What's the democratic way ?

 Sunday November 22, 2020.

Watching the US 46th. Presidential election fills me with with a multitude of feelings. Living the illegal rule of the 8th. PM in this country also fills me with a multitude of feelings. Dismay, perplexity, anger and despair are felt, and not in any order of preference. Funny is definitely not one of these feelings.

Of the US scene, anger comes to mind after the initial shock. Anger because lives and countries have been lost and dismembered,  and continue to be lost and dismembered, because of the Americans' demand that everyone follow "their democracy". That ALL these countries have existed LONG before the Europeans stole America from the natives 300 years ago does not matter. That there are other systems of government that have endured THOUSANDS of years before the founding of USA do not matter. And now right before the eyes of the world they are chucking the very system they try to impose all over the world,  causing  undescrible misery and sufferring. 

Always quick on denigrating others, imposing their "superior" method of rule upon even peaceful "foreign" governments, anger and hate come to mind, watching Trump & co. sabotaging an apparently clean election, and getting almost an equal number of support  as  other guy. 

Dismay, because many of the centres of learning in America are old and renowned, producing international graduates who have gone on to spread the knowledge  all over the world for the good of the world, and yet their voices and those who should know better are inaudible. Even if 40% of the whites are indeed not university graduates, one shrill voice of reason could surely be heard.

Perplexed, because clever people are not acting clever when confronted by Trump, whom I have described elsewhere as the embodiment of evil. Perplexed, because 300 years and 300 million people are going down the Trump-way, when everyone with some cow-sense should know better and act braver.

Smaller in magnitude, but no less destructive, is the political melodrama being staged in our poor country. Lacking in legitimacy and integrity, the government is clever enough, though, to make use of the law when pushing through their way  to rule for one more day after one more day.   The ostensible acts of governing are carried out as if everyone else is too stupid to notice. The budget is flush with goodies without showing where they are coming from. (Maybe they'll print money, after all).A convicted criminal not yet imprisoned   lectures Parliament. He's not in the slightest  "malu", by it. After all his battle cry now is "apa malu bossku".   But unlike Trump, Muhyiddin has until 2023 before facing the voters again, if he survives until then.

Trump has no such luxury. His days are truly numbered - January 21 next year. But you know what they say about a cornered mouse. The writing is on the wall, but obviously Trump cannot read. Let's just sit back and watch "the drama of the white house". Trump will leave. That's for sure. How will Trump leave ?  That's for show.

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The Mokhtar Hashim I briefly knew.

Thurs 19 Nov 2020.

" Brief" here refers to the depth of the acquintance, not the length. We knew each other on sight. We met many times, at different occassions, at different places as far apart geographically within the country as you could imagine. We have spoken to each other many times. But sadly, now that he's gone, it was never more than all that.

I saw Yazid Baba's sms to the Mubarak NS group yesterday morning, the morning that Mokhtar passed away. But Yazid simply said "Dato' Mokhtar" and it didn't connect to anyone in my mind at that time. It was a shock when I came home at noon and switched on my pc and saw it on the news.

My first introduction to Mokhtar was in 1965, about 55 years ago. (That's more than half-century). I had just registered myself as a "freshie" undergraduate at the University of Malaya, our first and only university then. We all gathered at the Arts Concourse, the largest covered space at the university, for a welcome by the faculty. (The Dewan Chanselor was still on the drawing board at that time). The University of Malaya Students' Union was represented by it's elected President, a third-year Science Faculty undergraduate who was a product of  the Malay College Kuala Kangsar - Mokhtar Hashim.

The last time I spoke to Mokhtar was at a Mubarak Malaysia AGM in Terengganu.  I sat next to him, in fact. He was already long pardonned of his tragic conviction at that time. He had a small hand bag with him, which he put on the table. I joked "apa dalam ? pistol ke ?" He good-humouredly laughed.

When I was the Felda Regional Controller in NS around 1976-77, I attended a function at Felda Bukit Rokan, and as the MP for the area Mokhtar was invited to attend as guest-of-honour, and he came.

When the NS delegation went to Tenom, Sabah for a political mission, around '97-'98 (I forget now) I went, and so did Mokhtar, who came as the State Treasurer. We stayed in the same hotel for the duration of the stay, but we all had our own different assignments, and I only met him when he was passing out the money for expenses etc.

