BEAST IN OUR MIDST
Rosmah Mansor’s controversial trip to Qatar last week using the government-funded jet has caused an uproar, but news reports and photographs on her website show it had been four busy days for the prime minister’s wife’s entourage.
Sometimes, a purer, deeper, more truthful script emerges from the one that has been carefully written and blows us away.Kadir said Rosmah’s actions were open to debate by everyone as Malaysia is a democracy.But if our past was so great, if our leaders were so wonderful, our culture was so rich, how come we are in such a mess today? How come every time we boast about our achievements, we only wallow in shallow nostalgia? We are constantly copying others or ourselves. All Malays have one simple question today of their leaders: How are you going to set the future right? No one wants to answer that. Except MP Datuk Seri Azalina Othman who has come out with an erudite solution,
Arrogance on the part of the meritorious is even more offensive to us than the arrogance of those without merit: for merit itself is offensive.The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, the public debt should be reduced and the arrogance of public officials should be controlled.With allegations ranging from diamond rings to black magic, Rosmah Mansor has always hogged the limelight for the wrong reasons. Behind closed doors, even BN leaders murmur in protest of her being an albatross around her husband Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and the ruling coalition’s necks. Stupidity combined with arrogance and a huge ego will get you a long way.
This admission by Azalina that it’s on a personal capacity makes it even worse as far as abuse of power is concerned.’ This admission by Pengerang MP Azalina Othman – that PM’s wife Rosmah Mansor’s trip to Qatar was on a personal capacity – makes it even worse as far as abuse of power is concerned.If it’s personal, why use public’s money and the government-funded private jet? Use your own money.Azalina, as a qualified lawyer, is smart enough to see the potential danger of PM having conflict of interest if he was the one who sat in the cabinet approving the use of the government jet for his wife.Why is it that so many men feel they “own” their women? They tell them what to wear, who to be friends with, what their timings should be, how much cleavage they can show, fly into fits of rage if their woman should talk to another man, spy on their women and think it is their right to keep checking their phones and computer. Strangely, many women actually feel flattered by this attention; do things to actually provoke it further and get on some absurd high, thinking that “this is love”.
There is a big difference between ‘possessive’ and ‘protective’. Possessiveness stems from distrust, insecurities, control issues and nothing about it, in any form, is healthy or desirable. Like a man calling and messaging his woman incessantly to find out where she is and what time she is returning. Protective behaviour, on the other hand, is a sign of caring. It’s when the man respects his woman’s personal freedom to go out alone with her friends or work colleagues and calls or messages perhaps just once simply to say “I love you, hope you’re having a super time” or to check if she’s okay for transport if it’s getting to be a late night. Men find it difficult to deal with strong, capable women colleagues! But is this really a gender issue?
Is it true that men constantly try to pull down women at the workplace? Why? Perhaps they do so because they consider the office, and in particular, the corridors of power, their original territory! And a woman walking down the same corridor is something they still haven’t got used to.
Or, maybe men are convinced that women are inferior, and so give them short shrift. Or, is it because knowing the weakness of their own sex, men fear that susceptible male bosses may give women colleagues more attention and bigger promotions?
Whatever the reason, the fact remains that a woman with a strong personality and even average looks can strike terror in the hearts of male colleagues for no fault of hers. If a woman has a mind of her own and dares to question a decision or make a point strongly, she is instantly labelled “enemy” for she has violated the traditional code of conduct between the sexes! And so as a protective response, men label her “difficult to work with”, “hard to get along”, “tough to handle” or “not willing to listen”. This is the global mantra of guys who find it difficult to accept a woman on an equal footing, intellectually or professionally.
Most women professionals realise early on that in order to be heard and taken seriously, they will have to adopt a somewhat serious mien and a nononsense approach. It is only strong women who make it to the top, others fall by the wayside. A softie just will not do, she will be an easy doormat for men to walk over. They will take her lightly and try to fix her in the slot they are most comfortable with — a biddable or sexy type who can be controlled through manipulation. But give men a stern, nononsense approach and they will stand at a distance and wonder what to make of you.
