Realism

Raffish, Gaudy, Pejorative, Mitigate, Surfeit, Coquette, Eschews, Creolised, Pidgin, Pontificate, Dogmatism, Contiguous, Repast.

This week, on A Stray World:

• A Speech

In schools, we are given guidelines on how to write speeches, with the customary greetings, the presentation of facts, and a standard milked dry conclusion.

The fact of the matter is, if you used every principle of writing your teachers or tutors have imparted to write your speech - your audience will be so enthralled, they will take disapprovingly long and frequent toilet breaks throughout your lecture.

With my physical self far away from the nearest television on the 1st of September, I wasn't able to catch Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's speech.

On the 30th of August, I manage to catch Gandhi, the movie with Ben Kingsley playing the title character. Almost everything he said was quotable, all of his words trenchant, every action meaningful.

This afternoon, on The West Wing, Matt Santos, a Democratic candidate refused to play by the normal rules of demeaning your opponents; instead reiterating why he wanted to become President of the United States, live.

Stating his policies in person.

The power of words lies not in a fabricated template of phrases or terminologies handed to you by your teachers or hired image consultants.

It lies as I have always said, by being passionate about what you are trying to speak or write.

This is starkly apparent when I find myself drawn to the plights of an African speaking broken colloquial English over the smooth, sleek, and ultimately pretentious self-serving speeches of Tony Blair.

I have great respect for a person willing to speak his mind, unadulterated and uncensored, even though I may dislike it.

So even if Khairy Jamaluddin just committed political suicide by intentionally dropping the racial card, I respect him for willing to push the boundaries of 'sensitive issues'.

He may be a racially-charged, Oxford-educated demagogue. But at least he has the balls to say what he thinks must be spoken.

I can't say the same for the rest of the politicians in Malaysia.

A half-a-billion ringgit sporting centre in London, forty-eight million ringgit worth of clothes for government officials are reduced to nothing more than pointless debates - we all know how much the government actually cares about this issues and their remedies.

So here is my challenge:

Let's suspend reality.

Malaysia is a democratic society where anyone can run for Prime Minister.

I am going to write my speech, a speech addressing the nation on why they should elect me as Prime Minister of Malaysia. And after I write my speech, I want you to write yours, or are you too busy with school projects and idle gossips?

My Speech
Greetings everyone, my name is Rewarp, and I am one of the many candidates vying for the post of Prime Minister of Malaysia.

You may not heard of me, and after this short televised interruption of Akademi Fantasia, I am sure you will never hear of me again.

Here is my agenda.

The present government has promised a budget that protects the rights various ethnic communities and safeguards the nations future.

It has given millions hope with a multi-billion ringgit education plan, and improvement of public transports.

To me, promising to protect the rights of every ethnic community is a failure in itself. Why can't we protect the right of the people? Using a single term to describe everyone. To impose no restrictions on a particular group of people with different skin tones and to give no handicaps to another group based on genealogy and belief.

Abdullah may speak of 'towering Malays'. But the only thing towering about them right now are their debts. Unpaid loans the government has kindly dismissed, loans derived from public funding and taxes.

Fuel subsides should be abolished.

This will cause a brief spell of hardship to the people, but think of the chain of events that will inevitably follow.

Research into alternative sources of cleaner energy will accelerate. Taxes on foreign cars with hybrid engines will be dramatically lowered, and the people will return to the days when only using what is necessary is the norm.

Not out-pimping your vehicle with silver hubcaps or expensive spoilers.

Not racing down the streets on modified motorcycles.

I must state here that I am an atheist. Unlike most religious leaders who might walk the thin line of 'holding great respect for every religion" because "we are all praising the same god in different ways", I choose to despise all religion equally, because all they do is to divide.

An undeniable, undesirable truth.

I loathe racial profiling, unless it's for medical reasons.

If you elect me I assure you I will not protect the "rights" of the Bumiputra. I intend to treat every single person in this country equally.

And if you can't accept isocracy, you are free to elect someone else.

Because this is a democratic nation, and it is your right to choose the leaders you want.

It is also your right to nominate yourself as leader, if you feel there are no leaders to your liking.

That, is the meaning of freedom.

Dead of the Week: 212
Total Dead (Since 12th Jan 2006): 719