I don't really understand what is the fuss about the novel Interlok. It seems that the Indian community in Malaysia is not very happy with the use of the word pariah in the novel. They are demanding the government to withdraw the novel which is used as a literary text for form five students. They believe that the novel would inculcate a racist view among the young Malaysians. Some of the Hindu extremist have even burnt the books to show their dissatisfactions with the book. Some of these Indians also used the Thaipusam day to degrade the Prime Minister by demonstrating against the use of the the novel.
I believe that most of these Indians have not read the novel. They only demonstrated based on what their leaders say. May be some of them get paid to demonstrate.
The novel itself was written more than 30 years ago by Abdullah Husain and it depicted the actual life of Malaysians at that particular time. At that time that word was used quite regularly and the readers of the novel understand the context that it is used. If the Indian community felt that the word pariah ought to be deleted than out of consistency they should also demand that the word be taken out from our own dictionaries.
It is just a trivial matter that is manipulated by opportunistic politicians that are out of ideas. These politicians are really bankrupt of ideas but wanting to stay relevant. The government should not be held ransom by the politicians and it should stand firm.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Rosmah Mansor
As the First Lady of Malaysia Rosmah Mansor should project the image of a very supportive wife to the husband, the Prime Minister of Malaysia. She should play the role of a good wife meaning someone who cares and loves her husband unconditionally. She should also project the image of a loving mother to her children.
But alas, the image now that we have of Rosmah is unflattering. She is overshadowing her husband's image. She looks as if she the Commander in Chief or the Nakhoda of a ship. She looks very commanding to the extent that the husband looks so submissive.
The image that she is trying to project in organizing the First Ladies summit is also confusing. What is the aim of the summit? Where does the money to organize the summit come from? What are the benefits of the summit to the country?
Besides wasting the rakyats' money organising a fruitless summit she is also involves heavily in the questionable Permata Pintar project. She was given the budget that is worth millions of ringgit. Why is she given so much money.? And the sad thing is that the Permata Pintar is housed in UKM. The university which was previously known as UKM the research university is now known as UKM-Permata . But some UKM people are very happy with this tag.
I believe the Prime Minister should reign in his wife. She must not be seen as someone who runs the country although in reality that is what she is doing. If Najib wants to last as long as Dr. Mahathir he would have to be a bit firmer in advising his is wife. Najib must also remind his wife to spend the rakyat's money with more responsibility. I hope the recent event in Tunisia would create some awareness in Rosmah to behave more responsibly
But alas, the image now that we have of Rosmah is unflattering. She is overshadowing her husband's image. She looks as if she the Commander in Chief or the Nakhoda of a ship. She looks very commanding to the extent that the husband looks so submissive.
The image that she is trying to project in organizing the First Ladies summit is also confusing. What is the aim of the summit? Where does the money to organize the summit come from? What are the benefits of the summit to the country?
Besides wasting the rakyats' money organising a fruitless summit she is also involves heavily in the questionable Permata Pintar project. She was given the budget that is worth millions of ringgit. Why is she given so much money.? And the sad thing is that the Permata Pintar is housed in UKM. The university which was previously known as UKM the research university is now known as UKM-Permata . But some UKM people are very happy with this tag.
I believe the Prime Minister should reign in his wife. She must not be seen as someone who runs the country although in reality that is what she is doing. If Najib wants to last as long as Dr. Mahathir he would have to be a bit firmer in advising his is wife. Najib must also remind his wife to spend the rakyat's money with more responsibility. I hope the recent event in Tunisia would create some awareness in Rosmah to behave more responsibly
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