RIPPED, TORN AND TATTERED

Posted by Unknown On Tuesday, February 2, 2010 26 comments
With all the time, money and effort spent on 1Malaysia and other nation-building efforts, it is highly probable that our Prime Minister must be very concerned about the statements allegedly made by his aide Datuk Nasir Safar as reported HERE and HERE.

According to a statement from the premier's office this evening, Datuk Nasir Safar, the special officer to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who stirred a hornet's nest with his stinging 'racist' remarks will resign.

His remarks have sparked an outrage as reported HERE. Scores of MIC and MCA members as well as representatives from non-governmental organisations at the event staged a walkout.

This incident reminds me of Howard Becker's Labeling theory which focuses on the linguistic tendency of majorities to negatively label minorities or those seen as deviant from norms.

The theory is concerned with how the self-identity and behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them, and is associated with the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping.

At the same time, the alleged act can be regarded as name calling that reflects a cognitive bias and a technique to promote propaganda.

According to this LINK:

Propagandists use the name-calling technique to incite fears and arouse prejudices with the intent that invoked fear based on fear mongering tactics will encourage those that read, see or hear propaganda to construct a negative opinion about a person, group, or set of beliefs or ideas that the propagandist would wish the recipients to denounce. The method is intended to provoke conclusions and actions about a matter apart from an impartial examinations of the facts of the matter. When this tactic is used instead of an argument, name-calling is thus a substitute for rational, fact-based arguments against an idea or belief, based upon its own merits, and becomes an argumentum ad hominem.


Some thought-provoking questions:

  • Did he say those words? If he did, will he apologize to all who were present? Granted that the statement from the PM's department offered an apology but it is via written communication and may not be strong enough to mend bridges.
  • What are the short-term and long-term measures to mend the bridges that were broken as a result of this incident?
  • Will he be charged under the Sedition Act (as advocated by MIC President Samy Vellu HERE) for saying those words?
  • What are the effects on the PM's efforts in establishing 1Malaysia, especially since this was supposedly the words of his special aide? How will he and his Department carry out damage control?
  • Will our PM put his foot down and make a firm statement warning all his aides, Ministers and subordinates not to make ANY statement that can incite feelings of our rakyat? It seems that of late, this has been a very disturbing and most disconcerting trend that does NOTHING for nation-building.

Until our PM grabs the bull by the horns and puts an end to such destructive habits, his effort, time and resources in his 1Malaysia dream may be left ripped, torn and tattered by those in his camp who are not supportive of our Prime Minister's vision. Could such overtures, statements and actions from various quarters be seen as sabotage or even disloyal acts? What a tragedy!

26 comments to RIPPED, TORN AND TATTERED

  1. says:

    Anonymous This scum must be charged on sedition, his resignation alone can't redeem the damages .

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Anon

    When witnesses come forward to make statements to prove that he made those offending remarks, the PM will have to bite the bullet for damage control. Failure to do so would cause irreversible damage!

    Take care and have a restful evening.

  1. says:

    Monyet King I am very tired of all these. I am going to consult my monyet friends and blog about it later.

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Dr.Bala

    So am I - which is why this is a delayed posting. I was alerted of this incident by a kind reader and I was aghast with horror when I read the report.

    More must blog about this to put pressure on the authorities to take remedial steps. More importantly - to ensure such incidents or remarks will never ever be repeated.

    Will visit your monyet haven later...Take care and rest well..

  1. says:

    Anonymous Najib will wash his hand and that is the character of the weak man whom Malaysians (only UMNO) voted in to be PM.
    As long as he remains there, this nation will go without direction. Oh GOD please help us the rakyat, give us the rakyat the strength to kick this man out of office soonest.
    Just sicko!!!

  1. says:

    Anonymous " ....indians came as beggers & chinese (women) came to sell their bodies ...." as quoted !

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Anon @ 10.54pm

    Sighs...It almost seems as though the writing is on the wall...

    I guess a committee or a board will be set up to investigate the incident. Perhaps a working paper will be drawn up to define the parameters of the case and then another committee to study those and the events will unfold one after another till the rakyat forget about this....

    Sighs...

    Indeed it is time Malaysians care enough to vote CORRECTLY!

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. Have a restful evening!

    Best wishes

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Anon @ 11.00 p.m.

    As you can see, I am so appalled, horrified, deeply offended, hurt and saddened that I could not even mention it in my blog.

    Outrageous is the word!!!

    That is why I provided the links instead.

    Sighs...What will become of this nation????

  1. says:

    Anonymous will anybody from the media be ISAed for reporting such disgusting incident macam dulu that occurred in penang !?

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Anon @ 11.21 pm

    Very good question.

    Perhaps now you understand why I blogged about it this way.

    :-(

    Take care and God bless you.

  1. says:

    A Arthur Excellent. This is just too good to be true. Now the devil himself is showing his horns and we know who are the extremists.

