Monday, September 29, 2014

Today, Freedom Of Speech And Expression Is On The Run And The Hunter's Name Is 'Sedition'

Today, freedom of speech and expression is on the run and the hunter's name is 'Sedition'

Sedition is the perfect tool to throw at your enemies, real, imagined or fantastical because it does not know nor defines itself. Anything is considered within its ambit as far as its enforcers are concerned, so long as the people are royally reminded of their place not to criticize the powers that be.

It was a tool of our colonial masters to suppress discussion to keep us down and remind us of our subservient position as the colonised.

Today, we gleefully (ab) use it to suppress our own rakyat in the name of maintaining peace and harmony, a myth that thinking Bolehlanders don't buy even at a discount.

Nobody is exempt from its reach - lawyers, laymen, professors and politicians.

You could call someone a frog and you might be wise not to direct it at the powers that be. It is okay to say that to a layman. A court has recently ruled that calling someone a frog is not defaming him.

We are not sure whether that applies when we call the authorities a frog or by some other name as a poor facebooker found out when the police took a midnight umbrage at a simian reference to them.

The sedition blitz against all and sundry for uttering or making allegedly seditious remarks or opinions is symptomatic of an administration scared even of its own shadow.

How else could one explain it except by postulating that it knows it has lost the moral legitimacy to rule on a minority vote and is beginning to feel the heat and needs to exert its authority by cowing discourse and hopefully remain in control?

For there is a lot at stake - the long and debilitating years of hegemony it has enjoyed unchallenged until recently.

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Kluang's Little Bangsar

Kluang's Little Bangsar
Click To Visit

Kamini's Indian Wedding - Click To Visit

Kamini's Indian Wedding - Click To Visit
I attended my neighbour's daughter's Indian wedding dinner at the Sentul HGH Convention Centre. Click for a peek

Yasmin Ahmad - Click To Visit

Yasmin Ahmad - Click To Visit
Yasmin Ahmad was arguably Malaysia's best story-teller, filmmaker and advertiser. She was well known for her Petronas commercials and had won numerous international awards including the Golden Lion award for the 'Tan Ming Hong In Love' commercial. Her feature film Sepet not only garnered her several international awards including for Best Asian Film but also drew multi-racial audiences that rarely happens for a local film.

Genting Highlands - Click To Visit

Genting Highlands - Click To Visit
Genting Highlands Is A Popular Retreat With A Casino

Batu Caves - Click To Visit

Batu Caves - Click To Visit
Malaysia's Famous Landmark. Note The Statue Of Lord Muruga And The 272 Steps To The Temple Cave In The Background

Petronas Twin Towers And KLCC Park - Click To Visit

Petronas Twin Towers And KLCC Park - Click To Visit
Petronas Twin Towers Are Still The World's Tallest Twin Towers

Some Early Morning Views Of KL City Skyline - Click To Visit

Some Early Morning Views Of KL City Skyline - Click To Visit
Some early morning views of the KL city sykline I took from the 3rd floor of the KL Court with a low-pixel hand-phone camera

Kluang Town - Click To Visit

Kluang Town - Click To Visit
Kluang was a sleepy hollow, but is fast becoming a bustling town. You can't miss the bust-shaped gunung Lambak lording over the place and the town is well known for its tv brand coffee powder

Kluang RailCoffee

Kluang RailCoffee
The Kluang railway station coffee shop, now re-branded Kluang RailCoffee, is well known for its cuppa of coffee and the charcaol grilled piping hot buns oozing with butter and kaya...It used to attract standing-room only crowds. It still does, but the last time I was there it wasn't a good experience for me. The famous coffee had somewhat lost its oomph and even the buns...The shop has a long and noted history being first opened for business in 1938 and the place is now run by the 3rd generation LIm family. I hope the next time I return, the coffee would regain its oomph. Click to read more...