Sunday, March 28, 2021

I WEEP FOR YOU, POOR DR M (revisited)

[It's been nearly 20 years since I sent this impassioned email to Dr M, at the height of Anwar Ibrahim's mock trial at Augustine Paul's kangaroo court. Guess I was emotionally distraught at the time, despairing at the evil I saw permeating every one of our institutions and seeing so many true patriots arrested under the accursed ISA. My feelings haven't changed, though these days I would probably be a wee bit less self-righteous and a little kinder, having realized that Dr M is, after all, just my own autocratic aspect on a permanent bad hair day.]

Subject: I weep for you, poor Dr M
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 18:36:53 +0800
From: Antares
To: The Prime Minister of Malaysia


I WEEP FOR YOU, POOR DR M

[Delivered in lieu of a tight slap]


I weep for you, poor Dr M
For the terror you must feel
As you gaze upon your final days
From the dizzy heights you've climbed
And you begin to realize
There's nowhere else for you to go
But down, down, down.

The evil you have brought to bear
Upon the spirit of our nation fair
Will never be forgotten -
Not in a hundred years;
And though you cry a thousand tears,
For you there can be no atonement.

You have forfeit your right to a fair trial
By your denial of the basic rights of those
Who oppose your ugly creed;
Your thoughts and deeds have become so vile
As to be almost unspeakable -
I feel the utmost loathing when I think of you
And yet I am driven to feelings of pity.

How will you plead when your soul is weighed
Against all the principles you have betrayed
In your ruthless ambition to succeed
By toying with the forces of fear and greed?

I know you couldn't have done it all alone;
You had to corrupt everyone
Who came into contact with you -
All the men in black and all the boys in blue,
Even the men in white, and your own children too.

Courtesy of Lulu's blog

You could say it was Siti Hasmah who made you do it -
You may curse her with your dying breath
For turning you into another Macbeth.
Both of you sought power and glory
Yet no one knows her sad, sad story:
She wanted her husband to be Mr Big
To make up for the fact that she wears a wig!

I weep for you, Augustine Paul and Abdul Gani Patail:
One fine day you'll be brought to trial
Before the Court of True Justice
And all the innocent ones whose lives you have defiled.
And as for you, Mohtar Abdullah, who knows no shame:
I believe all your children will have to change their names.

I weep for you, poor little rich henchmen (and women)
Who have signed a blood pact with Dr Mephistopheles:
All you corrupt and cynical backers and backbenchers
Of the Barisan Nazional who ought to have quit
While you still had a chance to go down in history
Untainted.

But it's too late now, you've blown your chance!
Your bank balances you had hoped to advance,
Regardless of how low you had to go
To keep up a show, to save your own face,
And protect yourselves from utter disgrace.

I weep for your benighted souls
And your hearts that have turned so cold;
I shed a tear for the decency and humanity
You have mortgaged in utter vanity.

I do not weep for those who have died
Or have been arrested, tortured, and tried
For merely voicing aloud their minds
In hopes of fairer, freer times.
Those who have suffered at the hands of villainy
Have already won a permanent place
In the gallery of national heroes.
Excuse me now as I chant a litany
To rid this land of noxious tyranny:

Hidup Keadilan!
Hidup Kebebasan!
Hidup Kebenaran!
Hidup Rakyat Malaysia!
Hidup Semangat Demokrasi!


=====================
BEBASKAN WARTAWAN KITA!
BEBASKAN KEHAKIMAN!

=====================



Dr M, I invite you to come and have a heart-to-heart chat with me. I'll even serve you tea and cakes. But please arrive without your heavily armed goons. True communication is only possible between equals. Perhaps you're not really interested in true communication - only obtaining PR mileage from being photographed with the likes of Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro (if only they knew what damage they have done to their own credibility and stature as world leaders!)

Well, even at this late hour, it's still possible to redeem yourself and facilitate a genuine reconciliation across the nation. I would be the first to shake your hand if you would only concede that you have allowed your personal whims to override the national interest: that you have grossly overreacted in seeking vengeance against your erstwhile heir apparent, Anwar Ibrahim, and have in the process effectively privatized the Royal Malaysian Police and made it your personal terrorist squad; that you have been barking up the wrong developmental tree, promoting physical growth at the expense of mental and spiritual - and thereby putting the integrity of our ecosystem in grave jeopardy. Merely concede that serious misjudgments have brought about the current political divide and economic malaise - and we can begin again together to heal and restore this beautiful and prosperous country to its true destiny, not as a nation of criminally-inclined and egomaniacal fools, but as courageous, compassionate, enlightened men and women worthy of planetary - nay, galactic - citizenship.

Upon receipt of this open letter addressed to you, you can choose one of three options:

1) Ignore and delete, dismissing this message as the rantings of yet another lunatic dissident, another "voice in the wilderness." But do so at your own peril. I have never been inspired to address you directly. The fact that I have indicates the gravity of the situation.

2) Order your secret police to investigate and, if necessary, arrest and interrogate me.

3) Call a special press conference and announce three things: (i) you will permit Anwar Ibrahim to receive the medical attention he seeks in Munich and begin legal proceedings to drop all charges against him (hasn't the man and his family suffered enough already at your hands?); (ii) all political detainees will be immediately and unconditionally released with sincere apologies to their families for the anxiety and distress caused; (iii) you will accept Suhakam's recommendations to abolish the ISA, the OSA, the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the Universities Act, and the Illegal Assembly clause in the Police Act.

I'm positive that all Malaysians will receive this news as a veritable miracle (and Heaven knows we're desperately in need of one). No one will actively push to punish you or your family for whatever financial misdemeanors may have been perpetrated in the past. All your best intentions and noblest visions for the nation will be reassessed in a more positive light, and your lifelong dedication to the nation's service will be acknowledged and honored.

For too long you have surrounded yourself with those who are either aligned with your personal agenda or who are in utter fear of your displeasure. Inevitably, you have become disconnected with reality, with how the masses honestly feel about your autocratic management style (which is fast becoming anachronistic as we move into the 21st century).

I neither fear your displeasure nor seek your destruction (truly, I ask only that you re-examine your worldview and make the necessary reattunements before it's too late - believe me, it's NEVER too late!).

Without intending to overdramatize, Dr M, this is definitely your last chance to turn inevitable disaster into the greatest triumph of your political career - to become once again a loved and respected world statesman.

Sincerely,

Antares (the erstwhile Kit Leee)
Mother's Day
13 May 2001

This email was posted TWICE to Dr Mahathir. Once on May 13, using my tmnet SMTP server with a bcc to myself and about 130 others. When the post failed to appear in my inbox I reposted it from my Yahoo! address. Recipients on the second posting have confirmed receipt. A week later, I have received no response from the Incurable Doctor. [May 20, 2001]

[First posted 26 March 2008]