Unsettling thoughts and uninspiring reminiscences of a new year
Umar Mukhtar
Early in this new year, I was told that two plus two equals five and just as usual I am reminded of how lucky I am to be living in a civilised environment and that I should be grateful for this and not question things too much and rock the boat lest enemies of all sorts will appear.
Sure, why not. I should just be in for the ride, take care of my family’s immediate needs and convince myself that proven truths don’t really matter. After all, I am part of the intelligentsia that have everything to gain as long as I toe the line. It’s the others’ fault if they can’t fit in.
But over the holidays, while abroad, I was rudely shocked by events that were not much publicised here. The Yemeni rebel forces, made up of sarong-clad fighters with flip-flops have moved into Saudi Arabia! And the corrupt Saudi rulers are in panic. Ordinary Saudis are reverting to tribal allegiance instead of homage to those who have wealth.
How can that be? The Saudis have sophisticated weapons and powerful allies. No doubt the rebel forces may be getting help from the Iranians but is the Saudi’s third largest military budget in the world still no match for a force of provincial armed insurgents of only a decade old?
And why should this bother me who lives thousands of kilometres away? Is it because I am closer to all these than I thought? Maybe! You tell me. I mean, we do buy weapons with our oil money, even though a few jet engines got stolen and a few ships caught fire. Our defence infrastructure against external attacks, like the Saudis’, has never been tested though.
We, too, have money, enough to disguise depressing facts to appear like national victories. Like steroids we enjoy money that can give us a feel-good feeling and thus we have no need to look further beyond that. Until the money runs out, of course, or the Ringgit devalues.
And we have powerful allies too. The British came to our aid during the Communist Emergency and also Sukarno’s Confrontation. Of course, in those times they still have a lot of economic interests here. Protecting us equals protecting their interests.
Just like the Americans who used to depend on Saudi oil. Not anymore. America’s increased shale oil production has even caused world oil prices to plummet. The Saudis have less money now!
Guns that don’t fire and missiles that don’t work are the subtle results of corruption by entrusted parties. Corruption weakens a nation, no matter how good you are made to feel, or lulled by a false sense of nationhood.
Overwhelming powerful weapons don’t win wars. Ask the Viet Cong. People do. Commitment, beliefs and resilience do. Too bad money can’t buy those. Only the truth can. And two plus two is not five.
Tell that to the Saudis. With millions of foreign workers within its borders, Saudis generally don’t have to work and as such never knew what they are made of. Such that the billions of dollars paid for sophisticated missiles are foreigner-operated and now the missiles are silent when you need them most.
Apparently, a rental can also be a disguised as a sale. The missiles are gone. That’s the consequence of disguising too many things in your life to cover up idiotic schemes. That’s the trouble when nothing can be questioned lest you be branded unpatriotic.
All you need is a puncture in your international borders like some uninhabited islands somewhere nearby illegally occupied by the enemy and a overwhelming amount of the economic interests belonging to the enemy being situated in your country — and perhaps a fifth column of some disgruntled citizens to boot, your ability to defend your sovereignty as an independent nation is severely diminished.
I am not too sure if I am writing about Saudi Arabia or Malaysia. You tell me. All I know is that people win wars, not just money, or sophisticated weapons or propaganda of untruths. So treat people with respect. Nourish them with the truth. It won’t kill them. Tell them two plus two equals four. And there are no two ways about it.
Or else sarong-clad enemies will chase our weakened populace, helter-skelter, like what happened to the Saudis. The Lahad Datu incursion, where people lost their lives to a band of rag-tag ‘old men’ was but a subtle warning to those who choose to believe their own lies.
