Shifting Gear

With Raya now more than a fortnight passed already, several houses are already running out of dishes and kuehs to serve guests. Likewise with this house which I only realised when serving 2 dear friends whom I have not met for more than several years. Amidst our conversation, I found to my dismay, that we're at the tail-end of our madu angsa and wajik, not to mention the raya cookies. My facial expression must have been pretty obvious that A offered to take me to a shop in KL that still sell delicious raya cookies as soon as S leaves. And soon we were on our way there in his brand new BMW.

Not bad, I thought to myself. For a chap who comes from a small town somewhere in Sabah, A seem to have it made. So I asked him what he does now. Off course, I cannot reveal his story, only that he asked me to join the rat-race. Hmm....my mind was going like 'I've never been a rat, how do I join the race?'

As he is one of those 'once started, difficult to stop talking' guy, I just listened. All along the way he was telling me of how well he was doing and the contributions he'd made as a supplier to some of the major developments in KL, and how those developments would contribute towards the flow of furthers successes, especially for the common good of the people. It had begun to rain even before we reached KL, and traffic was begining to pile. But he did not seem to be bothered about it, and may as well not have noticed the crawl we were in. I mean, we were really in a milimeter-by-milimeter crawl that even those padestrians who were braving the rain seem to be moving faster than us.

Anyway, after a long while, the traffic situation improved. As we approached a bank, he suddenly pulled over and said he needed to make a rather urgent transaction, and asked me to drive the car around the block till he comes out. I was like "huh? Is this guy serious?" I mean, I've never really been in a 6xxx series BMW, let alone drive one! But, I was also like "wow! Here's my chance to drive one!"

As I moved to the driver's seat, I began feel the adrenelin going through me and thought about the invitation to join the rat-race. Hmm...not a pretty bad idea, I thought. And I was really begining to get fire-up about the whole idea when a car behind sounded a horn rather rudely. 'Ok! Ok!' I shouted by myself as I put on the belt and revved the engine.

The mere touch of the steering wheel was electrifying for me to want to be a monster. Oops!, rats, I mean, rat. My right leg kept revving the engine as my left hand reach for the gear. My left leg..."Hey! Who stole the clutch pedal?"

The Life and Time of a Party President.

At the time of writing this, P.O.B. has yet to be registered neither as a party nor as a society. It should be stated, however, that the fault of this non-registration does not lie with the Registrar of Society, contrary to the opinions of the party members. The ROS, it must be stressed here, have been most responsive, responsible, and even cooperative, to say the very least. The fault in this whole fiasco lies within the party itself. To be precise, the membership of the party leaves much to be desired.

It is with a heavy heart that I, as the interim party president, have to document this confession in a public manner; but I do so for the greater good of this nation, particularly, the very party itself: we have failed!

POB was initiated more than a decade ago by a group of individuals who believed that its formation would, and could, harness the creative minds and seemingly boundless energy of the untold number of individuals in Malaysia whom, the party pioneers thought, their pursuit of a common interest are being laid to waste without the leadership and direction of an organisation that would charter a path towards the successful realization of the ideals that is shared by these like-minded individuals.

Sadly, this party has been betrayed from the very beginning, not only by its members (party membership provides for automatic qualification or disqualification based on information and updates - provided on weekly basis – by the Ministry of Information, Ministry of (then) Welfare, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Internal Security, and the various government agencies such as LHDN and even bodies of all the faiths in Malaysia), but even by the pioneers themselves! Even before the first anniversary of its interim formation, several of the pioneer members betrayed the ideals of this party, to the point of denouncing the party at private gatherings where, by Malaysian Standards, would be witnessed by at least a score of individuals from other parties who are bent on the destruction of POB!

That the funding of such gatherings have been derived from sources which are anything but legal have never been questioned by these individuals, nor thrust to their unthinking minds; acts which are politically and morally wrong, as their mind and even soul are being controlled by the enemies of P.O.B., using every media available to discredit, tarnish and slander, while at the very same time it – the media – glorifies the leadership of our enemies to the point where not a single fault lies within them. To borrow the words of a former leader of this nation: the playing field is not level; the treachery and injustice upon us goes untold and unbridled.

Ogilvy once wrote “I am so old, so tired…”, and I now begin to understand his words.

There still remain loyalist amongst the pioneer members, but the number is thinning. Together with them, I have tried my best so that P.O.B may rise to be an equal, but that now seem an elusive dream. As such, I have no alternative but to offer my resignation as the interim President of P.O.B., in hope that another may succeed where I have failed.

To my comrades who remain loyal to the ideals of P.O.B, and even anyone who may chance upon this document, I have not a single doubt in my mind that I will be seduced to betray P.O.B. and that the seduction may even succeed. But know you, friends and foes alike, I will not give up without a fight.

By the way, especially for those who may not be aware of the existence of P.O.B., its full name is Partai Orang-Orang Bujang.