059: The Passion of Yasser Arafat

Read in the news that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has had a screening of Mel Gibson's controversial moview The Passion of Christ. According to press reports, Arafat found the movie "historic and impressive" and not at all anti-semitic. In Reuter's account, Arafat was said to have described the movie as "historic and moving".

In case you have been hiding under some coconut shell in an obscure fisherman's village, chances are you would have heard of the movie. The Passion of the Christ is supposedly a historical account of the last 24 hours of Jesus Christ before he was brutally put to death. It is said to have been closely based on biblical accounts and other writings of the time. While it is not funded by the Vatican or any church group, it is said to be a Christian account of the Messiah. By that, I mean that in this movie Jesus IS the Son of God and is crucified for the salvation of mankind.

In an Islamic context, the Messiah never died a brutal death. Instead, somebody else was crucified in His place and Jesus lived to an old age after which he ascended to Heaven. In fact, according to the Quran, any claims of the divinity of Christ is blasphemy. And yet, a prominent Muslim like Yasser Arafat has not only found no problem in watching the movie, he has in fact, praises for it. As you can see in the photo (lifted from the Palestine International Press Centre) Yasser Arafat is indeed watching the movie. And from the looks of things, he seems to be watching a DVD version of the movie which is probably Buatan Malaysia since the official DVD is not yet out!

As I read the reports, I have a newfound respect for the man. Yessir, Yasser! One of the things that come to mind about Yasser Arafat is his determination to attend the Christmas parades in Ramallah every year. It's just not the kind of thing you'd expect in a guerilla leader, in my opinion anyways! And now he's gone on to watch The Passion of the Christ and enjoyed it too. Doesn't that give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside?

Which begs the question : Will we ever watch The Passion of the Christ in Malaysia? And by that, I mean legally. In the cinemas. On the big screen. With popcorn. Somehow, I doubt it. In Malaysia, you can have religious freedom but no one said anything about religious-themed movies.

Addendum: Read Resident's review of the movie.

a freudian spit generated @ 6:28 PM | |

 
058: My One Political Statement

It's been a hell of a month, hasn't it? And, from the looks of things, things are really cooking here within the Malaysian blogger community, with the 11th General Election just over. A lot of people are riled up about the results, especially the Opposition's poor showing at the polls.

LET'S JUST BLAME THE VOTER
Amongst the disgruntled, there have been theories about how shortsighted the voters were, how underhanded BN was and how biased the EC was. To be honest, it all just sounds like sour grapes to me. But of all the talk, it was Raja Petra Kamarudin's commentary that takes the cake.

RPK's insights, specifically on the Chinese voters, is especially telling of his shortsightedness. What we have here is a fine example of cluelessness. Raja Petra Kamarudin is like the nerd kid in college who never got laid and didn't understand why. "It MUST be the girls fault that I'm not getting any." No, no, no, sonny, you ain't getting some cos you failed to live up to anybody's expectation.

UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION
For the sake of argument, let's just see what our political parties have to offer. BN is pitching their experience. After 42 years of ruling the nation, we cannot deny that they do indeed have experience. We have seen some big-ass developments under these guys. We have seen the nation prosper. At least we can expect that much.

PAS is selling Heaven on earth and the hereafter. Whether you like it or not, you cannot deny that many people DO want to see a theoracratic government. For the pious, it is an opportunity to live their everyday life as prescribed by the Quran. Now you may feel that the regular Malay on the street wants property over eternity, but over half the voters in Kelantan have proven you wrong.

DAP on the other hand promises to abolish the Bumi/non-Bumi divide. This is an excellent pitch to the non-Bumi working stiff. If DAP wins, every Ah Chong and Ramasamy can buy a house at the same 5% discount with their Bumi brothers. It means that your regular Ah Kau and Raju can now tender for any government project. Which is great!

But what of KeADILan? If you win, you'll free Anwar? Is that it? Do you really think that Mat Dispatch, who earns an average of RM 3,000 a month, really gives a rat's ass? How does freeing Anwar change the live of Ah Wong Chap Fan who makes RM 7,000 a month selling economy rice? You think it'll improve the livelihood of Kuppusamy Runcit who earns RM 12,000 selling you groceries? That said, somebody should do the decent thing and let Anwar out, even if it isn't particularly life-changing for me.

YOU'RE NOT SO SPECIAL AFTER ALL
Face it. KeADILan doesn't really have anything new to offer. Oh sure, you say you're honest and you have integrity. But that's only because no one wants to grease your grubby paws. How do we know that you won't turn out just like BN when you get up there? In fact, you're probably exactly like BN, except that you haven't won anything. And as far as the voters go, better a devil we know.

But hey, here's yet another issue that seems to have eluded you. KeADILan is peddling a medicine it does not believe in. Your partner is adamant about wanting an Islamic State. Are we truly to believe you can change their mind? You lost the Chinese and Indians when you went to bed with PAS. And guess what, you lost the Malays as well. The more liberal Malays who prefer a secular state didn't vote for you. And I'm pretty sure some of the "more pious" Malays wouldn't vote for you either since they probably don't buy into KeADILan's BS.

KeADILan's biggest failure is that it tried to be everything to everyone. Sorry, but you can't sell the same panties to a nubile young chick as you would to her grandmother. Take a firm stand, for crying out loud! Come out with a proper action plan instead of blaming everyone. And stop screwing around with PAS. You probably hurt them too.

YOU WANNA GET SOME, GET SOME
When you walk into Alcoholic's Anonymous, the first thing you gotta do is admit you have a problem. Nope, it's not the drink. Nope it's not your wife. It's you. YOU HAVE THE PROBLEM. Until you admit it, you're not gonna get any better. Until you stop blaming the voters, you're gonna keep losing the elections. By now, the concept of your "enemy" should be pretty clear to you - KeADILan is its own worst enemy.

I have one advice for you. It will serve you well to remember this: The voter is NOT an idiot. She is your wife. Your mother. Your best friend. Your Uncle Din. The voter bailed out on KeADILan because it insulted his intelligence. And RPK, your continuing to do so isn't helping any. You didn't say anything of worth in your article. Nope, not even the "Show Me The Money" part. Because, if you think about it, its NOT all about the money. It's all about preserving our lifestyles. It's about preserving the sanctity of our comfort zone.

And by the way, the message from the voters isn't "Show me the money!" It's "Show me the monkey!" And that's when they put you on the chopping block.

It's a pity! Some of the finest candidates to ever grace our elections were wiped out without a ghost of a chance. Still, this might turn out to be a good thing after all. Perhaps it was time the Opposition got a little humbling.

NOTE: My apologies to my regular readers. This blog was never meant for politics and this is probably just a one-off rant. Regular programming will resume soon, now that I am blogging again.

a freudian spit generated @ 10:25 PM | |