I thought about the appropriateness of writing more at this time, but then reread this paragraph:
Even to his final day, Rustam wrote from morning to dusk, said his son Azrani.
“From the time he wakes up, he would start writing. He was very dedicated to the importance of ideas and the need to raise social conciousness.”
And a Yoda quote from one of my favourite Star Wars books: We honour the dead by living.
*
Lee Kah Choon faced a choice: he can continue to work with Gerakan, who has thus far stood steadfast with Umno, or he can take up an offer to do some good for Penang at a time when all of Malaysia could use a few good men and women.
What is significant is that this same choice faces every conscientious non-Umno member of BN (the unconscientious have only one choice - maintain the status quo or lose their connection to corrupt patronage and power).
S/he can a) continue to uphold Umno - which is what it all really boils down to, or b) choose the alliance with the right ideology.
Inertia alone makes b) a very tough choice. But once you overcome that mental block, like Lee Kah Choon bravely did, the rest is easy.
This is why BN head honchos have their panties in a twist. Their outbreaks are merely desperate attempts to hold the BN ship together.
Paraguay today became the latest in a series of global political upheavals. Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Taiwan, and of course: Malaysia. To different degrees (I am not an expert in these things) all these countries saw seemingly unbreakable political dominance convincingly unseated. It’s inspiring for reformists, and scary as all hell for corrupt incumbents.
BN is fearful because the simple question that people like Lee Kah Choon search their hearts to answer is: after the rakyat so convincingly showed that they are willing to vote for change, what can Umno offer the rest of BN?
Since time memorial, all they could offer was incumbency (everything else came with a keris attached). Anyone with any political imagination at all can see that said incumbency is now hanging by a thread, if not already effectively lost.
Right until today, I’ve waited to hear *single* good argument showing that the key ideological interests of non-Umno BN component parties (Gerakan above all) are better served by siding with Umno instead of Pakatan.
I’m still waiting; and I’ll be more than happy to engage with anyone who thinks they have found said argument.
The good guys in BN can choose to sit around and wait until its too late, or they can choose to take a leap of faith now, while it still means something.
Lee Kah Choon faced such a choice, and he chose.
*
In Langkawi (thanks sweetie for the great post!), Li Tsin and I got a chance to watch a movie I really, really liked: Lady in the Water. It ended with a song by one of my favourite writers, Bob Dylan. I thought the lyrics worth reproducing here:
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’.
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’.
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin’.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.
Tags: Gerakan, Hope by Nathaniel Tan
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