Another Side of Psy ~ Oxford Union Style!

I doubt if there's anybody who's connected to the internet who hasn't only heard of a 35-year-old South Korean pop sensation named Psy, but has watched his viral "Oppa Gangnam Style" video at least twice.

Psy's is a classic success story of a talented composer-performer who made it BIG through patience, perseverance, perspicacity, and sheer good luck. He literally struck the pop phenomenon jackpot with just one YouTube hit. But here's a whole different perspective on Psy the human being whose wry sense of humor and candor makes him a winner in every sense - and not just as a one-trick pony.

It's impossible not to admire and like this chubby guy in a suit and funky shades. He's a smart cookie and has really put Korean pop on the world charts, pretty much the same way Peter Jackson singlehandedly upgraded New Zealand's status as filmmaking hub with his epic Lord of the Ring movies.

A most amazing turn of events signifying the end of Umno...

Reproduced from Malaysiakini as a public service...

Saiful's dad apologises to Anwar, claims his son used

1:22PM Mar 8, 2013

The father of Saiful Bukhari has apologised to PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, claiming that his son had been used by irresponsible quarters, including an officer of the prime minister, to defame Anwar in Sodomy II.

“Anwar is innocent and a victim of this slander... as such I apologise to Anwar and his family.

“He and his family have suffered a lot as a result of this slander,” Azlan Mohd Lazim said in a statement he released at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

“I deeply regret all the slander hurled against Anwar, which involved my son Saiful Bukhari,” Azlan said.

Anwar was acquitted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Jan 9 last year on charges of sodomising Saiful, who was his political aide, on June 26, 2008, in a condominium in Kuala Lumpur.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers has appealed against the decision and the Court of Appeal will hear the case on July 22.

In the statement, Azlan, 60, said all media statements by him and Saiful had been prepared by an officer with the prime minister's office and a lawyer.

Malaysiakini is withholding the identities of these two people pending their response.

“They are the masterminds behind all the sodomy slander against Anwar that involved my son.”

Azlan said he learnt about the sodomy allegation only from the “government-owned media” as Saiful never told him about it.

“I have never been contacted by any quarters to obtain my statement as his father, from the beginning till the end of the trial,” he said.

Giving moral support to his son

Although he was always seen accompanying his son during the trial, Azlan explained that he did that simply as a father who was giving moral support to his son.

“Actually I don't believe the allegations against Anwar.”

Azlan said he decided to make the expose today as he has unveiled the truth after spending a long time to collect information obtained during the trial, as well as those sent to him by the public.

The government has neither met him, nor asked for his opinion about the sodomy case, he claimed.

“Everything was so carefully planned and executed (by the official),” Azlan alleged.

“As a Malay and a Muslim, I started to realise the evil of this plan. I don't want to continue to conspire with this malicious slander. I want the people who love this country to know their malicious intention.

“If this malicious intention continues, not only the Malays and Muslims would be destroyed, but the nation would be destroyed as well. I do not want to see this happen.

“I decided to be with Anwar, Pakatan Rakyat, and the Malaysians who thirst for prosperity, peace and truth, and are against this evil act.”
  
Azlan urged the people to “rise and fight against this cruelty, and work hard to uphold the truth”.

“Let us pray to Allah to win the struggle of Anwar and Pakatan to take over the government in the 13th general election,” he concluded.

Anwar Ibrahim: LETTER TO MALAYSIA (revisited)

Anwar Ibrahim's letter to all Malaysians was released on March 7th, 2008. the eve of the epochal GE12. I found it on Elizabeth Wong's blog and rather than reproduce the entire letter here, just click on this link! 

There are many reasons why I am voicing my support of Anwar Ibrahim's political comeback via Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) which as of today will lead a vigorous, newly elected parliamentary opposition.

My instincts tell me Anwar Ibrahim is a man of destiny and fully deserves our wholehearted support - but for now I am content to just let Anwar speak for himself.

