots in the mobilisation of the populace to bring about change, they now do their utmost to stifle civil activism in the new generation.
Witness, the Universities and University College Act (UUCA) and the plethora of draconian acts (ISA, EO, DDA, PPPA) used to silence dissent.
Our very own Zionists?
Somewhat similar is the practice of Israel, whose origins hark back to terrorism against the British. Indeed the first Zionist premier Ben Gurion was linked to the very Jewish terror group, the Stern Gang, that assassinated the territory's British minister resident.But the ruling Zionist regime now clamp down upon any imagined inkling of terrorism among the Palestinians, whose land they occupy with paranoiac certainty.
Knowing the power of terrorism first hand, the Israelis want to ensure there is no repeat performance with themselves at the receiving end.
Similarly, the BN regime now clamps down on those very same dissenting voices and civil activism which once put them in power. It appears they are also like the Israelis, afraid to lose what they deem is theirs forever.They forget it is not theirs to begin with, but only borrowed in return for service. It is one social contract they chose to ignore, despite harping on another 'social contract' which they claim grants supremacy to some.
No longer meek or ‘mild'
But the flavour of local politics may have changed, as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announcement late last night showed. For the first time, society has collectively risen to pressure the once-mighty ruling coalition (or party?) to its knees. The sauce is no longer ‘Mild'.
The spectacular reversal of the issuance of the sports betting licence due to tremendous pressure and nationwide protests (left) by civil society was unanticipated, and at this level unprecedented.My circle of Nando's patriots are thereby forced to reassess our Malaysian civil activism rating from "Mild", inching ever so slightly towards "Hot" and hopefully in future, to "Extra Hot".
The incident has sent the prime minister a clear message: The sauce is no longer mild.
The advent of internet media and independent publications have forcefully lifted the veil of suffocating political ownership and control of the mainstream media is a major contributing factor.
The propaganda blinkers which once covered public perception have been pushed back.
Two things will hopefully result from this. For the powers that be to take notice and no longer feed us only civil activism table scraps from the generous offerings on our own plate, and for the public to realise that we do have the power to reclaim ownership, despite government best efforts to make us cower.
People Power!
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