The Babbling Bleating Old Man

So, a guy who goes by the code name Namewee has booked his name in the main press, for quite some time at least. Negaraku-ku? That sounds pretty interesting. If you haven’t watch it, go YouTube it. By the way, I’m not too impressed. Well, this is just a personal opinion anyway.

Poor goverment delivery service (spot on).
Deteriorating quality of security force (spot on).
Double standards (spot on).
Religious and racial stereotyping (blatant foul).
Usage of national anthem (blatant foul)

So, what seems to the problem? Ministers are angry. Some are deeply offended. Some are in silent agreement. Some are cheering in support thus making him a national hero. Reaction of any action is such an enlightening event to witness.

So, he claimed he was patriotic in his new version of Negaraku. What’s so patriotic by insulting the practices of other people’s religion? Worse, making a harsh generalization on everyone of one race. This is not patriotism but resentment. Well, let’s play a game of simulation.

So, let us have Ali, Ah Chong and Raju again, my three favourite characters.

Raju was taking a not so peaceful nap in the a hazy evening, no thanks to fumes from forest fire. But the "dosage" of haze was heavier. He opened his window and guess what he saw? Ah Chong and his family burning hell money. It’s Hungry Ghost Festival people.

In Raju’s head:   
Man, this is insane. The haze is bad enough. And now the fumes from their worthless papers are billowing into my house. Insane! Insane!

In Ah Chong’s head:
May the restless lost spirits pain be eased.

Somewhere at another corner, in Ali’s head:
Kafir… these people who believed such things will be damned to Hell…

Well, it’s worth noting that not every individual thinks similiarly like the characters above. Back to the Negaraku-ku story. So what if the azans are giving you wake up calls in the morning? Of course, it can be annoying at times. But bear in mind that as much you hate the wake up calls, they are people who despise the practices of your religion as much. I had already exemplified it above.

Racial stereotyping? We are moving back to the times of apartheid. Bear in mind, not every Malay is lazy. Bear in mind, not every Chinese is arrogant or rich. Bear in mind, not every Indian is violent. So what do you reckon? Create an army to wipe out the people you deem hopeless (or a threat) like the Nazis? We just never learn.

50 years of independence, yet we still fail to see through our differences. Flashy unity ads? Mystical.

Ignorance.

"To me, it seems a dreadful indignity to have a soul controlled by geography."
-George Santayana-