But reflect upon the issue a bit, and you realise that the situation is not as simple as a male-female gender face-off. Certainly, the gender edge aggravates it, but the issue is more about fields of control rather than men not able to accept women at work. And so, as a male colleague puts it, “Men don’t get along even with each other in office situations, except when their work relationships are sharply defined as junior and senior. And when it comes to women, you have to be mature if you are not to feel challenged and diminished. The fact is that women at the top are all the strong ones, who have grown against a lot of opposition from colleagues.”
The competition between women at the same level is equally intense and dirty. And probably that’s how the top bosses like it to remain. Jagged edges, unrealised dreams, unfulfilled desires, and circles just short of completion, all make for edgy people who will give it their last shot to move ahead, rather than sit back in sated glory.
Protective is when a man loves his woman to look her best and to wear what she feels most expressive in, and only guides her as to a dress protocol if it be a visit to the in-laws, a place of worship, or travel in crowded public transport so as to not be uncomfortable or chased by rogue elements. Protective is when you make sure there’s money in your woman’s wallet to get through the day, and possessive is when you want to control her finances and figure her daily movements through it. Protective is when you respect your woman, and possessive is when you distrust her. Which kind of “love” do you prefer?
Self-preservation is the default mode of the self-destructive.Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim is trapped in an existential dilemma. He cannot blame himself for the wreck he has wrought. To do so would severely damage, if not abort, a political career born in genetic entitlement and wafted into that exhilarating but oxygen-thin ozone layer of celebrity. He cannot blame Najib either, the favoured recourse of Rosmah issue caught in a crisis, in more senses than one. He owes his job to Rosmah and more specifically Najib. He tried blaming the local opposition, particularly his bete noire ANwar Ibrahinm, but that is a futile dead end. It could not take him out of the maze. Anwar is in control of neither the street nor the secretariat. Blaming PAS is too obvious to raise anything more substantial than a yawn. ’mischievous’ use of social media molestation harassment journalist Former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief Datuk A. Jasin been accused, is making waves decided to do “penance that lacerates” him for his “bad lapse of judgement” and has therefore “offered to recuse” himself from the editorship of the publication.Former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief Datuk A. Jasin raps Shahidan for scolding reporters over Rosmah issue”Shahidan can defend Rosmah and the opposition can argue it on grounds of check and balance,” he said, adding that with a bigger representation in the Dewan Rakyat, the opposition would be criticised if they did not speak out against Rosmah’s use of the government jet.The former editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times also said that it was imperative for the public to debate the matter.”We should let our voices be heard because this is our country and the money spent by the government is our money,” he added.Kadir, however, called on the people to not be depressed.”In less than five years, we can vote again. It’s just that during this time, many more issues will be twisted,” he said.But there are critical questions that come to mind and they cannot be brushed under the carpet. A crime, been committed, cannot be wished away with Najib’s a self imposed exile. It is a legal issue, apart from being a huge social problem, and it is surprising that despite it now being common knowledge,and that the incident actually happened a fortnight ago, there is no police complaint. More importantly, can a magazine that prides itself in exposing the wrong all around hide behind the façade of ‘internal matter’? Malays have no future? If you were to listen to all the election rhetoric, that’s the honest takeaway. There’s so much chest thumping about how we were once the world’s greatest nation, how we had the most amazing leaders, the finest culture, the best schools of learning, the most exciting politics. It’s all about the past, nothing about the future.
“Shahidan can defend Rosmah and the opposition can argue it on grounds of check and balance,” he said, adding that with a bigger representation in the Dewan Rakyat, the opposition would be criticised if they did not speak out against Rosmah’s use of the government jet.
The former editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times also said that it was imperative for the public to debate the matter.
“We should let our voices be heard because this is our country and the money spent by the government is our money,” he added.
Kadir, however, called on the people to not be depressed.
“In less than five years, we can vote again. It’s just that during this time, many more issues will be twisted,”
There is a limitation what MPs ‘thank’ Rosmah for ‘fruitful’ trip “Conditions apply”. Depending on the way Shahidan Kassim framed it,despite the monstrous conditions, may still plead you for a deal!There must be a reason why we are not annihilated, Though for many years, the world has been our enemy Loyalty doesn’t mean obedience or adherence; it implies keeping the …Read more
