Otak Kuli!
We were talking the other day – sometime back before my father passed away, three months ago, about the deplorable state the country is in, and why things are getting from shoddier to harmful.
I shrugged – I normally do when I don’t have anything nice to say about the deplorable state the country is in. I never do have anything nice to say about Malaysia anyway apart from Penang, and the sandy beaches of Langkawi and Pangkor Laut. When friends abroad ask me about Malaysia, I divert the attention to some other subject – Paris, Milan and the catwalks in Tokyo.
Friends called, and emailed me day before yesterday lamenting about the price of groceries, and utility. The price hike has augmented tremendously. They were asking if expatriate friends of mine were having the same problem. I was just talking about this a couple of weeks ago with some of them, and they too were complaining. When I complained months ago, nobody took my complaints seriously – that was when I was still working on a measly allowance at the NGO. Now that I’m practically sending out applications ‘left, right and center’ in the hopes to pay the month’s rent, I’ve learnt to be more mulish than before. And I can’t even touch my EPF for that, nor can I see that as a base to support myself.
I’m stricken by the unappealing state. The bloody Malaysian government doesn’t care about its citizens. They just don’t bloody care!
Even Africa despite the state she is in, is much better in many ways. You can talk about it, blog about it, rant about it as if there’s no tomorrow, yet when you wake up in the morning, flipping through the pages of the newspaper, you keep on seeing the same stories, the same incorrigible states, and you just shut things out. I am good at shutting things out – from arrogant bosses, to duplicitous office mates, through the annoyance Malaysia and some of its populace once upon a time had hurled to those in Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines, and much much more.
There are times when I had wished for a magnificent magic wand in my hands and with a wave everything ugly, dull and dreary in Malaysia would turn around one hundred eighty degrees and voila… change – but as things evolve at a pace slower than the dance of neutrons one can’t help but wonder if the obnoxious bloody twits in Government would one day spurt out some intelligence and work unconditionally without having to be reminded that without the intelligent people the country would be nothing.
Maybe when fat purple cows turn cheese green!
“Otak kuli!” {Literally transliterated as…“imperceptive bastards”} he shouted. He rarely was pissed but that day I sensed the energy wavelets within him bursting into flames. It is rare to see him yell, or be angry – but he was. He was disappointed with the state of the country, the attitude government servants were treating senior citizens, and how these Malays, these so-called citizens of the earth, were complacent as if Malaysia were designed only for them in mind, and if by some miracle had she evolved over the fifty odd years of Independence, their minds would just sizzle, slush and turn into tempoyak {fermented durian}.
“Dia orang tak fikir ke – Tak guna otak?” {Don’t they use their brains} he asked. I dislike discussing politics – to me it is futile to discuss what boys with small minds like to do. “Mereka tak ingat kepada Tuhan?” {Don’t they think of God?} He added. I shook my head – if they had indeed thought of their gods they would most likely be more compassionate, and responsible. They would learn to be caring and would fight for those who were not as fortunate as the Jones’.
It is true that we do not need another hero for the country. What we need is a revolution – a change! – The current one refuses to do anything about anything and since we do not have a strong opposition party, the changes are quite minimal. I used to read in the local dallies of the countries I visited about how their governments would impound the people’s money, and the country’s wealth without concern of their death, or downfall – the likes of Marcos, and Suharto who became super pop stars in the end and never once thought it would ever happen here in Malaysia. I guess that’s where they’re bringing the country to these days.
Just put him as Finance Minister already if you want the country to swing 360º will you? And you do know whom I’m referring to now don’t you?
Tags: Change, Malaysia, Politics, Revolution, State
