Paraskavedekatriaphobia

And, once this happens, all Malaysians will know that Anwar Ibrahim pulled off the biggest con in Malaysian history and that there are no 40,000 Bangladeshi voters or power failures/blackouts during the vote counting or missing ballot boxes after all.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th while Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13 -- just as Homophobia is the fear of homosexuals and Shiaphobia is the fear of Shias.

Today being Friday the 13th I thought I would write about this matter.

No one really knows where Paraskavedekatriaphobia originated from but many believe it comes from the Last Supper where Jesus had supper with 12 of his disciples and this ended up as bad luck for Christ (he was arrested and put to death soon after that).

But why should that be considered bad luck when Jesus’ death is considered good since Jesus died to save humankind. Hence 13 should be a good number and 13 at the dinner table should be most welcomed. If Jesus had not died for humankind then we will all go to hell instead of heaven. 

Anyway, do Christians not consider Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection as all part of God’s grand design to save humankind? This is what God had planned all along. Hence this is God’s will and should not be considered as something bad.

Sheesh…these Christians are so inconsistent. On the one hand they say that this is what God had planned all along to save humankind and on the other hand they consider it a bad thing and fear the number 13 or fear Friday the 13th.

Okay, just to digress a bit, why in the first place is humankind born with sin and is destined for hell to the extent we need Jesus to die for us so that we can be absolved of our sins?

Islam says that we are all born absolutely free of sin (like a white cloth, says Islam) and that later in life we sin (the cloth becomes black with the dirt of our sins) and we end up in hell. The Christians say the opposite (we are born as a black cloth and Jesus helps turn it white).

Well, this relates to the incident in Paradise where Eve instigated Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. Because of that Adam and Eve are evicted from Paradise and get punished by being sent to earth where we all will eventually die (whereas in Paradise we would not die but would live forever).

Hence because of the sin of Eve of instigating Adam we are all punished with the fate of death. Hence, also, this means we are being punished for what someone else did and now we have to face the test of life on earth and eventually end up in hell unless we accept Jesus who has died to save all those who believe in him (and all those who do not accept Jesus are punished with hell).

And you call this a fair, compassionate and just God, a God that punishes us for what we did not do but what someone else did?

Anyway, back to the issue of Triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number 13.

Some hospitals do not have a room 13 (they have room 12 and room 12A) and some buildings do not have a 13th floor (again, floor 12 and floor 12A). In Paris, you can hire someone to make up the 14th person at the dinner table in the event there are only 13 at the table.

Mark Twain once was the 13th guest at a dinner party and a friend warned him not to go. "It was bad luck," Twain later told the friend, "they only had food for 12."

Today, Friday the 13th, is also a bad luck day for the 13th general election. Today, Friday the 13th, Barisan Nasional’s and Pakatan Rakyat’s negotiations for a global settlement broke down.

You see, as I revealed earlier, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat were engaged in secret negotiations for both sides to withdraw their elections petitions. Pakatan Rakyat filed 58 election petitions and Barisan Nasional a few more but not as many as Pakatan Rakyat.

Thus far, the court has thrown out many of these election petitions so both sides do not see any need to pursue this matter, as all will eventually be thrown out anyway -- for both sides.

The thing is both sides are not telling us what is the basis for the filing of these election petitions. I mean there must be grounds for filing these election petitions so why not tell us what these grounds are?

For example, we know that Pakatan Rakyat has raised the matter of 40,000 Bangladeshi voters, power failures or blackouts during the counting of the votes, missing ballot boxes, and so on. In fact, Anwar Ibrahim coined the word ‘Banglasia’ (insinuating that Bangladeshis voted in the 13th general election) and even suggested that a Bangladeshi should be appointed a Cabinet member.

However, none of the 58 Pakatan Rakyat election petitions state any of these allegations in their grounds for filing. In fact, Anwar has even denied that he mentioned Bangladeshis or Banglasia although there are numerous videos on YouTube to prove that he did.

And are the rallies not called ‘Blackout 505’, suggesting that the power failures or blackouts during the counting of the votes is a real issue?

So Friday the 13th may prove a bad luck day for some people after all since the election petitions are not being settled out of court and will face trial in the end. And once it gets argued in court all Malaysians will get to know what the issues in the election petitions are.

And, once this happens, all Malaysians will know that Anwar Ibrahim pulled off the biggest con in Malaysian history and that there are no 40,000 Bangladeshi voters or power failures/blackouts during the vote counting or missing ballot boxes after all.

I fear that Anwar Ibrahim should fear Friday the 13th as this day may prove that Anwar Ibrahim has been conning the whole world and has been doing so for quite some time now.