Worldly Politicynicism

Osama bin Laden is dead.

Going into details the politics pre and post the alleged* death of Osama will probably bust my brain to the point of allowing dark grey matters to ooze out via the ear canals from my cranial cavity.

I say alleged* because conspiracy theories are still abundant of it all being one big fat propaganda.

Just like the Yankee Doodle Dee bit about his death bringing “universal peace and harmony”. Imagine heaping all that is wrong in the world on the shoulders on a single man.

Well good golly gooberleaches hunky dory molly polly wack, the golden age of the world is back, then, with the master villain finally rid.

Pardon the cynicism but the cheering and posturing of some (I assume) Americans shown during NTV7’s afternoon news was just too much for me to stomach.

Was it really necessary to insert THAT segment?

Callous really, to highlight such rejoicing over the death of any, including alleged terrorist cabal leader.

Remember the late Saddam Hussein’s execution?

Methinks it should have been edited. In death, there is a parting of one’s soul to be judge by our Creator, God almighty.

Watching the news was accidental as I was in fact waiting for the late Leslie Cheung’s The Chinese Feast.

So I endured Obama, Barack talking about how the special ops against Osama is NOT America against Islam, but instead against a man alleged to be the mastermind behind attacks that targeted all and sundry, muslims and non muslims alike.

(There was also a curious brief mention of his predecessor, George Walker Bush, asserting the same. Not sure why. Could be a reference point of sort for the general American public.)

Alas, the celebratory cross over snippet spoiled my mood to listen further to Obama’s speech.

Read in full today, I found that I didn’t miss much as Obama never did go into the whys alleged terrorists like Osama and his ilk came into being and there was a whole lot of US of A as world power’s posturing.

Hence the “USA! USA!” celebratory chants.

My ever favourite radio IKIM had Osama’s alleged (re above) death as its morning topic today and there was a gush of early callers who seems to agree with this outlook.

Yes, America is not against Islam and Muslims per se, but the general sentiment seems to be that its policies vis a vis the Middle East (especially Palestine and Israel) runs contra to this assertion.

World politics. You need steel-lined stomach for its smooth digestion.

When Does A Tailspin Start?

“Afghanistan has gone into a tailspin largely because President Hamid Karzai’s government became dysfunctional and massively corrupt — focused more on extracting revenues for private gain than on governing.”

I read this line in Friedman’s “May It All Come True” back and forth a couple of times; a stark and blunt reminder of how a nation can turn to dust and grime.

Yes; the whole column was written with America’s wellbeing in mind rather than Afghanistan’s, but it rightly identifies “ownership” as an important ingredient for nation building.

With ownership, progress can be sustained - Friedman proposes to US President Barrack Obama - in alleviating Afghanistan stock from the current strife ridden-wasteland that it is.

Good luck to BHO in pulling this possibly mission-impossible off, I say.

Friedman’s line of thinking brings to mind the two recent postings by our own Farish Noor on revelations last week of our migration figures.

More than 308,000 left the roost – so as to speak – between March 2008 and August 2009 “to find better opportunities”, compared to about 140,000 for the whole of 2007.

It is, of course, not at all unusual for people to leave in search of greener pastures, but what was telling however were the somewhat despondent responses which followed Farish Noor’s first posting.

In his mind, FN imagines this despondency as people having given up on what he says is the Malaysian project.

Is there still One (pardon the unintended pun), in fact?

Once upon a time during arguably democratically-defective days, we had the so-called Vision 2020 dream – where supposedly the country will stand equal with developed nations.

This dream has certainly withered since.

Somehow, ego and personality driven visions for country do not really cut it where nation building is concerned.

Once they leave, so too their so-called visions.

Which make sense because the other guy will want to show that he is equally visionary in having his own grand visions for the country.

Is FN’s contention correct in that many are giving up on the Malaysian project?

News briefs on the same do not provide any racial breakdown.

But does it matter which race is leaving the country in droves because they no longer believe it can provide for their and their next generation’s wellbeing?

Read Friedman’s line of Afghanistan again.

A government that doesn’t care for long term future of the country will spawn a population that is equally gregarious in their thinking.

Afghanistan is perhaps a far too extreme an example, but the context of its continued collapse is still spot on, isn’t it?

We can certainly draw some (distant cousins ?) contextual similarities here in Malaysia.

Right now, people – even if they are in the minority (as a Deputy Minister suggests of a 10,000 respondents feedback on “feeling safe”) – have also begun to lose confidence in the country’s authoritative institutions.

What there is left when the governors are no longer looked upon as providers of security?

Isn’t this, thus, a kind of “tailspin”?

Faithful Volition

“We were all standing so close to each other that no one could move. The plainclothes guards came into the room and broke all the light bulbs, and in the pitch dark started beating us, whoever they could.”

This is the narrative allegedly from one of the many prisoners from the Iranian’s election debacle.

Apparently, there have been many deaths; of bruised corpses being returned to families.

Allegations of bodies being released only on condition their deaths are certified as naturally caused.

Unlike Neda Agha-Soltan.

Western Anti Islam propaganda, perhaps?

Iran is after one of the few remaining Muslim majority countries who continue to snub its nose against the US and her Western allies.

That so, it is hard to identify any country as Islamic when you are confronted with such barbarity in acts.

Islam is just. It is about fairness, about tolerance.

Can any country in the world qualify?

Can we?

Here we have another call for a Fatwa: this time on the Internal Security Act.

I hate to ask, but, to what ends?

To justify its continued existence, its’ scrapping, its’ review?

The country has long adopted a secular constitutional system based on the English law for our legal system which includes the aforementioned ISA.

All the laws – with the exceptions of the Syariah laws - in the country are not enacted based on Fatwa.

Why do we need one for ISA?

So that Malaysian Muslims can rest easy if the law receives a positive response from the National Fatwa Council?

Fact remains that ISA is unjust and unfair.

It's existence justified on the basis of the majority’s interest against rabble rousers.

Nothing wrong with that.

There are, after all, enough in other preventive laws that restricts the movements of persons deemed either a nuisance or downright dangerous.

But there should be limits imposed that are fair to everyone.

Asking for Fatwa for everything would allow Muslims easy escape from using their volition and faith.

In Indonesia, there is a Fatwa that smoking in public (notice this peculiar proviso) is against Islamic teachings.

Islam is universal in application.

So why aren’t we - Indonesia’s closest Muslim majority neighbor - following this edict?

The truth is that we couldn’t care less of Fatwa unless it favors us.

A trillion Fatwa will not make a country Islamic if they are continually treated with disrespect.

So do we even need one on ISA?

What do we say to being incarcerated without trial for days and weeks?

Fair? Just?