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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Malaysian meaning of 'gratitude'

GRATITUTE!

It means the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful, or experiencing appreciation.

The adjectival form is 'grateful' which the dictionary defines as warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received, as in “I am grateful to you for your help.”

But in Malaysia, while Malay and Indonesian dictionaries provide basically the same meaning as for the English word, apparently 'gratitude' has a totally different meaning when uttered by people like Ibrahim Ali.

I mulled over this strangeness for a while before I decided to look under ‘feudalism’ which came up with:

A system of obligations that bound lords and their subjects in
Europe during much of the Middle Ages. In theory, the king owned all or most of the land and gave it to his leading nobles in return for their loyalty and military service. The nobles in turn held land that peasants, including serfs, were allowed to farm in return for the peasants' labor and a portion of their produce. Under feudalism, people were born with a permanent position in society.

I believe Ibrahim Ali could have these two [yellow highlighted] sentences in mind when he spoke of the lack of ‘gratitude’ of the Chinese, that is, modifying the former a wee bit to read "In theory, the PM owned all or most of the land and gave it to his supporters in return for their loyalty ..." and “Under feudalism, people were born with a permanent position in society”.

While we pitifully bash poor Ibrahim Ali, in reality he is nobody other than a front. I told my matey well-known blogger Walski of the incredible blog myAsylum that the bloke is just a survivor.

Look, if Pakatan becomes the ruling party one day, Ibrahim Ali will be there beside the new Pakatan PM singing a new song titled ‘Reformasi is for me’; if PAS assumes power, Ibrahim Ali will replace the Kulim Wonder as the No 1 Islamic warrior of Malaysia, and in the unlikely event of DAP becoming the ruling party, Ibrahim Ali of course will be in astronaut costume, helmet and all, to show he’s an ardent rocket jock wakakaka.



Yes, there is still a prevalent belief in some quarters of the medieval concept of "... the PM owned all or most of the land and gave it to his supporters in return for their loyalty ..." and “Under feudalism, people were born with a permanent position in society”, where its symptom is sometimes laughingly referred to as The disease of 'sehelai kain pelekat & RM100'.

I had then written of it as: …
Malaysians in general, especially those of the earlier generations, don’t give a sh*t about corruption or corrupt pollies, or such stuff as accountability and transparency so long as they get some benefits, namely the sehelai kain pelekat and RM100 (allowing for inflation).

This has been why BN and in particular UMNO have been getting away with blatant corrupt practices for the past 52 years (and expect more years of such to come) as manifested in the overtly obscene ostentatious Bali Palace and the Satay Palace in Klang, ...

... and how 600 Janome sewing machines and even the arrogant boast of how 10 years of public works was compressed into one month won the day in the Ijok by-election in 2007.

But after 52 years of waving the same sehelai kain pelekat, even RM3 million in Hulu Selangor and RM5 million in Sibu were no longer acceptable.

Naturally the 'unbelievable' repetitive act by both the Chinese of Hulu Selangor and Sibu in disdainfully rejecting the feudal Lord's 'magnificent' offer has shocked some people whose front man has been Ibrahim Ali.

They asked in complete puzzlement: WTF has been going on with those Chinese? What’s wrong with them?

Indeed, why aren’t they 'grateful', more so when “… people [like them] were born with a permanent position in society”?

Of course these people don't see that the lollies they had brazenly offered as inducements to gain the support of voters don't belong to them in the first place but in fact to the voters!


The answer to the angry puzzlement of Ibrahim Ali and his likes has been out there all along, but when they don't want to see it, then they see naught.

10 comments:

  1. ...I told my matey well-known blogger Walski of the incredible blog myAsylum that the bloke is just a survivor.

    Look, if Pakatan becomes the ruling party one day, Ibrahim Ali will be there beside the new Pakatan PM singing a new song titled ‘Reformasi is for me’; if PAS assumes power, Ibrahim Ali will replace the Kulim Wonder as the No 1 Islamic warrior of Malaysia, and in the unlikely event of DAP becoming the ruling party, Ibrahim Ali of course will be in astronaut costume, helmet and all, to show he’s an ardent rocket jock...

