DISQUS

Let's not lose sight of the forest for the trees here, Jed. The NEP is a non-issue (and as far as I know it no longer exists as the NEP, having been renamed some years ago). What's important, ultimately, is the calibre of people who form the government of the day. After 51 years who do we have in the BN? The irritatingly stiff and deadpan Badawi who has learnt to deny all accusations and lie without flinching as a daily routine. And his deputy, the pink-lipped Najib, who really has nothing to recommend him as a leader apart from the fact that he was born into wealth and political power and holds the title of Orang Kaya Pekan. Najib is another natural-born liar and displays no emotion when he says the most outrageously hypocritical things (e.g., advising other ministers to behave "morally" after the Chua Soi Lek sex video was circulated). Najib also has the biggest pile of unresolved scandals to his name, ranging from sexual peccadilloes to massive corruption and complicity in the cover-up of a hideously gruesome murder. Muhyiddin, stodgy Umno loyalist to the hilt, who appears to have a firm grasp of Umno politics - and very little else. This catalogue of mediocrity and mendacity can go on and on and on. But you get the picture (I hope). The only former Umno member who stands out in leadership skills, intelligence, charisma, resilience, and perseverance is Anwar Ibrahim. Zaid Ibrahim wisely quit his post and is likely to leave Umno soon. In other words, with such an embarrassing bunch of goonish incompetents in Umno, backed by the ludicrous Samy Vellu, money-minded MCA mandarins, and conniving dweebs like Koh Tsu Koon - BN is condemned as governments go. Any law or policy is only as good or as bad as the human beings who administer the state. And it is more than obvious that BN is entirely rightwing - therefore not really concerned about the ordinary citizen at all, but serves only the moneyed class. In short, we really have no option but to boot BN out pronto. Let Pakatan Rakyat take over and fulfil the most important promises - i.e., abolish all repressive laws and clean up the filthy toilet the PDRM has become under Mahathir. And, of course, same goes for the rotten, Umno-serving ACA and large sections of the judiciary. A clean, responsive, open-minded and genuinely people-oriented administration stands a much greater chance of justly implementing good laws and repealing bad ones, regardless of skin color, creed and ethnic origins.

Jed wrote:

"On International Press Freedom Day today, I urge the government to allow us, the rakyat, to think, to feel and to express our views. We already have a criminal code to keep law and order. We don’t need laws to control our minds."

Speaking from personal experience, Jed, one doesn't ask permission from one's parents to lose one's virginity. One simply goes ahead and does it. After a few sulks parents will just have to accept the inevitable - children grow up! :-)

But I totally agree that "anger" is just another aspect of the emotional spectrum and ought never be suppressed. However, holding on to anger for more than a few minutes can be deleterious to your overall well-being - so what I do is quickly transmute it into a blogpost or piece of music or a poem or a night out dancing like a wildman. Once expressed and discharged, anger becomes a catalyst for action - and here we always have to choose between creative and destructive action. The creative response usually leads to exhilaration and joy;
destructive responses often lead to more anger, deeper grief, guilt, remorse, tragedy. You choose! :-)

All I can say is: GLAD I AIN'T THE TOYOL!
(In fact, I'm glad I'm not aboard the sinking Umno-BN ship :-)

Mmmmmmuuuuuuuuaaaaah!!!! That's all I can say after reading your report on the 10 Nov march for a clean start to a new dawn in Malaysia :-)