The great frog debate

Those in seats of power will tell you that they know best because they are in the position of authority over you. The overlord and his minions place little credence on the needs of their subjects.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It is said, the problem facing Malaysia today is not about politics but about frogs. While Malaysians are politically savvy enough to solve problems involving politics, they still know nothing about how to handle frogs.

This is probably where Malaysians need to learn from their Thai neighbours who have come out with a very delicious solution on what to do with their frogs. Thais wear either yellow or red and take turns to demonstrate on the streets of Bangkok. Then they kill and eat the frogs after the demonstration is over.

The other frog problem Malaysians face is the ‘boiling a frog in cold water’ syndrome. It is said if you submerge a frog in cold water, and then slowly increase the heat 2 degrees Fahrenheit at a time, the frog would eventually get boiled to death.

This would make sense considering Malaysians have seen their fundamental rights and civil liberties being slowly eroded over 52 years without them realising it. If they were suddenly all taken away, then Malaysians would realise it and would become outraged. But since they have been removed bit by bit, then no one would be the wiser and we all go about our business unperturbed.

Scientists, however, have refuted this theory. They say frogs are just too smart to get tricked in this manner. The instant the water gets too hot for comfort, they will jump out. So, the solution would be not to boil a frog alive but to kill it first and then fry it the way the Thais do.

Maybe the following pieces can shed more light on the frog theory and how one cooks a delicious frog dish. Incidentally, Barisan Nasional is also facing a problem with frogs. They don’t know what to do with the three frogs they now own in Perak.

How do you cook a Frog?

I'm not a frog, and I would not like to be cooked — nor would any self-respecting frog want to be cooked, either.

So, assuming that Mr. Frog is suddenly dropped in a kettle of hot water, he would promptly jump out, because he doesn't want to be cooked. Besides, the water is hot.

But if Mr. Frog is gently immersed in a kettle of cool comfortable water, it is so enjoyable, and so pleasurable, that he doesn't even notice the very slow flame that is heating his water. He is enjoying the water and pleasures in it until oblivion overtakes him.

I do not want to be in a position of such comfort that I do not notice the terror, the evil — the darkness that slowly overtakes me, engulfs me, and destroys me.

How do you cook a frog? The same way you kill a man's spirit — little by little by little — the same way you take his freedoms, take his livelihood, take his will to be a man — it is done a little at a time, just like you cook the frog.

When it comes to personal freedoms, those in power are terribly concerned about their own freedoms, but what about your freedoms? . . . mine?

The story has often been told that these limits on our freedom are for our own best interest. Is this because we don't know what we are interested in?

. . . what our concerns are?

. . . what our ideas and ideals are?

. . . and our fears?

Who knows our needs better than we do ourselves?

Those in seats of power will tell you that they know best because they are in the position of authority over you. The overlord and his minions place little credence on the needs of their subjects.

Observe the works of government . . . any government. There is good in government, but the cost in money and freedom is a poor trade off. Government is basically a mindless beast that largely exploits its citizens as well as it exploits other nations. The sad point is that governments are a necessity in order to protect its citizens from those who are too irresponsible to be self-controlled. Also, there is the need for protection from other exploitative governments.

Our existence is the water. Government is the flame that keeps us comfortable and safe or cooks us through progressive regulations.

The ideal would be for GOD to be our government. As before, when man becomes entrenched in a place of authority, the goodness of GOD (or a constitution) gets moved out and once again the frog gets cooked.

As for those who speak for GOD . . .

http://www.authorsden.com/categories/article_top.asp?catid=34&id=11205

There is an old folks warning that if you throw a frog in boiling water it will quickly jump out. But if you put a frog in a pan of cold water and raise the temperature ever so slowly, the gradual warming will make the frog doze happily . . . in fact, the frog will eventually cook to death, without ever waking up.

Origins: The ‘boiled frog’ story is indeed a kind of ‘old-folks-warning’ — an all-purpose didactic anecdote particularly favoured by business types to illustrate the point that moving too recklessly and aggressively may leave one with an empty pot, but traversing a steadier course of more gradual change is much more likely to bring about the desired result.

