You scream holy rage over socks and stews
With manufactured outrage to offend
“Defending God” as a young nation slews
Convulsed by demagogic discommend
With bloodshot eyes you rave and stamp your feet
With brownshirt tricks you thump your war-drum beat.
On Malaysia and the US-China Chip War
The FT recently did an in-depth writeup on the semiconductor industry in Malaysia, and how Malaysia stands to gain from the ongoing US-China “trade war” which is aiming to sever China from the US semiconductor and high-technology value chains – a “Silicon Wall” aimed at retarding the competitive threat that China poses towards the US.
Some of my reflections, upon reading this piece:
- The role of Malaysia as a mediating “Switzerland” shows the limitations of exclusionary policies as a means of staving off economic competition. There will always be interstitial spaces like Malaysia where supposedly-opaque trade barriers can be breached.
- Having said that, from a US trade perspective, perhaps slowing down the rate of Chinese technological advancement is enough, to buy time for the US to regroup and strengthen its alliances amidst China’s ongoing challenge.
- That Malaysia is playing this integrative role for US “friendshoring”, and Chinese attempts to circumvent the American “Silicon Wall”, is an interesting and timely reminder of the Archipelago’s long-time role as a meeting place and marketplace between East and West. Geography is very often destiny, especially in global politics, and Malaysia really should be embracing its role as a “mongrel state” opening itself up to the world.
- Following from this, it is crucial for the Malaysian political class to begin to find ways to step back from the zero-sum game of racial politics, and begin to embrace our longstanding nature as a salad bowl for trade and culture across the East and West. The more that US global domination frays, and the more that China emerges as a global counterbalance to the West, the important will it be for nations like Malaysia to find a new positioning amidst a shifting geopolitical landscape.
- For this to happen, Malay politics needs to break out of its self-victimhood. Enough with the constant begging for scraps off the table of Government. “Ketuanan” does not come in a begging bowl, and the fate of the Malays has always been, and always will be, tied with our ability to step confidently out into the world.
Tentang Diskaun Keadilan
Curi milo masuk penjara
Sakau bilion diberi diskaun
Apa erti tatakelola
Bila adil serupa firaun?
Tentang Geng dan Musuh
Awal hari mundar-mandir
Cari makan pagi buta
Kalau kau geng, DNAA
Kalau musuh, kena sita.
On Oiling the Machine
Line them up as I
Hand out env’lopes of cash; I
Buy votes with a smile.
Tentang Perjuangan Yang Telah Usai
Mata lebam
Gempur malam
Demonstrasi
Protes undi
Dipenjara
Caci nista
Bela guam
Gaduh geram
Tanding kerusi
Dedah kroni
Derma juta
Sabung nyawa
Untuk siapa?
Demi apa?
On Watching His National Day Rally Speeches in YouTube
From across the yawning gap, the wide chasm Of irretrievable Time, I watched this Lion of a man hold his people in a Roaring trance: his eyes ablaze, his voice in Firm, unshakeable command: exhorting, Cajoling, pleading, teasing, commanding. Teaching his people, teasing out the facts Of a hostile environ in which their Red dot is ensconced: uneasy, wary. Informing them of glory, great heights scaled, Warning them of complacency, of ease. He growls, roars, thunders like an Asian Jove, Like a Confucian father to cowed sons. Tells them to buck up, work t'wards, fight against, March onwards and upwards, Sisyphean. He says, "Even from my sickbed, even If you are going to lower me into The grave and I feel that something is going Wrong, I will get up." As I watch him on Stage, from the corner of my eye, I keep Watch for the angry ghost of Lee Kuan Yew.
On The Greatest Politician
I have always been, and always will be Ev’rything and ev’ryone, ever and Always, to ev’rybody. My honeyed Words and grand declamations, they dazzle And confound, seduce and charm, soothe and burn You with the searing heat of wild desire And the roaring march of your heart’s fealty. You will love me, adore me, enthrone me, For I am your true love, your highest cause, Your life’s grandest anthem, your marching tune Your sheikh, your boss, your chief, your Tun, your Lord.
On Thieves and Heroes (or, Twenty-Five Years and Forty-Seven Lies)
For twenty-five years, brisk demands
For change, for moral politics -
A reborn nation, confident
That Justice can stand unafraid -
Now finally claim centre stage
Your avatar can claim his prize.
But look - what fateful compromise!
What cruel bargain - filth-stained hands!
With faithless smiles, with hands aclasp
These erstwhile foes declare their pact
Amidst blithe claims of kingly seal
Your "unity" swept all sins clean
And now you reap your poisoned fruit
A bitter harvest for your sham
And twenty-five years' promises
Are trumped by forty-seven lies
The deathly grin unmasked, unshamed
Bears witness to your blotted vows
The thieves you pledged to overthrow
Walk lockstep with your heroes now.
On Constancy and Treachery
Give us a man of Constancy
A man of iron principles
A man to lead us broody souls
To sunlit hills of Certainty
Not this, this faithless wavering
This double-dealing Treachery
The eager overthrow of Truth
In service of Ambition's ring
You think that we will soon forget
That public minds are changeable
Well our Trust, too, is mutable
Your perfidy you soon will fret!