Then very early in his political career, there was the funny incident at Mantin. As a Federal Minister, Mokhtar of course had his official car and driver. Late one night he was going home to KL from a visit to his constituancy. He chose to drive himself, going on the old Seremban-KL road. Somewhere near Mantin he had to stop for a pee. He asked his driver to take over, saying that he wanted to take a nap at the back as he exited the driver's seat. He forgot to say he wanted to do his business first. He went to the side of  the road. His driver went behind the wheel.  Mokhtar peed.  The  driver drove off.  Mokhtar must have been pissed !  Somehow he managed to contact the Police Station ahead (these were pre-mobile  phone days) and they stopped the car. When asked   "mana Dato'?" the driver said "tidor belakang".

So there you have it: the university in 1965; Bukit Rokan, in Gemencheh;  the Terengganu Hotel; Tenom, Sabah. Long and wide, but not close. The regret is mine.

I had spoken about his tragic court case to many friends, some of whom knew him very well. One of the key witnesses in the case was in fact a relative of mine, Nordin Johan, who was married to my second-cousin.  He has since passed away. Dato' Ismail Yassin, himself a lawyer, attended the case. He said the crucial and ultimately most damaging statement that Mokhtar made was agreeing to the prosecution's suggestion that his pistol was always in his care. Having had a pistol myself before, and once witnessing Dato Azhar's pistol falling out of his golf bag just as he was complaining to us that he had misplaced his pistol and would have to report it as soon as possible, I'm certain that Mokhtar could not have been in the control of his pistol 100% of the time. My question is, what legal advice did Mokhtar get?   Mokhtar himself told his father that he did not commit the crime. I believe him. He had no reason to get rid of Dato' Taha. Mokhtar was already a Federal Minister, and already the Divisional Head of UMNO where Dato' Taha, the State Assemblyman, was the Deputy. If it was the other way round, maybe there was motive.

Mokhtar used to have a house in Section 16, when I had a house in nearby Damansara Utama. He also used to have a house near the Felda HQ, where I worked. When I visited Annuar Hamdan in Ulu Ampang, around the Ampang Jaya area, there Annuar pointed out Mokhtar's house close by.

I don't wish to sound trifle, nor to debase the memory of an acquintence, and if a family member happens to read my notes, I submit my sincere apologies for any negative inference, for that is the opposite of the intent of these notes. I remember Mokhtar, and I pray to Allah that He Forgives him for his failings.  Amin.

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Politics and science.

Tuesday Nov 10, 2020.

In about 8 weeks 2020 would become 2021.

In about 4 weeks my 75 would cross to 76.

In the last 44 weeks, the whole world has been turned virtually upside down, politically and scientifically.

Here in Malaysia, the pandemic Covid 19 has pushed asunder life as we know it, just as the virus has done to the rest of the world. The disease is relentless. And different countries have continued to be confused and confounded.

Politics seem to have overcome science;  reason overcome by rationalisation. When health should matter, politics get priority. When masks help minimise contagion, "freedom of choice" is the battle cry.

In USA, religion has added company: the unbending belief in the Message of the Democrat for one group, and a similiar one  of the Republican for another. Common sense gives way to this political divide.  On November 4th. US showed the world that the Democrats gave 76 million votes to Biden to oust an unhinged Trump, and the Republicans gave 71 million to Trump, in spite of all of Trump's behaviours as a cruel, selfish, self-centred, uncouth, indecent, uncivilised, racist, misogynistic, lying and simply insane human being.  In 2016, instead of  growing into what is supposed to be the biggest job in the world, he has plainly, simply demeaned it. But it seemed to matter not to the Republicans. Opposing the Democrats take precedence. The rest of the world should take note of this when it deals with these Americans in future. The filth and  lies that have spewed from his mouth have not offended about half of the voters of the so-called great country. They still want him as their chosen leader for 4 more  years. Even as the Democrats  claimed victory,   Trump is digging in and fighting tooth and nail to nullify the election. And guess what, the Republican leaders are backing him and justify their stand as "their constitutional right", never mind the outcome of the democratic process that has been practiced for the last few hundred years. And this is the same democratic process they have been shoving down the throats of the rest of the world, and for which millions have been killed, displaced and discarded.

Back in KL, the pandemic has not stopped the politicking, either. The unnecessary  Sabah state election is still producing new clusters of the virus. A new movement control order had been imposed on 9/11 ( like that infamous date  in USA). The whole country is bracing for a second wave of the virus feared to be more deadly than the first, from which full recovery has not been achieved. All kinds of political talk and all sorts of political manoeuvres are still going on. The illegal Parliament is debating the multi-trillion-ringgit budget promising sweets to the despairing rakyat without indicating where the money is coming from. They are as crazy as Trump.

Deepavali is 3 days away. The Indians would have to celebrate it indoors with family members this year. I don't know what we all can celebrate, come 2021.

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