theSun | THURSDAY AUGUST 20 2009 15

INTERVIEWS VIEWS

letters
letters@thesundaily.com Recently I read about an exposé – the ink

Of secret recipes and

blot test – created by Hermann Rorschach
(pronounced “raw-shock’’), a Swiss Freudian

Have a litter-
psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. The shrink cre-
ated the test in 1921 and kept it a secret as part
of his methodology to read the inner thoughts

free Merdeka of his patients.

For almost 80 years the ink blot test has been

MERDEKA Day is coming soon. Suddenly
Malaysians all over are putting up flags on
their gates and motorbikes, pasting flag stick-
ers on their car windows, stringing plastic
pieces of it along fences, and hanging up
huge ones on poles.
On Merdeka Day there will be parades,
one of which will be held in the capital near
Merdeka Square. There will be the ornately
decorated floats, MPs and VIPs in cute cars,
and uniformed marchers. Organising staff will
be handing out little flags and plastic fans
with images of Merdeka.
There will be food stalls all around. Small
and large, the traders will be happy to make
a day’s extra business from the crowd cel-
ebrating the event.
Customers will buy canned or boxed
drinks and foods wrapped with styrofoam or
plastic. These customers, amid all the hype
and heat, will very likely just chuck the wrap-
pers because they can’t find rubbish bins.
Loud cheers and the jostling of the crowd
will ensue, and the customers will not think
twice about littering.
As the day draws to an end, the noise will
gradually die down and the crowd will slowly
disperse, only to reveal the hideous clutter of
sauce-smeared boxes, crushed cans, ciga-
rette butts, and gravel-marked flags strewn
on the ground. The cleaners will then begin
to sweep and pick up the trash, toiling down
the street as dusk enfolds.
And thus the day ends for the paraders
and the onlookers and the cleaners. I hope
the spirit doesn’t.
Other than some political issues and
baloney, Malaysia is a blessed land free from
natural catastrophes and terrorist attacks.
It is a diverse country and an international
melting pot.
Let us make Malaysia a better place to live
in by not littering. You would have probably
heard this a gazillion times before; but again,
it isn’t so difficult to properly dispose of your
garbage, is it?
It’s been 52 years. Happy early Merdeka.
Justine T
Kuala Lumpur
shared knowledge
used by psychiatrists and psychoanalysts world-
wide. Now, all those ten ink blot test images
were posted on the Net by a Canadian doctor. It
created a bitter row between those who wanted
to maintain the “myth” and those who consider
it was a dated methodology.
When I saw those images I had a great laugh.
I could imagine myself lying on the couch and
ONCE at a kenduri I tasted an strand of thought in the Malay trying to read 10 ink blot images that could sum
exquisite gulai daging lembu. mind that knowledge is acquired up my personality. After staring at those images
I thought it was really special not through a learning process I must forgo a hefty sum of cash for the session
– spicy beef mixed with red but revealed through dreams after – this is just like pouring salt into my coffee.
beans. Very rarely I find Malay meditating for days on an empty Now I fully understood why Woody Allen has
cooking that could be considered stomach. I am sure that a red bean been visiting his psychiatrist for donkey years
avant garde and experimental. beef curry recipe too could have – not to cure his insecurities – but because of his
This was one of it. been revealed to me after hunger addiction to view those phallic-driven images.
Then I heard the same chef and hallucination, without the need Yes, that ink blot image does semiotically com-
would be cooking at another to fast or meditate under a banyan municate some acrobatic asana not depicted in
kenduri. I wanted to learn how he tree. the Kama Sutra.
did it. To my amazement, I was Rais Whine Rationally, knowledge came by I just wonder whether the Swiss psychologist
told no one was allowed to see or accumulating experiences, trial and received those images through his dreams or
by Hishamuddin Rais
observe while he was “doing his error or research and experimenta- if his daughter dropped an ink pot on his table
thing” in the kitchen. If anyone tion. Then collected to be published – we will never know. But what is important is
entered by mistake he would emotionally and tested by peers or the general public. Such the process of demystifying knowledge – making
leave the kitchen. is the history of knowledge minus the hocus- it more democratic. Knowledge should not be
Well – according to the vibes – he wanted pocus. kept secret or turned into a myth. Human civi-
to keep his recipe secret. I could not believe Be aware – with the arrival of the Internet lisation is all about compilation of accumulated
what I heard. Poor bloke – I’m sure he has culture one could easily mistake information for knowledge passed down from one generation
never been in a respectable book shop. He knowledge. The Net is saturated with informa- to another.
could have a heart attack by just looking at tion from the trivial to the esoteric. Knowledge is I just wonder what happened to that secre-
the amount of cook books up for grabs. Far also one’s ability to arrange and construct these tive chef. His repertoire could be limited by his
Flung Floyd and Anthony Bourdain mean information into a structured thought that would attitude unless he is meditating again and going
nothing to him. further advance that knowledge for the better- without food and water for a week – waiting for
Knowledge about food and cooking is ment of human civilisation. a new recipe to be revealed. For the disciples of
abundant. One could find the recipe of hum- The Internet is still a democratic tool. The Hermann Rorschach – after the exposé – they
mus that was once served for Tutankha- Internet is opening up one’s accessibility to any must have come to realise secret knowledge
munm and even the most adored gâteau of information desired. The Net is a combination of is for triads and secret societies and not for the
Marie Antoinette is no longer a secret. I think Baitul Hikmah and Library of Congress plus all medical profession.
only the favourite dish of Dr Hannibal Lecter the books and newspapers of the world sitting
is yet to be included in any cook book – even on one’s lap. Nothing is secret any longer. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com.
this I am not very sure.
There is this notion within the Malay
culture – that was what I learned within
my cultural milieu while growing up in
my kampung – that knowledge should be
kept secret. Knowledge, particularly that
which has something to do with the “unseen
forces”, should not be democratised. Only the
selected few have been chosen to “own” that
knowledge.
Strange enough – there is still this bizarre