One specific application might be the computer market: a PC manufacturer who comes out with an entirely new line of machines incompatible with software written for earlier models might lose a good deal of his customer base, but one who ensures that his new PCs are backwards-compatible with older software will have a much easier time inducing his customers to upgrade their hardware.

Or the story can be used in the opposite sense, to demonstrate the perils of remaining complacent in the marketplace — a PC manufacturer too slow to upgrade his product line may not realise until too late that his market share has gradually eroded to the point that recovery is impossible.

The fable is also used by moralists as a cautionary tale warning against the folly of letting smaller wrongs just slip by or of falling into a pattern of small and seemingly harmless sin rather than disturb one's complacency enough to address these issues, thereby allowing evil to grow into a powerful force. When used in this fashion, those being regaled with the anecdote are being cautioned against their moral inactivity or laxity leading to their someday finding themselves to be the frog engulfed in a deadly situation.

The explanation usually given why a slowly boiled frog will complacently remain in a pan of water, even to his death, while a quickly boiled one will try to escape, is something like the following:

I am told the above instructions work because frogs are cold-blooded. This means its body temperature is the same as the surroundings, unlike us human beings. We are warm-blooded, meaning our body temperature is kept more or less constant, and does not follow that of our surroundings. We shiver in cold weather to keep up our body temperature. We sweat in warm weather to cool ourselves down.

The frog’s body temperature follows its surroundings. If you put the frog directly in boiling water, it will sense the heat immediately and jump out. But when you heat the water slowly, the frog keeps adjusting to the rising temperature. When the heat is too much for the frog to take, it is too late. The frog collapses and dies.

Like a fable, the ‘boiled frog’ anecdote serves its purpose whether or not it's based upon something that is literally true. But is it literally true? Not according to Dr. Victor Hutchison, a Research Professor Emeritus from the University of Oklahoma's Department of Zoology, whose research interests include ‘the physiological ecology of thermal relations of amphibians and reptiles to include determinations of the factors which influence lethal temperatures, critical thermal maxima and minima, thermal selection, and thermoregulatory behaviour’:

The legend is entirely incorrect! The 'critical thermal maxima' of many species of frogs have been determined by several investigators. In this procedure, the water in which a frog is submerged is heated gradually at about 2 degrees Fahrenheit per minute. As the temperature of the water is gradually increased, the frog will eventually become more and more active in attempts to escape the heated water. If the container size and opening allow the frog to jump out, it will do so.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/frogboil.asp

Frog with Thai chilli paste & bamboo, "Namprik Kob"

Frogs can be seen in markets across Thailand, and they're enjoyed in a variety of traditional Thai dishes. We prepared this recipe based on a north-eastern frog curry, and it's going to please adventurous eaters as well as just about anyone who likes to eat coconut curry. See the pictures below of the steps involved and the final product.

Ingredients

1 frog, cleaned and head removed (see picture below)
7 cloves garlic, sliced
3 shallots or purple onions, sliced
1 teaspoon Thai chilli powder
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon lime juice
1.5 cups sour sliced bamboo

Method

Wash the bamboo then cook it in boiling water for 10-12 minutes. Drain and set aside. Wash frog and put into boiling water until the meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes depending on the size of the frog. Remove from boiling water. Then pull the meat off of the bones.

In a wok, fry garlic and shallots until fragrant. Put the garlic, shallots and frog meat in a mortar and pestle and gently (not vigorously) pound them together until the frog meat is separated. Add a few frog bones to toss together and leave in as a visual garnish. Add bamboo and mix well using the pestle as more of a large stir stick. Add with fish sauce, lime juice and chilli powder, adjusting quantities to suit your taste. Serve with steamed jasmine rice and vegetables of your choice and fresh Thai chlili peppers.

http://importfood.com/recipes/frogsourbamboo.html

Frogs should look like above when purchased, often sold frozen

Enjoy the final product