EVERY GENERATION HAS ITS HEROES

A Kadir Jasin

AN Osama bin Laden VCD urging the use of force, according to today’s The Star, is being openly sold in the country. So what’s new and what’s the news?

All kinds of printed and recorded materials are being sold in our country. All it takes is a bit of looking around. Legal or otherwise, original or pirated, they can be obtained for a price.

But Osama is more than a commodity-in-trade. He is the hero to a lot of Muslims here in Malaysia and around the world. Some are devotees others are simple admirers. They admire him because he dares to stand up to the US.

The US, under ultra-nationalist George W Bush, isn’t very popular with a lot of Muslims. Even his Western allies, except for the outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, barely tolerate him.

To today’s young Muslims, Osama is their vision of a hero (or villain to the detractors). His methods may be wrong, but that does not make him less of a hero. Legendary Robin Hood robbed from the rich. But he was a hero because he gave to the poor.

When I was growing up, my hero was the South American revolutionary leader, Ernesto Rafael de la Serna a.k.a Che Guevara. Then it was an offence to have in your possession anything that had to do with communism or socialism.

But being young, foolish and idealistic, we did whatever we could to read about our heroes and sing praises to them. Che was my numero uno. I also admired Lenin, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Soekarno, Ho Chi Minh, Jawaharlal Nehru and Jomo Kenyatta. I read about them in a Malay magazine called “Mastika”. Today “Mastika” is doing well purveying ghost stories.

Some years ago, on a trip to Cuba, I bought some t-shirts bearing Alberto Korda’s famous portrait of Che and visited places associated with the Argentinean-born medical doctor in Havana (Habana).

When I wore them and asked a number of young people in and around Bangsar who they thought the man was, they unanimously said “Bob Marley” of the “No Woman No Cry” fame.

Don’t Make Fun of Politicians

THAT’S the plea of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Shien Loong. The Star newspaper reported him as saying that while Singaporeans are free to express their views about politicians, they should not make light of it or poke fun at them.

In a dispatch from the island republic, the German Press Agency (DPA) said Lee is seeking a massive endorsement of his leadership in the upcoming general election, including the defeat of the only two opposition MPs in the 84-strong Parliament.

How free can the people of any country be when the government does everything it can to discourage opposition and to disqualify the few who were democratically elected?

Alas we do not have such problem. We do not have to make light of our politicians or poke fun at them. They do that very well in Parliament and elsewhere without our help.

The PAP leaders are shrewd. They know how unforgiving politics can be. So they stay on and on. Its good for them and, since they are good leaders, their collective leadership strengthens the republic.

Today, Singapore, in effect, has three “Prime Ministers” –Lee Junior, Goh Chok Tong (Senior Minister) and Lee Kuan Yew (Minister Mentor).

Here Past Leaders Are Loathed

IN our beloved Malaysia, the political-types make it their business to gag retired politicians, failing which they will do all that they can to discredit such persons.

Across the Causeway, Lee Junior runs the country and Lee Senior presides over the nation’s investment holding company, the GIC. In Malaysia, the government appointed former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, to advise Proton and the government-friendly media poured scorn on him.

Here, I don’t envy Datuk Azlan Hashim. It cannot be a pleasant task for the Proton chairman to face-off Dr Mahathir. No matter how well (or sincerely) he argued his case, he can count on Dr Mahathir having something to say in return.

Although he got more column centimetres and a better display in some pro-government newspapers, a lot of people still prefer to read the shorter and less well-displayed rebuttals by Dr Mahathir.

Azlan’s predicament is understandable. Like his current political masters, he was the creation of Mahathir’s era. As the case is with his fellow GLC hotshots, Azlan was discovered and nurtured during Mahathir’s long rule. He benefited from the NEP’s high growth rate and from the promotion of Bumiputera agenda.
Azlan argued more recently that Proton’s past and present boards were not given the full story about the company’s purchase and running of MV Agusta. Not given or did not bother to ask? I thought Proton board is a huge one. Surely one or two directors are concerned and intelligent enough to ask some probing questions.

Alas, most Malaysians are bent on blaming the past than taking responsibility for their action. Were Proton directors not “constructive trustees”?

Alas There’s the Ultimate Solution

TO stop all this nonsense about taking advantage of the hefty increase in petrol, diesel and LPG prices to raise prices --- arrest a nasi dagang seller from Terengganu and issue her with a RM1,000-compound.

So the officialdom successfully made a lesson of an old Malay woman. Sapiah Mohamad, 70 years old, was fined for not displaying price tag when she sold her now famous gulai kepala ikan tongkol for RM45.

But what about Mamak Maidin’s the tarik, Mudiandy’s puri and Ah Kau’s tau foo fah? Or what about TNB seeking rate hikes, the local councils merrily raising assessment rates and the big time traders using legal loopholes to raise prices?

See, who says that the government is not paying attention to Bumiputera traders?

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal must be feeling good about himself for teaching the rogue nasi dagang seller a lesson.

Bravo!