When Lassie goes home

Have you watch the television series, Lassie, before? I always enjoyed this show in my younger days because this adorable dog, has on many occasions, used her amazing abilities to help people in need. But do you know Lassie has a dark secret? The Lassie you see on TV is actually a he. When I told my colleague that Lassie is actually a he, she was stunned and went silent. She was shocked because she actually thought Lassie is a she. Well, it goes to show males, can, on various occasions, assume the role of a she when he sets his mind to it. But of course, this is not the crux of my argument.

So what am I talking about? Well, I find it moving when the president of Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), Ong Ka Ting, assures 1.28 million people living in 450 new villages that their welfare will be taken care of. In assuring them, he even said that as long as MCA is around, they will not be victimised. Isn’t it heart moving to hear from the leader of the 2nd largest political party in Barisan Nasional (BN) assuring the people that they are misplacing their concerns on expired land leases and that their welfare will be taken care of? To cap the entire assurance given, we further read that he said he knew the hearts and minds of the villagers because he was born and raised in a new village.

Well, my advice is to take words said by any politicians, especially those from BN, with a large spoonful of salt. Heart wrenching it may be, one must not forget that there are many Lassies in BN too. Why? Well look at what happened to Namewee. He is epitomized as the most viled and hated Public Enemy No.1 of Malaysia. What? Isn’t it Drugs? Rampant Corruption? Murderers? Rapists? Snatch Thieves? Mat Rempit? No, not really going by what was discussed in recent UMNO annual general meeting recently held. Of course the distant second public enemy should be AirAsia for making their air stewardess wear indecent clothes. Tsk, tsk…

Anyway, you must wonder why I mentioned Namewee? It is true, this guy to some extent rapped sensitive issues which is offensive to people. Well, not everything he said is true but certainly there are some truths in his self produced MTV and of course as the saying goes, truth hurts. But of course, you must wonder, what has this to do with MCA. If you followed the trail of the newspaper articles, you will noticed that try as they might, in the end MCA couldn’t get Wee Meng Chee off the hook despite alleging that Wee is merely a young man who got made mistakes and should be forgiven. They even made him apologised but in the end, the Government would have none of that and Mr Wee must receive his just punishment. Well, Mr Wee, good luck in Taiwan. You need it since you might be arrested if you ever set foot In Malaysia again.

And we also read about the dreaded Article 11 of the Constitution issue. If you recall earlier last year, nine ministers submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister (PM) seeking for a review of laws affecting the right of non-Muslims. However, as of today, we heard nothing from the executive or the legislative on laws being legislated to that effect. To top it off, the PM was so upset that the nine ministers decided to withdraw the memorandum. And how can one be not concern about being kicked out of leasehold lands when it expires?

Well, before I call it a night, let me share with you another story. It happened to my friend recently and she told me that this was also reported in the Chinese vernacular newspapers. Apparently she went with her family on a tour to Hunan and they visited a jewellery shop. While they were looking around at the jewellery, the sales attendant asked where they came from and they replied, “Malaysia”. He immediately went into a back room and called the owner’s daughter to greet them. She told them that her father was a Malaysian who fled to Myanmar due to the May 13 incident and married a local tribe princess. There he established contacts and managed to import jewellery from Myanmar to China and all the way to Hong Kong to make a fortune. Apparently, he told her daughter to sell to his fellow Malaysians at cost should any stop by their shops. The lady went on further and in the meantime, demonstrated her expertise and professionalism and added in a few freebies to convince them to buy her jewellery. Well, they did and when they read what was reported recently in the papers, they were shocked. Apparently, a few other Malaysians bought sapphires from this shop and it turns out to be fakes.

The moral? Proximity may be miles apart and familiarity breeds contempt.