Comments on: [ UPDATED ] Hyperallergic Reactions to BBC’s HardTalk With Syed Hamid Albar

By: Antares

Antares — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 06:38:40 +0000

A tip of the proverbial hat to you, GhL, for setting an admirable new standards in mental clarity, moral valor, and the gentle power of well-considered articulation. May our orbits intersect in 3D at some point!

[ GhL ] : Thank you Antares, but it is the people in the front line like Haris Ibrahim and Jeff Ooi who are really showing the way forward. I merely do my best to follow their lead. I look forward to that cosmic alignment.

By: Why I Think Sarah Montague (BBC's HardTalk) Asked The Right Questions | Kavilan's World

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 08:13:46 +0000

[...] Read Ghostline’s Hyperallergic Reactions to Syed Hamid Albar’s talk on the Issue [...]

By: Rauff

Rauff — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 08:05:02 +0000

To use the word “fight” gives a negative impact. I would rather put it as “practice”. Come the next elections all of us will practice for change. Hopefuly this time around the results will be more favourable.

[ GhL ] : Here’s to much-needed change.

By: Kavilan

Kavilan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 08:03:53 +0000

when a satirical line can evoke comments saying that heads will roll, i wonder what would happen if serious words are written.
Mahaguru58 said smthg bout selling the country to foreigners… What about this interview in question which proved that a nation’s politician has been selling out his own countrymen?
I had written a post in my blog regarding this matter. Will post a trackback here.

By: chansey

chansey — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:13:08 +0000

George Bernard Shaw:
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

To all bloggers and commentors: We must be the unreasonable people in Shaw’ quote to stay and fight for change; but not the illogical, racist people our Dear Leaders want us to be. Be careful what you say, and avoid the words that begin with “M”, “C” and “I” as much as possible. As Ghostline says it is too easy for us to fall into our old ways.

By: ghostline

ghostline — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:17:35 +0000

Hello dink,

I received a comment from ‘dink’ this evening which sounds like you but was posted with a different email address from your previous comments, so I’m just checking to verify that the comment did in fact come from you.

Would you mind confirming the origin of that comment by posting a comment under your previously-used email address? Only I will be able to see the email address.

Excuse my caution, but some bloggers (notably ‘earthinc’ and ‘johnleemk’) have either received comments from impersonators or have themselves been impersonated on other blogs. Again, the work of agents provocateur.

Thanks and regards.

By: Stu

Stu — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:45:26 +0000

Please read this quotation, and surely every thinking person must clearly understand that apathy and complacency are the root cause of all the problems faced in Malaysia today.
” ALL THAT IS NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS THAT GOOD MEN DO NOTHING. ” – Edmund Burke
All sensible Malaysians must speak out, object, stand up for the truth, refute lies and misinformation WITHOUT FEAR AND WITH HONOUR.
Racism, religious bigotry and ethnic division (Divide & Rule) are the tools of the corrupt and the evil.
ALL GOOD MEN & WOMEN DO ALL THAT YOU CAN TO RID MALAYSIA OF THE EVIL AND THE CORRUPT.

[ GhL ] : …and one very simple way to put this into action is to register as a voter, vote intelligently and urge others to open their eyes and do the same. Ask hard questions. Accept nothing at face value. Question everything and find the answers for ourselves.

By: dink

dink — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:43:23 +0000

GhL: Good to read your response above. The idea that racism is a manufactured construct sparks me off greatly. I have read a detailed account (from Rocky Bru? I can’t seem to find that blog post now) that the riots of May 13, 1969 might have been provoked by DAP, but it was PLANNED and instigated by UMNO. International observers noted that, while it unclear whether the police or army has aided the Malay rioters, it was quite clear that they did not do anything to clamp down on it.

It would be valuable if you post a brief commentary on this idea that racism is a manufactured construct, of how racism was a political tool in the 60’s, and still is used today, and to what ends (riches, power). I would love your take on it. It would be a waste if it was buried within this comment section.

[GhL ] : Hello dink. The account you read was probably based on the book “May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969″ by Dr. Kua Kia Soong. The book is also available at major bookstores for about RM22/copy. The evidence in those third-party documents strongly contradicts the ‘official’ account.

The nation has never really recovered from the trauma of May 13, and as long as Malaysian society remains poisoned by UMNO supremacist rhetoric, it never will. The book goes a long way to providing an authoritative third-party account of the riots so that we can better understand and address the unresolved issues left behind by the riots.

Thanks for the idea, will post on the use of racism and supremacism as a political tool in a later post.

And thanks for confirming your identity. Caution is the order of the day, these days.

By: dink

dink — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:55:20 +0000

Ghostline: Thank you. Your eloquence in the face of anger is far more restrained than mine – thanks for the well-crafted civil responses (and for making my previous comment such as well).

I just feel fear and anger and bewilderment as to how effective these politician-barons have corrupted the minds of the citizens. Please help us all in using your words and ideas to continue speaking our minds.

“A stand can be made against invasion by an army; no stand can be made against invasion by an idea.” Victor Hugo

[ GhL ] : You’re welcome, dink. It is extremely difficult not to retaliate in kind — and we often come to regret words said in anger — but losing self-restraint only escalates the problem.

The real tragedy is that for the most part, the race/religion divisions and tensions in Malaysia (and for that matter, anywhere) are artificially manufactured constructs. People are not born racist. they learn or are taught to be racist. There are always agents provocateur (whether in crowds or in high political/religious office) who specialise in fanning race/religious tensions for purely selfish reasons.

If we can recognise this (as some citizens have with the Bangsa Malaysia initiative), we can stop racism and supremacism dead in its tracks.

The character ‘V‘ in ‘V for Vendetta’ said something similar (possibly influenced by Victor Hugo): “…behind this mask lies an idea, and ideas… are bulletproof.”

By: Hamidi

Hamidi — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:08:41 +0000

Rauff: “Your last line did work…and I used it to test what people feel. ”
Testing only? Wow that’s original. Want to know what’s a tad over the top? Easy, just look no further than your decapitator friend’s response to a satire. If that’s not over the top, I don’t know what is.