Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Me and My Muses the Daughters of Zeus

A Kadir Jasin
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
PREAMBLE: Views expressed herein are entirely mine. I am writing in my personal capacity as a blogger. It has nothing to do with whatever position I may hold.
 
My Muses have gone missing, hopefully only temporarily
TO THOSE who sent me messages asking about my wellbeing, I say, thank you very much. I am grateful.

My answer is still the same: “I am never not ok.”

Like I told officer of the Malaysian Armed Forces at the Maktab Ketahanan Nasional on November 20, though I am 72, I could still stand at the rostrum to address them.

That, to a very great extent because my health is generally good, but more importantly my superior is 20 years my senior. That makes me very young.

As for my general silence, the blame is on my missing Muses.

For not-a-very-strange reason, all the nine daughters of Zeus decided to abandon me all at the same time.

I don’t know why. Maybe they too are confused with what is going on in our beloved Malaysia.

Maybe our politics has become even more complex than when the Greeks originated them.

Politics is generally considered a Greek invention. The Oxford dictionaries describe democracy as “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.”

Wikipedia says, democracy is from Greek δημοκρατία dēmokratía which literally "rule by people" is a form of government in which the people have the authority to choose their governing legislation.

It adds that who the people are and how authority is shared among them are core issues for democratic development and constitution.

Some cornerstones of these issues are freedom of assembly and speech, inclusiveness and equality, membership, consent, voting, right to life and minority rights.

I don’t blame my Muses if they are confused with our practice of democracy - the lack or the excesses of it. Maybe because we are not as wise as the Greeks as we don’t have the likes of Aristotle and Socrates.

Unlike Socrates who chose to die an honorable death by drinking poison than suffer the indignity of retracting his alleged misdeeds, our politicians seldom own up to their mistakes and misdeeds.

Instead, having committed dastardly crimes against their constituents, they shamelessly claimed that they are victims of politically motivated conspiracies.

Now that I am away from my beloved homeland and in an Alpine location that is only 1,640 kilometers from Athens, I hope my Muses will come back to me.

Like the lyric of the song “My Friend the Wind”, which was made famous by the Greek singer, Demis Roussos, my Muses will come back to me like the wind from the hills.
(My friend the wind will come from the hills
When dawn will rise, he'll wake me again
My friend the wind will tell me a secret
He shares with me, he shares with me

My friend the wind will come from the north
With words of love, she whispered for me
My friend the wind will say she loves me
And me alone, and me alone…………).
Or they will not come back instead slowly and softly seek out their Adagio.
(I don't know where to find you
I don't know how to reach you
I hear your voice in the wind
I feel you under my skin
Within my heart and my soul
I wait for you
Adagio

All of these nights without you
All of my dreams surround you
I see and I touch your face
I fall into your embrace
When the time is right, I know
You'll be in my arms
Adagio……..)
Who knows, I too may have to look for my Adagio.
Thank you.

5 comments:

Aku said...

Kadiag: السلام عليكم,
Hang ‘wax lyrical’ sunggoh, munkin dlm basa melayu teruja sakan dgn budaya yunani purba no....
Aku ingat satu laporan zaman dolu, tak salah aku masa Greece dok bergadoh dgn Macedonia (Mukadonia ?)
kala mana orang Macedonia tudoh orang Greece betindak secara tidak ‘demokratik’ pasai nak paksa
Macedonia tukag nama negeri tu.
“Hampa jangan cakap pasai demokrasi kad kami...” bentak orang Greece “ kami la yg asaihkan demokrasi ...
jadi tak payah nak ajag pasai demokrasi kad kami.”
“ Piiirah !!” jawab orang Macedonia “ masa Athens kenunnya asaihkan demokrasi, sebahagian besag
penduduk Athens tediri dari hamba abdi, yg tak dak hak mengundi...”

Lebih korang kod lagu tu la Kadiag....
Aku

Unknown said...

......... "My answer is still the same: “I am never not ok.” " ..........

KESIMPULAN:
😉😎😁

jaga diri; Hiasi peribadi

-HERMAN ADNAN-

OKJ said...

Dato’

You deserve a break. Just relax and enjoy your holiday. Spend some time with your family and grandchildren. Don’t think about Malaysia and Malaysian politics at the moment. It’s becoming too complicated. Go and enjoy beautiful scenery in Swizz, skiing at the top of Titlis mountain, enjoy spectacular 360 views at Stoos, have a cup of tea at Rigi.

Don’ forget, at the age of 72 years old, you are still active and still able to help Tun Mahthir dethroned Najib Razak. Look at the Najib’s court trial now and how he manipulated all the higher rank civil servants to work for him, not for the country. To me, not only Najib but all his kuncu kuncu, including top rank civil servants must be punished.

Last but not least, I would like to ask for an apology if some of my articles had ruin your comfort zone. Keep writing Dato’. Thank you.

p/s: Sorry Dato’ lama tak tulis dlm Inggeris. Berkarat sikit. Hehehe…….

Law and justice said...

Datuk,
even as we write, I am confident the muses are back with you, and you are raring to come back with even more zest than before!
Your typewriter cries, "lover, come back, we miss your touch",
your friends proclaim, "we miss you more than ever",
your enemies shyly say "sorry, sorry datuk, no offence meant",
and your readers impatiently urge "write more Datuk, so that we can debate and joust with you in an open and generous spirited manner".

wansee c said...

Why the crestfallen tone? What's bothering you? Bruised by the TP defeat? Smitten by some moronic haters? Since you are now in the Central Europe, high up in the Alps, I suppose, why not go across to the east to visit the Lake Wannsee, Berlin. Ease up a little to feel the tranquil waters and slow down to clap eyes on the natural beauty of both the big and little lakes. Life is too short to muse on trivialities as you will fall out of sync with the speed at which everyone is moving. Happy journey and you deserve every bit of it. Ballyhoo, Tok Kadir!

About Me

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I was born in 1947 in Kedah. I came from a rice farming family. I have been a journalist since 1969. I am the Editor-in-Chief of magazine publishing company, Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd. I was Group Editor NST Sdn Bhd and Group Editor-in-Chief of NSTP Bhd between 1988 and 2000. I write fortnightly column “Other Thots” in the Malaysian Business magazine, Kunta Kinte Original in Berita Harian and A Kadir Jasin Bercerita in Dewan Masyarakat. Books: Biar Putih Tulang (1998), Other Thots – Opinions & Observations 1992-2001 (2001), The Wings of an Eagle (2003), Mencari Dugalia Huso (2006), Damned That Thots (2006), Blogger (2006), PRU 2008-Rakyat Sahut Cabaran (2008), Komedi & Tragedi-Latest in Contemporary Malaysian Politics (2009) and Membangun Bangsa dengan Pena (2009).