    Being the PM’s special aide he would have known the real sentiments and feelings of our PM towards building a harmonious society by beating the drums of 1Malaysia hard. But this is not the case.

    What do we really know what went on behind the scenes of all those secret UMNO meetings that our PM is chairing? He maybe giving tacit but silent approval to those whom he trusted to go garner more Malay votes by playing the racial card and at the same time he kept himself clean. And these aides being all gung-ho, all worked up to please the boss just wanted to go beyond their call of duty to their boss by overdoing it and gotten carried away.

    Datuk Nasir Safur remarks were just out of place and time. There have been many casualties before him and yet he never learn (Ahmad Ismail and Ali Rustam being the most prominent). Somebody must be egging him on to publicly make such a callous call in front of other component party members.

    Is it to make our PM look good to accept his resignation? Is it to stir up some racial sentiments again in front of MIC and MCA, telling them that these two parties did not deliver in the last election and will not deliver anymore in future? Is it a pre-meditated speech where he meant every word he said or is it just an off-handed political faux paux? Or is he echoing what the boss is saying behind the scene to show his loyalty? Or does he really feel and believe honestly and sincerely that only Malays are the real bumiputras while all others are pendatang?

    My apology for being pessimistic, pedantic and doubtful on the call of our PM’s “I have a dream” 1Malaysia. Perhaps our PM may be very sincere in his truly 1Malaysia but are surrounded with incompetent, hot-headed and numbskull advisers.

    But such utterances from his most special aide who accompanies him day in and day out makes one really ponder whether he is a shadow of his PM which has grown out of proportion.

    As a wizen politician in UMNO circle with patronage and cronyism so entrenched in their personality make-up, this is an unmitigated failure.

    Surely he would have realized that if one is not in the circle of high level government placements whereby one can dish out lucrative monetary contracts, you are no more. Your extracurricular revenues dries up, your grassroots switch to second liner leaders, you cannot get a seat in the next party election, you cannot do nobody no more favors to accumulate your venal debtor bank to call upon later, you cannot get to contest any safe State or Parliamentary seats in national elections, you cannot plea bargain if you are caught on the corruption net cast by MACC, you don’t even have a car and a driver and a whole host of other shadowy benefits that comes with the high office. In short if you are not in their circle you are out cold.

    So let us see how our dear PM deal with this recalcitrant of a special aide.

  1. says:

    nick Sis,

    This is PM's aide we're talking about! If the PM's aide can simply utter such garbage, what do we expect from UMNO and Bn itself?

    Again I implore to all Malaysian to burn this memory in their mind and never forget what UMNO and BN have become and will always remain. And after decades they are becoming worse and even worse r.

    First we had the despicable hypocrite senile Ex person (who in my opinion is the embodiment of Iago to the Malaysian people) spouting racism and hypocrisy. Now we have the aide to the current PM spouting racial hatred and bigotry in an official function, in official capacity too. (It's a wonder, why PERKASA was never thrown the book for spreading racism, bigotry and treachery with acts of inflaming and fanning racial tension and zealotry?)

    Are these two characters and many more in UMNO and BN are more tolerable than a selfish double parking madam or a red light jumping Mat rempit? I think not! If we can be angry and harbor deep and lasting resentment (I know many of us sometime wished ill things towards these ingrates), why can't we harbor deep suspicion and grudge towards these politician and their similar vein party? Take them to task. Punish them and their party and make an example of them. No pardon and no forgiveness until they are severely punished! We should remember this and many more despicable acts and remarks committed by UMNO and BN. I say let's teach them a lesson that they will never forget and in essence every politician and every political party will never forget. WE ARE THE BOSSES OF THIS NATION AND IF OUR EMPLOYEE INSULTS US, CHEATING US BY BEING CORRUPT AND LAZY, TREASONOUS AND MALICIOUS IN INTEND, WE WILL SACK THEM AND CHARGE THEM TO THE FULL EXTEND OF THE LAW! THIS IS THE LAST STRAW! WE WILL NO LONGER TOLERATE RACIST, BIGOTRY, HYPOCRISY, TREACHERY AND CORRUPTION (AND PIRACY)!

  1. says:

    Anonymous zzzzpm : " thank god i'm ousted !"

  1. says:

    Anonymous the truth : aide knows the 1-malaysia is palsu ONE !!

  1. says:

    Anonymous ...the mic & mca members walked out ?
    aiyah, they are overnite yau char koay lah surely later 'have accepted
    aide's clarification ONE' !

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Arthur

    Good morning to you!

    You never cease to amaze me with your ability to think so deeply.

    With much style and finesse, you have explored the different possibilities that could have caused the scenario.

    At the end of the day, the guilty ones can decry any accusation but God knows and He alone will be the judge.

    In the mean time, man will continue to judge others not by their words alone, but by both their words, actions and behavior.

