Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
2012: As reported in The Star, a lack of sponsorship has brought the curtains down on Season III of the much-lauded Malaysian stage production P. Ramlee, The Musical. The fallen curtain is a hint to the crux of the narrative, in that the spirit of our much beloved Dean Martin of Malaysia has finally left the building.
If
someone
says
the
Obedient
Wives
Club
is
not
a
laughing
matter,
I
would
pay
attention.
The
proliferation
of
this
seemingly
out-of-sync
group
is
a
hint
that
an
unfamiliar
theological
cloak
is
surreptitiously
enveloping
Malaysia.
continued
Imagine
a
young
Lim
Kit
Siang
in
the
60s
having
a
good
time
in
a
coffee
shop
with
a
mix
of
friends
and
the
affable
Imam
brings
up
the
subject
of
Hudud.
There
would
be
guffaws
of
laughter
and
drinks
all
around,
not
to
mention
that
the
cleric
even
may
have
found
the
idea
of
an
Anti-Apostasy
legislation,
a
preposterous
suggestion
to
begin
with,
in
Malaysia's
multi-religious
and
multi-cultural
fabric,
then.
That
was
the
'spirit'
in
the
air.
Call
it
the
era
of
P.
Ramlee
or
good-natured
Sufism,
if
you
must.
50
years
later,
the
fattened
polygamist
with
his
wives
in
tow
may
still
offer
some
comic
relief
to
Malaysia's
multi-faceted
society,
but
to
underscore
the
enveloping
cloak,
a
mere
mention
of
the
Islamic
legal
code,
wipes
the
smirk
of
Kit
Siangs
face
while
his
son,
the
Chief
Minister
of
Penang,
shouts
himself
hoarse
protesting
the
imposition
of
the
archaic
law.
The
issue
is
now
grave
for
the
unsmiling
descendant
of
Lim
Kit
Siang,
but
the
irony
is,
the
scion
is
not
screaming
at
his
political
opponent
but
at
his
own
Islamist
partner,
who
happens
to
be
proposing
the
imposition
of
the
code.
20
years
down
the
line,
the
son
of
Lim
Guan
Eng
is
literally
crying
out
that
his
effeminate
colleague
is
deemed
a
homosexual
and
is
due
for
a
whipping.
continued
In a nutshell, the above describes the Smirk Shout Cry construct within the theological cloak enveloping Malaysia. Understandably, Guan Eng is surprised that his partner is reneging on a gentleman's pact and is serious about installing the code which provides, inter-alia, an umbrella to sanctify' his polygamy, not to mention a direct route to 'criminalize' apostasy, homosexuality and a host of 'crimes' ingrained in his tradition, but the secularist in him, will stand his ground from the point of realization that his 'divinely inspired' comrade was not camaraderie after all but a sophisticated political animal who fine-tuned its 'voice of public reason' to usurp the multi-colored fabric with scruples of a grey tone honed from centuries of tradition quite in conflict with his. He will realize that the degree to which he underestimated his Islamist partner was the degree to which he misread his doctrine. He will realize that juxtaposition of two conflicting traditions, rather than the partisan nature of Malaysian politics, defines the discourse. He will realize that his pursuit of political expediency with his Islamist partner was no excuse for naivet, period. That is the 'spirit' in the air. Call it the era of Nik Aziz or good-natured Wahhabism, if you must. Words - Tommy Peters