From long observation I have come to the inevitable conclusion that humans fall into three broad categories: Healthy Egos, Diseased Egos, and the Unawakened Lumpenproletariat.
Healthy Egos are unstinting in their admiration and appreciation of true grit and genuine talent whenever they come across it. They are always ready to jump to their feet and applaud a job well done, a speech masterfully delivered, or a dangerous feat successfully accomplished.
A very positive sign indeed is the ever increasing popularity of truth-speaking political voices like those of Anwar Ibrahim, Raja Petra Kamarudin, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Haris Ibrahim, Gobind Deo, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Nik Aziz, Husam Musa, Sim Kwang Yang, Kim Quek, Walski, Helen Ang, Art Harun, Nathaniel Tan, Bernard Khoo, Anil Netto, Tunku Aziz, Brian Yap, Pak Sako, Vijay Kumar Murugavell, Kenny Gan, John Lee - and now we must include in the list sociopolitical commentator and activist Wong Chin Huat (who got arrested on May 5th under the stupid Sedation Act for encouraging people to wear black in peaceful protest against Umno's hooliganistic power grab in Perak).
It reveals that there are a lot more healthy egos in Malaysia than anyone might have thought possible, after 22 years of heavy-handed misrule under that shameless distorter-of-truth, Dr M.
Diseased Egos are entirely self-serving, narcissistic and easily threatened by authentic ability and genuine goodness. Therefore they resort to snideness, sarcasm and insidious forms of cynicism. They also tend to project all their own worst traits on others, assuming that everybody has his or her price and can be bought, bribed or intimidated into compliance and docility. The ones with diseased egos are firm believers in upholding the status quo. They find it impossible to accept the possibility that genuine goodwill and harmony will ever prevail in a multicultural, multiracial country like Malaysia. They are convinced that the Pakatan Rakyat government will turn out exactly the same as Barisan Nasional. "Just give them two terms in power," the diseased ego opines. "Politicians are all the same!"
How does a healthy ego get infected and become diseased? One plausible explanation is the traumatic effect on vulnerable young psyches that ridiculous "teachings" about eternal perdition inevitably have. Once a child believes himself or herself to be "sinful" it will morally begin to downward spiral and end up incapable of empathy. Most diseased egos will be found to suffer from severe emotional disorders mainly due to lack of parental affection in their tender years. Is there a cure for diseased egos? Most certainly... but it's a fairly expensive treatment, so please refer to my banking details on the sidebar and deposit RM25,000 into my account before emailing me for some clues.
The Unawakened Lumpenproletariat is the Sleeping Giant that will radically transform the political landscape when it finally awakens - as all hibernating beasts must. Those whom we call The Long-Suffering Rakyat are the ones who will determine how the story of democracy unfolds. But as long as they can be kept asleep or in a permanent consumerist trance, they pose no threat at all to the status quo.
Thank heaven for financial meltdowns and massive retrenchments. When our kids can no longer afford to switch cellphones every six months or upgrade to the latest iPod or even chill at Coffee Bean or Starbucks, they might begin to wake up, take stock of the shit that's being shoveled down their throats, and register themselves to vote... Umno/BN OUT!