    My appreciation to you for the time you spent to share your cognizant and perceptive views in such a chic manner.

    Take care and have a good day.

    Warmest wishes

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Nick

    Sometimes, I marvel at how certain characters perceive the rakyat to be ignorant, uninformed and devoid of thinking skills.

    I am sure many did not walk out based on emotional response but many questions ran through their mind - many of which must have been similar to the issues that you, Arthur and other Malaysians have raised in their minds or to one another.

    To me, it is a sham and an utter disgrace that such an incident can happen. Could it be a Fredian slip then? Even if was so, could it be reflective of their subconscious or everyday conversations? There has to be a root cause to such views that must have been so deeply embedded that one dares to voice out such questionable statements publicly at such an important event.

    Your observations certainly hold water and raises many matters of concern which should give us all knee-jerk reactions to awaken us to reality as it really is - minus whatever public relations smoke screen!

    Well said, Nick! We are the boss and it is up to us to dish out bonuses or to give the sack when subordinates do not perform. This is the time for us to do our appraisal and take steps to do the needful at the next GE.

    Surely, enough is enough for all of us!

    Take care and have a blessed day and may the Almighty open our eyes and ears to see through any hypocritical ploys.

    Salam

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Anon @ 8.34 pm

    Haha! I am sure he is relaxing and enjoying life now after riding off sleepily to the sunset unlike his predecessor who should have ridden his white horse to the horizon but instead returned Avatar-style :-) for a supporting role.

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Anon @ 8.41 am

    Many are probably thinking likewise.

    Worse still, some may even think - oh oh - kena tipu lagi...

    Sighs...

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Anon @ 9.04 am

    Sighs. Most saddening...We have seen this happen far too often...

    Take care and have a good day!

    Cheers

  1. says:

    Unknown Politics of Malaysia nowadays are really funny and exciting.

    When PR internal problem occured in last November, suddenly come out the case of missing jet.

    Then, PR was saved while UMNO have to cover the shit. Then, "Allah" case come out and cover the missing jet.

    With "Allah" case, UMNO want to maek a set back. But, PAS did not trapped. Following that, more than 10 religion houses were stabotaged. Again, UMNO need to fight the fire.

    At this time, PKR MPs raise another internal fire. While the fire is still blaming, the stupid UMNO 1Malaysia member lashed out sedition statement on chinese & indian. More wosrt, the statement is come out in a function of 1 Malaysia. Again, UMNO help to put down the fire of PKR problem.

    So, this week topic is Sodomy 2 & 1 Malay...sia Sedition.

  1. says:

    Unknown What does this case tell us?
    UMNO will never change till the end of life. Not even not change, UMNO are more racism than ever before. Looks at our ministers and DPM, they are more racism.

    More worst, the lash out of racist sedition statement occured in 1 Malaysia function. Najib 1 Malaysia will never success even Najib is really sincere to create 1 malaysia. From DPM statment, ministers action till this small fly of UMNO also tell the rakyat UMNO only want to protect their own interest not the malaysian interest.

    How about BN component parties, especially the dumb dumb MCA? Will MCA protect on the speech? Or MCA is still drawning in internal fight?

    MCA, MIC & UMNO are no more represent Chinese, Indian & Malay. These parties only represent their own party members. Though they fight for the independence of Malaya, but that is history.

    Today, rakyat need a government that can lead us out of the economic crisis, political free governing style and increase the competative strength in the world.

    Friends, pls register and vote wiesely in next GE.

  1. says:

    edward Dear MWS,

    See what I mean when i said that this country is stuck in a quagmire of race and religion? See the calibre of people who lead? I bet that these people have no inkling whats in store for this country in 10, 20 or 50 years time.

    Those who had walked out should have instead stood up and shouted this fella down. What do BN politicians stand for? What is 1Malaysia if not a PR exercise in futility just like "work with me...". All hogwash.

    Regards.

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Chong

    Very sharp observation, my friend! All these are red herrings thrown along our way to distract us from remembering 'other' more serious hiccups!

    And why?

    Perhaps it is more than they can handle....

    Cheers

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Chong

    A leopard can never change its spots!

    There are so many pressing issues before us now which should by right awaken all Malaysians.

    You have rightly pointed out that we need a new breath of life in capable politicians who are true, sincere and non-racist - who can earnestly steer us out of troubled waters!

    Malaysians - please wake up and exercise your right to vote.

    Thanks for being a caring Malaysian, Chong.
    Cheers

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Edward

    Excellent observation, Edward.

    Such a tame response can be interpreted in two ways:

    a) They are in full control of their emotions and refused to be baited to a negative reaction which could lead to more violent outbursts.

    OR

    b) They could have been 'tamed' to the extent that they are so docile to the extent that they dare not make a stronger response besides walking out for fear of backlash.

    What we see is a tragedy of all sorts!

    Sighs...

    Take care and have a good day despite the gloom around us.

    Shalom

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