In light of H2O's recent embarrassing diplomatic faux pax, @MohdFaizalMusa1 , in this pertinent and potent reminder, asserts that our foreign diplomats, even going as far back as the Malaccan Sultanate, never subjected themselves to this kind of obsequious, subservient fawning.
"SAYA betul-betul tidak mengingat, sejak pernah membaca Hikayat Hang Tuah, jika Kanda Tuah pernah memanggil Maharaja Cina, sebagai ‘Abang Besar’. Betul-betul tidak mengingat."
"Saya membaca Hikayat Hang Tuah sejak belum sekolah menengah, dan hampir setiap tahun; samada atas tujuan seni mahupun alasan kerja, memang saya tidak mengingat yang Kanda Tuah ada memanggil negara benua Cina itu sebagai adik beradik."
"Padahal Hang Tuah itu terpaling Melayu, dan terpaling Islam. Melayunya Tuah tidak dapat dipertikaikan lagi, dia sanggup masuk lubang jamban atau pun ditanam hidup-hidup ke alam barzakh demi menyatakan kesetiaannya sebagai Melayu."
"Islamnya Tuah tidak dapat disangkal lagi, meskipun kaki minum, dan kaki culik dan perdaya perempuan; Kanda Tuah naik haji dan dia sanggup mati demi nusa bangsa. Hang Tuah itu terpaling Melayu, dan terpaling Islam."
"Tiada pahlawan UMNO lebih Melayu-Islam. Tiada pahlawan PAS lebih Melayu-Islam daripada Kanda Tuah, mungkin dekat sedikit ialah Mokhtar. Demikian juga tiada pahlawan Bersatu lebih Melayu-Islam daripada Hang Tuah dari segi habis Melayu atau Islamnya."
"Keajaiban Hang Tuah sebagai Melayu-Islam tidak dapat dilawan, satu-satunya yang mungkin berhasil mencapai makam Tuah tentulah Rina. Demikian sakti, dia bisa bertukar anggaran muatan dalam tempoh sekejap."
"Adalah Melayunya Hang Tuah itu apabila ia diutus ke Majapahit jangankan diikut, tentu bergegar segala pintu urusan diplomatik. Mana tidaknya, Kanda Tuah demikian cabul berendam dengan rakan-rakannya dalam kolam permandian Paduka Betara Majapahit."
"Inilah Melayu yang berani mencabar Jawa tuan-tuan. Tiada peduli kalau perbuatannya itu boleh mencetuskan perang. Kita tidak tahu mana Melayu yang berani mencabar Jawa. Paling dekat barangkali Annuar Musa. Inilah Tuah yang berani melanggar SOP."
"Perkara Islamnya Tuah itu memang sangat seia-sekata. Saya tidak dapat memikir mana-mana mufti Melayu zaman lampau dan zaman ini yang menyerlah dalam hal perkara Islamnya Tuah. Hadi pun tidak boleh cecah makam Tuah."
"Hang Tuah bercuti berjalan-jalan di negeri Cina itu selama dua bulan, tiadalah terbit daripada mulut Kanda Tuah sebarang perkataan seperti ‘Abang Besar’, saya agak pasti tentang ini."
"Kalau orang mengaku dia Melayu, rujukan dan contoh Melayu hendaklah sepertinya Tuah, tiada dia menggelar Maharaja Cina sebagai abang. Geli-geleman Tuah kalau mendengar perilaku adik beradik mengada demikian."
"Adapun Tuah itu bijaksana, sebagai Laksamana atau Menteri Luar tiada dia memalukan Melayu. Ada sekali waktu dia ingin melihat apa rupanya Maharaja Cina yang diibaratkan seperti bulan mengambang itu, Tuah mencari jalan."
"Akan tetapi dia tidak sampai mengampu. Tiada keluar kata ‘Abang Besar’ atau ‘Abah’. Tuah itu ada telor dua biji, tak akan menyebut-nyebut kata gedik sedemikian."
