On RPK's tale of two women - questioning the means to an end

| I’ve been reading Brandon Sanderson’s “Stormlight Archives” series lately, which I’d recommend. One of the big themes running through the series is a question of whether the end justifies the means.

In Malaysia, the loudest segments of society tend to engage in very black-and-white thinking, a symptom of our zero-sum political structure.

In this world, battle lines seem to be drawn quite clearly. For the most part, it is for or against Umno or Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The most “bang for your buck” where most writing is concerned is to support one side or another. Such writing tends to get the most attention and traction, and most writers can easily be placed on one of two extreme ends of the spectrum.

Especially as election season approaches, these extremities become even more and more pronounced.

In my view, the biggest victim in this conflict is Malaysian political culture, as it descends to extreme viciousness and horrifyingly uncouth behaviour.

Not only is there nothing wrong with pursuing political agendas - to some extent even, it is a noble pursuit.

Surely though, it must be possible to do so without losing our soul in the process.

However dismal the state of our current government and politics are, if we let anger and hatred blind us to everything else, we will never replace said government with anything better.

So, no matter how unpopular or boring, I shall live in hope that there is still value in trying to write based on principles.

In this article, we look at blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin’s recent writing: “The Tale of Indian and White Women”, and its attendant issues.

Classic trolling

It’s been a journey trying to process the anger I initially felt at Raja Petra’s writing.

A first instinct, of course, is to fight fire with fire, and come out guns blazing, trying to think up every epithet, condemnation and insult that might hurt or anger Raja Petra.

Having had some time to think about it though, perhaps it would be wise not to fall too hard for a piece written in the finest tradition of internet trolling.

The goal of trolling, after all, is to anger your target; the angrier the target (frothing at the mouth is a desired goal), the happier the troll.

Let’s not fall for that.

That said, perhaps it might be worthwhile to point out the most racist, sexist, and uncouth passages at the very end:

“So this Indian woman has been traced to more than just one bribery story. She somehow gets an orgasm when she tells stories about people receiving bribes. Considering some people get an orgasm when they have sex with corpses in a mortuary it makes sense that the Indian woman gets aroused when she spreads false stories about people receiving bribes.

Anyway, that is the tale of the Indian woman and the White woman who spread false stories in the hope of bringing down the Prime Minister and replace him with an Indian Prime Minister who ran the country for 22 years and practically bankrupted the country. Whether they are prostituting themselves for a lot of money or whether they get sexually aroused by doing this is not known at this stage. What is known, however, is that the White woman has shifted the blame to the Indian woman while the Indian woman refuses to say anything.

But then this is what the Indian woman is so fond of doing. She throws stones while hiding her black hands and lets others take the fall for it. And then she tells the Prime Minister that whoever wants to form the government will need the Indian votes or else, without the Indian votes, they cannot win the elections. And then they talk to both sides and offer their votes to the highest bidder like in an auction.”

For the life of me I cannot see a single logical connection between someone having sex with a corpse, and a human (Indian or otherwise, woman or otherwise) getting aroused from “spreading lies”.

Indeed, Raja Petra seems to spend a lot of time wondering what sexually arouses the two “fictional” women of his article.

One must wonder, had the two characters been men, would Raja Petra have been so preoccupied about sexual matters?

If not, we can only conclude that the article is indeed sexist in nature.

Also, “hiding her black hands”? Seriously?

When faced with such an individual, it is perhaps redundant to speak at length of vulgarity and uncouthness.

For the rest of us, let us hope that we will raise our children to never talk about the mothers, wives and daughters of other people, or anyone else in such a hurtful manner, no matter what they may or may not have done.

Due process

If Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown (photo) did indeed defame PAS or its president, then let her answer for it in the British courts (from which we can expect at least a little more objectivity than from our own).

I must say, I think it quite controversial for her as a self-professed journalist to have named her source.

As for former Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan, if she admits to providing Rewcastle-Brown with information about the alleged RM90 million transferred to PAS by Najib which was used as a basis for the article, I suppose the burden of proof will also be laid on her.

We must remember that whatever their goals, our actions create precedents that play a big part in shaping the future of our country.

As an aside, as much as I was alarmed, horrified and disgusted to read about the MIC man that had been allegedly exploiting teenagers for sex, I was also alarmed by the MIC members who apparently took it upon themselves to inflict vigilante-style justice on the accused, proudly boasting that they gave him prolonged “special treatment” at the MIC headquarters.

No one has the right to bypass the justice system, and act as judge, jury and executioner.

Even if he is guilty today, what if you happened to be falsely accused tomorrow?

Raja Petra (who incidentally was named as a witness of sorts in the suit against Rewcastle- Brown) writes with impunity from faraway England, just as MIC members operate with impunity here in Malaysia.

Both of them seem to feel that the ends justify the means.

In Raja Petra’s case, we can speculate as to his ends and motivations, but I suppose when you’ve spent your life switching sides and attacking everybody, there’s less of a likelihood you’ll be trusted as a credible source.

Whatever the case, he has fled the country, and chosen to live in a place where he can only face limited consequences - if any - for what he has written.

For the rest of us still standing here, it may be worth remembering that the way in which we fight for our goals has a significant impact on whether we achieve those goals or not.

Prime ministers and political parties come and go, but Malaysia will remain. Every step we take, and every move we make, will ultimately determine exactly what kind of Malaysia that will be.

---

NATHANIEL TAN shaved his head in solidarity when RPK was arrested under the ISA in 2008, and kept that hairstyle for many years. When he grew his hair back out at his wife’s request, a Malaysiakini journalist (who will remain unnamed) asked him what the secret to hair regrowth was.- Mkini