Why oh why?

 I would be doing grave injustice if I do not mention at least in the passing about the Malaysians of all walks of life and all corners of the globe who came together for a similar cause. Remember this date 9th July 2011.

from all walks of life

During the height of the public rally, from the comfort of the armchair in the cool dry ambiance of my home, (it was pouring outside) I had the opportunity of gazing through some of the most stirring moments since the moment Tunku hailed heartily the cry of Merdeka to the nation in 1957, via the plethora of excellent photographs depicted via Facebook. In a very long time, Malaysians forgot their differences and came together for a single cause -to be heard!

the stand-off

At the end of the whole brouhaha, two things were quite clear to all of us. Everyone has come out smelling of roses in spite of the dented egos, injuries here and there, loss of business for a day and the initial fear of the sequelae. The Government is happy with the police for allegedly handling the crowd professionally (?with tear gas and water hose). The organizers of the rally were smiling happy, in spite of their crimson hued clothes of injuries and wet due to rain and water jet shot at them, with the great turnout which they claim to be 50,000 (vs. 5,000 as alleged by their opponents).
And it also looks like none of the leaders have any control over any anybody (so it appears) and like to pass the buck. The government leaders initially refused to legitimize the rally, tried to discourage it via the media of its ill effect on tourism and local business. When the call became too loud, they insist that the King's consent must be sought. When the King decreed that the stadium would be used. Then the stadium management refused. And the police said no permit for your rally and that they would shoot demonstrators.

guess who joined the party? Marina!

PM said Home Minister is responsible who says that the Police is on consenting to gathering (like the Minister is just there to warm the seat and collect his pay cheque and other benefits), forgetting that the King had given the green light, albeit in a contained environment! The word treason died in the era of Hang Jebat! Hey, who is the Boss aorund here?
During one of the photo browsing instance in cyberspace, I stumbled upon a shot of two individuals, obviously foreigners with an international news broadcasting crew - a Caucasian male behind the camera capturing the clash between police and rakyat around Puduraya and a pudgy Indian lady, from my novice Sherlock Holmes' type of deduction, with post parturition remaining adipose tissue probably with a toddler back home under the care of her mother, hanging behind the camera looking apprehensive. She must be an apprentice of sort or an assistant technician hoping to advance her career in the field of photo-journalism, looking anxious but trying her best to be the one to capture that special moment hoping that her one shot could change the world like the scores of classics we have been exposed to before - the classic helicopter shot leaving Saigon, of the nude young girl running aimlessly after being exposed to Agent Orange, WW2 atom bomb victims, etcetera....
Maybe, sounding chauvinistic in the comfort of my armchair, sounding politically incorrect in this time and age, I ask myself, "Why or why? What is a lady like you doing in a place like this?" The answer I would have probably got (after a tight slap) is ... something I learnt in Dewan Kindergarten in 1969.....
I had joined this kindergarten late after leaving the one near my house as they believed in corporal punishment for pre-schoolers! The teachers in the old school used to tie the tiny children's hands with strings and frighten them with lit matchsticks for mischief. In Dewan, on my first day, every child was happily singing to the tune of the Malay folk song 'Bangau Oh Bangau'. If one were to scrutinize the lyrics of the song which starts with the question of why the stork's leg are so petite, we would come to realize that everything in this world is inter-related. One cannot stand independent or oblivious of the other. No one stands alone. It is a vicious cycle. Somebody got to the dirty job for the betterment of the bigger good (if there is such a word!

Oh Bangau oh Bangau

Kenapa engkau kurus

Macam mana aku tak kurus

Ikan tidak timbul

Oh ikan oh ikan

Kenapa engkau tidak timbul

Macam mana aku nak timbul

Rumput panjang sangat

Oh rumput oh rumput

Kenapa panjang sangat

Macam mana aku tak panjang

Kerbau tak makan aku

Oh kerbau oh kerbau

Kenapa engkau tak makan rumput

Macam mana aku nak makan

Perut aku sakit

Oh perut oh perut

Kenapa engkau sakit

Macam mana aku tak sakit

Makan nasi mentah

Oh nasi oh nasi

Kenapa engkau mentah

Macam mana aku tak mentah

Kayu api basah

Ok kayu oh kayu

Kenapa engkau basah

Macam mana aku tak basah

Hujan timpa aku

Hujan oh hujan

Kenapa engkau timpa kayu

Macam mana aku tak timpa kayu

Katak panggil aku

Katak oh katak

Kenapa engkau panggil hujan

Macam mana aku tak panggil

Ular nak makan aku

Ular oh ular

Kenapa engkau kau nak makan katak

Macam mana aku tak makan katak

Memang makanan aku