Labuan campus more

worrying than thought
NOT long ago, one of your
readers wrote in highlight-
ing the critical situation
faced by the students of UMS
(University Malaysia Sabah)
at the Labuan campus and
referring particularly to the
fact that students have to live
every day without water.
Although I was not par-
ticularly struck by the topic at
the time as it did not concern
me directly, I recently had
the opportunity to talk to a
student from that campus
and now feel that the prob-
lems the students there have
to put up with are consider-
able and should be rectified
without delay.
Lack of water, filthy hostel
rooms, poor quality of food,
and inefficient administra-
tion are the order of the day.
The cost of living is also
very high and it causes the
students to finish their pocket
money very fast. All of this is
naturally a headache for the
students and the parents who
have to support them.
Several students and their
parents have complained
to the administration about
the pitiful conditions of the
Labuan campus but the
administration has done
nothing about it.
Among all the problems
faced by the students, the lack
of water is certainly the most
distressful. There is no water
to drink, no water to wash
yourself with, no water to
clean your room with, and no
water to wash your clothes
with. Personally, I find that
a university campus with no
water has no justifications. If
one of the reasons given by
the government to build uni-
versities in remote areas is
to aid in the development of
the local population, then it is
not possible that the govern-
ment forgets to provide water
which is the most basic need
for human life.
There is no doubt that a
major motivator for students
to go to university is the per-
ception that in order to fit in,
to be accepted, and to succeed
one must have a degree. You
will not be viewed as highly
by your peers, and society at
large, if you do not have a
degree, even if the quality of
your work is equally good or
better than that of the gradu-
ates.
A degree is nowadays a
status symbol, and since the
government has worked so
hard to create in our young-
sters an unstoppable desire
to have a degree, it should
also make sure that stand-
ards are not compromised
and lowered for the sake of
getting what one thinks he or
she ought to have in order to
succeed.
Granted, many students
and their parents will be
willing to put up with con-
siderable hardship if this is
what the government and
society demand. However,
the government should not
be surprised if no gratitude is
forthcoming when this grati-
tude is most needed, such as
during a crisis or at election
time for example.
To undertake to do a job
means to do it up to standard
and completely. Thus, to
avoid any more unpleasant
surprises at the next general
election, I would advise the
government to complete
any job which it undertakes
because completing the
job means keeping the
promise made to the people
concerned. And to complete
the potentially magnificent
Labuan campus by providing
it with piped water without
delay.
MD
Ipoh