Tengku Razaleigh Hamza has called for a big emergency UMNO circle-jerk fest on May 11th of this year. Yes. MAY 11th. What cheeky timing. His rationale for the date is that’s the anniversary of UMNO’s forming.
With all that’s happening at the moment, it is incredibly insensitive for him to call for a large, and sure to be emotional, UMNO gathering just before the anniversary of the most infamous day (bar none) in Malaysia’s history.
There was once a time when I admired Ku Li. I appreciated his efforts in his battle royale with Mahathir, and I think he deserved to come out on top in that exchange, but alas, good guys often come in last.
Those days are gone. In recent years I have witnessed – with much sadness – the gradual transformation of Ku Li into exactly the kind of ultranationalist demon that we need to expel from Malaysian politics.
Is there anyone who can save UMNO? I repeat my earlier call… if things go shitside up, East Malaysia must rise to the occasion and bring about a change of Federal Government. PKR/DAP/PAS may not be ready to run the country smoothly just yet, but Malaysia cannot withstand a major UMNO fuckup.
If it comes to that, I’ll gladly take my chances with Anwar Ibrahim as Prime Minister of a loose PKR/DAP/PAS/east malaysian coalition, but he CANNOT return to UMNO. That will not solve anything, it will merely postpone the inevitable.
Some historians have actually singled out Razaleigh as one of the “ultras” in the aftermath of May 13, so I’ve never been quite sure of the guy.
Dear Tirath…
Ahh… very interesting of you to say this but Malaysia cannot withstand a major UMNO fuckup.
And you too johnleemk…. about the “ultras”
I tell you what…. all of these makes good material of a good story… like this movie “The Year of Living Dangerously”…
If UMNO do fuckup – this will be like asking Barisan Rakyat to run when it is only ready to crawl.
And so…
Would it be right to declare 2008 – as “Tahun Vivere Pericoloso” for Malaysia?
Anyway… what would be the worst case scenario…
But then we are forgetting that Malaysia has one more institution that can rule the country – the royalty i.e. Majlis Raja-Raja… albeit it was severely weakened by Mahathir…
I suppose one might hope that in the worst case scenario – BR can take over with the Agung’s and the royals’ approval.
Oh anyway… perhaps I am just imagining things…
Hey – G’Day to you Tirath! How’s the weather in Melbourne? Still hot and sweaty?
Nice reference, viviere pericoloso :) I actually haven’t seen the movie yet… is it any good? worth renting? (or, more realistically in my case, worth downloading? :P)
And yea man, melbourne weather at the moment is a pain! hot n dry… bleh… How is Sydney faring?
Sydney is warm today – 31 C and it will be like this on Tuesday.
“The year of living dangerously” is a film by Peter Weir. It was shown on tv some time ago. It has to be in 2006 or so. I can’t remember which TV. It must be 7 or Prime. And it was shown more than once.
I don’t know whether it is in DVD. But you can read the novel. It is available in the State Library in Swanston.
Perhaps it is available at your uni too… I know it is available at Baillieu.
The book is written by Christopher J. Koch. The title is the same.
Actually I like the film as I like reading about Indonesia. You might say that I am an aspiring Indonesianist of some sort.
Actually I like to read and study Indonesia during the 1950s where there was a period of liberal democracy – before Sukarno trampled upon it with his konsepsi and demokrasi terpimpin. I also like to read the turbulent period of the 1960s during the konfrontasi and up until Suharto’s famous supersemar (surat perintah sebelas Maret) in 1966 when he physically toppled Sukarno.
Anyway that movie depicts a little bit of that period (1965 – at around Sept or so…
Allright, I think I have rambled too much… ha ha ha…
I don’t know if you can download the movie as the film is old (1982). But if you like Nicholas Saputra you can download the movie Gie at this address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSzTCcAfP-o
This is a recent movie…
This movie is based on So Hok Gie’s – Catatan Harian Seorang Demonstran. Gie was a student at the UI (universitas Indonesia) during those turbulent years in the 60s, and he was actively questioning Sukarno. He also participated in often violent demonstrations up until supersemar
Gie’s book is available at the Baillieu with the tile “Catatan Seorang Demonstran”
You know what… and maybe I am just imagining all this… In today’s Malaysia Gie’s book is highly relevant… hey… even UMNO is now participating in demonstrations….
OK enough of that…. Good Night!
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