I congratulate all Malaysians who voted with a vengeance on March 8th to foil BN's elaborate electoral fraud by the sheer force of their numbers.

Bravo, everybody! This has truly been a victory for People Power and I have never felt so optimistic about my country for as long as I can remember.

Before I sign off I just want to say to Dr M: you may be a cunning old crocodile but you are totally lacking in wisdom and humility. You were the one who sodomized Malaysia, not Anwar!

UNSINKABLE FLOATING OBJECTS (update)

Sim Kwang Yang has raised some very pertinent issues in his essay, "Whom should we trust?" Ultimately, we have to love and trust ourselves before we can love and trust anybody else. Otherwise we will end up behaving like the proverbial lemming, incapable of independent thought and action.

Every day I bump into people who continue to parrot well-worn clichés about Anwar Ibrahim being tainted during his long stint in Umno, his unrelenting political ambition, his connections with the Zionist banking fraternity - and, worst of all, the Islamic zeal that first shot him to prominence as a hot-headed leader of ABIM (the Muslim Missionary Movement). All these negative perceptions of the man are ultimately rooted in deep fear of individuals like Anwar Ibrahim whose lives seem like epics compared to most of us.

Every culture produces its own cult heroes - strangers who appear from out of nowhere, slay an ogre, marry a princess, and end up ruling the kingdom. Most of us are fascinated by heroes. After all, that's where our role models come from. However, in recent times, with the rise of the corporate superpower, heroes have become a manufactured product. The mass media conspires to transform ordinary folks into superstars - and then, almost inevitably, they commit deicide by ripping their icons to shreds through vicious gossip and slander.

Sim rightly advises us to reclaim the authority that resides within each of us, to embody within our own beings the noble qualities of the hero. This is the mark of a mature individual. As more of us become our own heroes, we shall no longer be in awe of other heroes. Instead we will befriend and cooperate with them to manifest our collective dream of the Promised Land.

During Mahathir's 22-year reign as PM, he effectively dismantled all the mechanisms by which citizens of a functional democracy can replace non-performing or misbehaving public servants. Without journalistic freedom, no real information reaches the ground, only corporate propaganda. Without academic, artistic and intellectual freedom there can be no open dialogue on values, perceptions and collective visions. Without a politically neutral civil service and police force, a climate of Orwellian absolutism prevails. And without an impartial and independent judiciary, no justice can exist, nor can serious wrongs be righted.

In effect, Malaysian politics under Mahathir was like a public toilet with no working flush mechanism. There's nothing more unpleasant than walking into the loo only to find Unsinkable Floating Objects in the bowl. With no flush - and no bucket and pail to perform the job manually - we had no choice but resign ourselves to the less-than-delightful odor and the disgusting sight of public servants, fattened on sleazy lucre, who simply refused to resign or retire even when they had long overstayed their welcome.

Rather than succumb to mistrust and fear, we would do much better to regard Anwar Ibrahim as the Master Plumber who will take on the unpleasant but absolutely necessary task of fixing the flush mechanism. Once that is accomplished, nobody will be reluctant to "get their hands dirty" by participating in local politics as every adult citizen should. The public bowels will be regularly moved and Malaysia's infamous stinky loos will become a nightmare of our collective past. In other words, let's get a grip on our conditioned reflexes. BN has ruled us for 56 years by playing on our fears. They fanned the flames of the non-Malays' Islamophobia even as they played up the Malays' anxieties about being overwhelmed by noisy platoons of pig-eating pagans.

In a fear-free atmosphere of open discussion - such as we are experiencing for the first time courtesy of the Internet - clarity, truth and wisdom have a much better chance to prevail over atavistic superstitions and taboos. When the public lavatories are clean and functional, people will be less likely to walk around full of their own crap - and public servants who become bloated with egotism and greed will find themselves unceremoniously flushed away.

[First published 14 April 2008]