I have to say - the article Hisham apologises for keris act that appeared in Malaysiakini got me very confused. I must have read it at least three times and I am still struggling to try to understand it. And then the following article Najib: Keris apology won't derogate Malay dignity came out today – oh man, that got me utterly confounded.
At first Hisham made an apology to the non-Malays, and then almost on the same breadth, was an apology to the Malays about having to make the apology. Sorry I am a computer geek, but something just doesn’t compute here. I mean – doesn’t the second apology nullify the first?
In the first place, what was the intention of waving the keris anyway? I am by no means a historian or a scholar, but my perception of the keris is that is a symbol of justice, courage and dignity. These are universal virtue that transcends race, religion and ideology. But the way the keris was being waved, the forum, the context, the intention, the radical stance – was every bit in contrary to the virtue that the keris represents. It was the subjugation and perversion of a sacred symbol for political means.
The waving of the keris was the act of derogation of human dignity. So Hisham apology should be to the whole of humanity, plain and simple. But the way the apologies were made, one apology to the non-Malays, and another apology to the Malays, was as if it was a matter of one race against others.
We have to put a stop to these racial bullshit. All Malaysians, regardless of race, should cherish and honor the virtues represented by the keris. We have to say no to racial politics. We have to stop the keris and other cultural/religious items from being hijacked for political means.
2 comments:
Politician like Hisham stinks to hell level. He thinks he can fool the Malaysian public with his doublespeaks. He is living in his own fantasy worlds, out of touch with reality and pampered to the hilt by the environment he has been raised. They are many beguiling ways to fool the public, but the one adopted by the so-called UMNO leader was just plain amateurish. Anyone with a bit common sense in his skull can easily read his mind and will never buy his posturing. The apology rings hollow and was desingned to play to the impressionable gallery in UMNO. Why apologise at all if you lack sincerity? I am surprised by the shallowness of his mind. A leader of his quality certainly does not bode well to our country.
I think Hisham has degrade keris as a symbol of malay culture. It's not the Keris that is the problem but the person wielding it. The Keris is innocent but Hisham is not. I hope people (malays and non-malays) who feels offended by Hisham act with the Keris can differentiate between the two. Condemn the man not the symbol because a stupid man can destroy an innocent symbol.
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