Heads You Win, Tails I Lose

Technorati tags: Cynicism, Malaysia, Law, Religion, Justice, Apartheid

What a crazy week it's been, eh, sports fans? Heck, it's been one rollercoaster year, come to think of it. And we're not even half-way through 2007.

It's been scandal after scandal. Disappointment after disappointment. And then, the decision on the Lina Joy case, which was expected, truth be told. Wouldn't want to unnecessarily make the natives restless, now do we? Political expediency will always prevail - you should know that by now. Even if it prevails over everything else we hold dear, and what little civil liberties we have remaining.

Political expediency RULEZ!!

Reading thru the numerous Malaysiakini articles pertaining to the decision, this statement from Muslim Youth of Malaysia (Abim) president Yusri Mohamad sort of resonated:

“We also plead that those hoping for an opposite outcome to reconsider their position and to consider modifying their expectations to suit what is good and more sustainable considering our realities.”
(if cynicism is not your cup 'o tea, Ktemoc has an excellent write up you should read)

And the painful reality? Is that Malaysia is an apartheid - granted, not in the same sense as what South Africa practised up till 1994 - but an apartheid in the sense that we are one nation divided by separate application of laws, contrary to Article 8 (1) of the Federal Constitution.

Article 8 (1), incidentally, states that "All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law". In other words, no one shall be discriminated against when it comes to the application of the law. But we all know the reality of this, don't we. And not just in the recent case either.

As for Article 11 of the Constitution? In reality, it's only valid for 40% of Malaysian. For the rest of us sorry sods, we have to march to the beat of a different drum. And how that drum is actually tuned depends on which state you reside in. And if you're a Muslim, only a particular rigidly legislated school of thought that's sanctioned and approved - deviate from that, and you're considered a heretic.

Freedom of belief? A myth - urban legend, at best.

But perhaps the most accurate description of the possible implications brought about by Wednesday's decision, was articulated by PAS women's wing head Dr. Maria Mahmud.

“The damage is done. Ultimately, I don't think there was a victory for either side.”

Heads You Win, Tails I Lose... The sad fact is, all of Malaysia lost on Wednesday. It's just that most of us don't realize it yet.
(more lose-lose, in the full post)

With that realization, came another - that our folks at the Tourism Promotion whatchamacalit got it wrong altogether about 2007. And this realization came courtesy of something else that Yusri Mohamad said above - that our position should be reconsidered and our expectations modified.

Implicitly, however, and perhaps unintentionally, what he really meant is that we should reconsider our expectations, and modify our position.

In other words, Malaysia, it's time to shut the fuck up, bend over, and take it up the ass like good citizens. And with that, our tourism cattle call should be this instead.

also known as
Tahun Meliwat Malaysia 2007

No, Walski is not being emotional about things, merely realistic. And cynical. Reality hurts, and reality sucks somtimes, but it's there and we all gotta deal with it.

But all is not lost, perhaps. A Saudi prince proclaimed how wonderful Malaysia is, and how we are a model Islamic country (via The Star). Coming from a Saudi prince, though, any other country would probably be a model something or other.

Walski prefers to think that yeah, Malaysia is a model country. A Model T, to be precise. In the words of Henry Ford, in his biography, when talking about the Ford Model T,

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black"

Which is what Walski calls Freedom of No Choice. Heads You Win, Tails I Lose...