General Assembly

T'is the bumper season for political quotes in Malaysia. It's time again for the annual UMNO general assembly. I found a few interesting ones and I thought that I'll just mention them here. As usual, these quotes are obtained from the official media, which are the best source for quotes from important people.

Keris Quotes
Our Education Minister, says that the keris will protect everyone, not just the Malays. He goes on to explain that the keris is a symbol of strength and for centuries a part of Malay heritage. He claims that some quarters last year, misrepresented the keris as a symbol of fighting. He accuses these people of not understanding the culture of our people and country even after 50 years of independence.

"The keris is unsheathed with the aspiration to defend our people and country, not just the Malays but also the non-Malays in the country."

I think that, that quote settles it all. The keris is not a symbol for fighting but a symbol for defending our people and country, regardless of race. So, it's used to defend our people against an unknown bogeyman without fighting for anything. It's all so clear to me now. Thank you very much.

Rocket Quotes
With the recent success of our angkasawan programme, some people were eager to jump in on it. Umno Youth's Vice-Chief has suggested that "Rocket Clubs" (Kelab Roket) be set up in schools. This has got me a little confused. The rocket has always been a symbol for the main opposition. Their official print publication is called "The Rocket". So, the DAP should find a way to cash in on this little unwarranted publicity. Maybe they can trademark the phrase. Either way, they should find a way to prevent unauthorised people from misusing the term as it will only serve to dilute their brand.

Education Awards
I found this last stunt the most pathetic. Wanita UMNO will be presenting RM1,000 cash prize to the top non-Malay student from several of our universities. The students selected are from Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS and Universiti Malaya. According to the article:

"We thought, since this is the 50th independence year, we will present the gold medals to the non-Malays in recognition of the other races."

Such is the way things are in Malaysia. 50 years of struggle and hardship has been valued at RM3,000. This is to say that each month was worth about RM5 (disregarding inflation). This is just kind of sad. Thank you very much!