"Laksamana Tuah itu Menteri Luar. Sebagai Menteri Luar Negara dia bawa maruah bangsa, dan nusa. Yakni Tuah mewakili bangsa Melayu, dan negeri Melayu. Tiada yang terpaling Melayu dan Islam melainkan Tuah. Tiada terpacul daripada mulutnya lafaz sempundal."
"Kalau Tuah mendapat perkhabaran dari tahun 2020 perihal bagaimana China Coast Guard (CCG) dan Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) berdepan-depan (standoff) (bersambung di bawah)
ketika penerokaan hydrocarbon kira-kira 44 batu nautika perairan Sarawak di Laut China Selatan, tak akan terpacul cabul daripada mulut Tuah kata ‘Abang Besar’."
"Melayu umpama Hang Tuah dia berani. Melayu umpama Sajat, juga berani. Melayu memang bangsa berani. Masing-masing punya berani sendiri-sendiri. See their level. Tiada istilah ‘Abang Besar’ berdepan dengan kuasa besar.
Tiada. Titik."
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We are truly living in a decadent age of abject moral decay, one that is exacerbated by the toxicity of racial and religious polarisation, and where integrity has been so corrupted that it has lost its intrinsic value.
Instead of upholding values, ideals and principles (VIPs), some Malaysians choose to prostrate themselves at the feet of (allegedly) Very Important Persons (VIPs) in a demeaning display of servitude that only reinforces how elusive a "Merdeka of the mind" remains for them.
Is it any surprise then, that Malaysia's putrefying political swamp is teeming with unsavoury characters who bear more than passing resemblances to well-known Shakespearean villains: King Lear, Brutus, Iago, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, just to name a few.
In the latest round of local political shenanigans that can best be described as tiring and tiresome, @philipgolingai (aided by political analysts), brings insight and clarity to "silat pulut", "langkah sumbang", "matikan gerak" and "kluster mesra bunga" wrt the recent UMNO AGM.
Our nation building initiative is a Dickens-esque "tale of two narratives", with ethnoreligious nationalist parties pursuing a tone deaf, tribalistic "Malay unity" approach, while civil society opts for a more inclusive #BangsaMalaysia conceit. @NatAsasi
"LAST weekend, most eyes were on the Umno General Assembly, where we saw a lot of fierce rhetoric that began full of fire and brimstone, and ended in the tepid waters of the status quo."
"Despite all the posturing, Umno decided that it would keep all the benefits it had reaped from supporting the present government instead of resigning in protest and focusing on battling Bersatu in the next general elections."
In this cogent and comprehensive analysis, @dririshsea examines, in great detail, the three Rs of Malaysia's political polarisation - race, religion and reform - as refracted through a chronological lens, and how it is influenced by various socioeconomic factors.
"Polarization over race, religion, and reform has afflicted Malaysia for decades and powerfully shaped its electoral politics."
"Since the country’s independence in 1957, its ethnic Malay majority has enjoyed a constitutionally protected special status, while ethnic minorities have been treated as second-class citizens."
What happens when three different suitors have set their eyes on the same prospective bride, and she can only marry one of them? A. Kathirasen neatly sums up the internecine power struggles between the three major ethnoreligious nationalist parties in our country.
"PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang yesterday issued a statement which has two messages: One, the party is backing Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN), and two, self-interested individuals are holding up Umno’s cooperation with PPBM and PAS."
"We know that at least two Umno leaders have been found guilty of graft and several more are facing various corruption-related charges. Although no one has openly said it, talk is that these Umno leaders have been bargaining with Muhyiddin to help them with their cases."
"Being seen as subservient by saying "you are like my big brother and I'm your younger brother" is a big no-no, especially during the official press conference."
"It sends a very wrong message that Malaysia is subservient to a big country like China, which further complicates our future negotiations on many bilateral, multilateral or trade matters."
"Now, bear in mind, when you have a joint press conference post bilateral meeting, the foreign minister speaks on behalf of the government, on behalf of the country. A foreign minister does not speak in a personal capacity in a joint press conference."