    _____________________________________
    So lengthy...in short Froggy Ibrahim is just an opportunist.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Whoa your racism is surfacing day by day.
    Very brazen chiding of Malays as cheapskates and in the same breath swiping us as a privileged race.
    It's not lost on us on how you portrayed Chinese as the superior race. the smart ones.
    Also believing in ketuanan right, just like what you hated in the Malays.
    Kudos for showing your true colors as a staunch DAP believer.
    We will let your inciting posting to pass.
    Will talk of Ibrahim. A perfect description, I must say.
    Masuk kandang kambing mengembik, masuk kandang kerbau menguak. (See Malays's rich culture).
    Like a specie which thrives both on land and water. But it's haram for Muslims to eat its meat.
    Don't play, play with him.
    If DAP ever comes to power, don't be surprised he will be propped up as a puppet PM for expediency.
    Just like what DAP is dong to Anwar, son of Ibrahim.
    DAP is also practising Ali Baba politics, you know.

    ReplyDelete
  3. i am now doubting i.ali is even a Malay.... Malay does not act like him at all......lets do a dna test, he could well be someone from indochina or indo?

    ReplyDelete
  4. buttercup, do not waste your time with ktemoc.the chinese culture is full of racism ,just like the aryan ideology.ketuanan cina is on the rise more so now...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Buttercup, my racism? Mana? You mean I don't toe the line and speak out? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. KT dear

    You dont have to toe the line. You are free to speak out.
    My above comments say all.
    Thanks
    P.S.Not all Malays are Ibrahim Ali. Neither do we think or act like Ibrahim.

    ReplyDelete
  7. We fought for our independence
    In unity in the eyes of the British Government
    With it the Colonial government gave in
    Independence for the people's right to rule

    The races united for the common goal
    The independence of a free country
    Living harmoniously with all the races
    No race should feel obligated for a noble cause

    The basic foundation laid
    For the young nation to grow
    The Alliance made it worthwhile
    For the parties of race to unite

    During those times
    Every one never thought about race
    They were there as one nation
    Feeling proud to get the independence

    The dark night of May
    Events changed policies shifted
    The unity seemed lost
    The ugly face of race

    In the decades gone
    The lies and deceits abound
    Corruptions gone into the administration
    Eating the souls of the nation

    No race should command
    The gratitude from the others
    We are bonded to this nation
    Where we work for her glory

    The old fashioned frog
    What does he know?
    The events have changed
    He is still living in his shell

    They are many like him
    Afraid to change living in unity
    They believe in divide and rule
    The caste system dancing in their minds

    ReplyDelete
  8. Pristine and Pure7:12 pm, May 19, 2010

    BUTTERCUP!!!! (ROTFL and LMAO!!!).

    Since we are into the subject of Malay idiomatic expressions, can you tell me what's the Malay expression for Buttercup? Tangkap kentut? Menyebar bau kentut? You'll be glad to know that I don't think you're the following:

    manusia sombong
    manusia yang suka menghirup kentut sendiri..


    I think you're more benevolent than that! How about the following? (LOL!):

    manusia sadis
    manusia yang berusaha untuk menangkap angin kentut sendiri dengan tangan, lalu di bekap kan ke muka orang di sebelahnya..

    from
    : manusia dapat dibedakan dari kentut nya

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hahaha Dear Pristine and Pure.
    (That borrowed tag is tired by now).
    I shall christened you born-again virgin.
    Is the war between us still on?
    I have moved on, my friend.
    Now you are specializing in fartology.
    What exactly is your point, dearie.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Am I racist if I am supporting my race? That is just what is done by DAP. So it's ok for the Chinese to be racists but wrong for the Malay to be racist? Is that it?

    Hooliganism of DAP supporters

    ReplyDelete