Yin says that the Dakota Indians believe that when they discover that they are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.
He gives a brief insight into how our government works, below. Will PH learn?
Yin: Someone sent me the above which so aptly describes our government that I wonder if it is not required reading by ministers and civil servants.
We are all familiar with the standard response to any problem:
1. Set up a committee within the ministry to look into it.
2. If it is very serious; set up a Task Force to deal with it. Put our best ‘yes-men’ party hacks and cronies in the Task Force. A reward for their hard work and loyalty.
3. If it is really really serious; set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry. Let the flavour-of-the day ex judge or politician head it.
If we don’t like what they recommend we can shelve it and tell the rakyat the cabinet is studying it. And if we oppose we just ignore it – like the RCI on Local Government Elections Inquiry headed by Senator Athi Nahappan which recommended reinstating local government elections.
4. Just to make sure the horse is not really dead but sleeping; the government changes rider and if the rider cannot put life into it . . .
5. Form a committee to see if the horse is really dead or is it because the rider is no good.
6. Just to be sure they have covered all the bases the responsible will institute a “Pelawatan Sambil Belajar” tour of countries which are experts in resurrecting dead horses. And if they suspect the public will accuse them of going on a junket they let the private sector pay for it especially one which has a vested interest. Istanbul comes to mind.
7. If all else fails and the horse is clinically dead just change the definition of ‘dead’ by lowering the standard we can say that the horse is not dead but just resting.
8. The alternative is to classify it as ‘impaired’ and by that deft move create a whole new line of action again.
9. Hiring experts on princely salaries to advise the government. That’s how we bought the Scorpene Submarine and God knows what else.
10. Get the different ministries to pool their dead and see if that works. If it doesn’t they can blame the other ministries horse and everyone gets off the hook.
11. Throw money at the problem and hope it will go away. It’s only the rakyat’s money anyway.
12. After exhausting their arsenal of hare-brain ideas; produce a “Buku Kuning” explaining how clever it is of the government to have bought a dead horse. Now it won’t be a drain on the public purse because we don’t have to feed it. By that one genius act the government has saved the rakyat zillions of ringgits.
13. If the dead horse turns out to be a donkey (it’s hard to tell; they come with certificates and degrees from Cambridge) just promote him and keep him out of sight.
I hope this has given you a better appreciation of how our government works. We have 50 years of experience flogging dead horses we know what we are talking about.
Malaysia Boleh!
(The views expressed are those of the contributor)
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By Yin
Letters from Ward 5, Tanjong Rambutan
Yin, no better truth do you speak than what you have written above. I, too, like you feel like trying to rebuild Malaysia is like flogging a dead horse despite true patriots like Kak Mariam and Bung Hussein and not to mention the motley crew of activists like Hishammudin Rais, Siti Kassim, Zunar and the cartoonist who produced an excellent cartoon of the kleptocrat in a clown face. His name unfortunately escaped me at the moment. As I have oft-repeat that Islam and the hereditary rulers are the very antithesis of modernity and democracy. You do not need to look far to see all the failed states like Yemen, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, not to mention Iran and Iraq. All are of a certain faith and the extent of their retardation can be seen as they are prepared to wield death and destruction on those who disagree with them. Even Kemal Attaturk realised to enshrine the faith as the primary religion in their country;s Constitution is to condemn his country to degeneration not progress and he chose the later. Yet despite overwhelming evidence many of the villagers which your four buffalo riders came to persist in adhering to that faith. A good allegory is the state of the national hockey team. As a team we used to be in the top ten nations even once playing in the semi final albeit held on our turf. But we consistently finished not at the top but a credile ten or eleven out of twelve nations competing. But at least we did not finish last and now the best we can do is participate and be the whipping boy. Once the hockey team was multi racial but today it is mono racial and we beg to be included in the Olympics not because we are good but because we hope that the International Body, FIH, will take sympathy on us. We have a womens team where the majority of the players wear the hijab and leggings for fear that without these protection, we will arouse the sexual fevour of the male spectators. I always thought I am attending a hockey game and not an adult show. The hijab reduces the peripheral vision of the players and it was funny to hear the Western commentators through their ignorance noticed the male players donning the leggings as well, opined that it was to prevent artificial turf burns. When I politely advised them of the true purpose, they all have a good laugh at the expense of these male players wearing stockings. Talk about cross dressing. When the azaan was on, the hockey players sat down on the pitch trying to express respect and piety. i would thought it would be more appropriate for them to attend to their place of worship to pray instead of making a show of it. Sad but threw. Seriously, I am starting to give up hope that I will live to see the day my beloved country will take its place amongst the progressive nations of this world. It truly is like flogging a dead horse. But at least I am safely ensconced in a very good Western country and out of harms way.
Should be “sad but true.” A thousand apology for the typo.
sigh….truly sad but true. our future generation r the ones that will be fighting an uphill task for a decent life