Malaysia's Gerakan Party & Lesson from Judge Bao

Jeff Ooi of Screenshots has just posted his commentary on the general elections of the Gerakan Party, a political party in Malaysia. The Gerakan Party is a member of the ruling Coalition party, known as Barisan Nasional or BN for short.

Jeff Ooi analysed the campaign statements of Mr Kerk Choo Ting, the challenger to the incumbent, as descriptive of himself as Justice Bao. Mr Kerk is the current No 2 bloke in the Gerakan Party.

I am not an expert on Malaysian politics like some other Malaysian bloggers including Jeff Ooi and Raja Petra Kamarudin of Malaysia-Today, but like all Chinese I do know a little about Justice Bao. For one to be referred to as Justice Bao is the highest Chinese accolade for incorruptibility, professional integrity and courageous public diligence.

I’ll stay clear of Gerakan Party going-ons on this blog, but instead share with you a Saturday Morning story on Justice or Judge (I prefer 'Judge') Bao when he was still in his teenage years. Yes, China's most famous, incorruptible, fearless judge, like all famous men, was once a kid. This is a story of his teenage years. It carries a moral lesson.

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When Judge Bao was a kid, he and his best friend, Chao went camping together. Late at night, while lying down in their medieval Chinese sleeping bags Bao suddenly pointed up at the starry sky, and asked Chao, "Well, what do you think?"

Chao, always wary of the brilliant super-intellectual Bao and his sharp caustic wit, cautiously attempted to cover all angles in his reply:

"Were you referring to the honourable art of navigation by stars - well, looking at the sector of the White Tiger of the West, there's the old familiar triple stars of Shen (the belt of Orion) so by them I know where North is ..."

"or do you mean the honourable study of astronomy – if so, we are actually viewing history as those lights have taken wan (a wan is 10,000), wan, wan, wan, well many many more umpteen wan's years as the number of grains of sand on the shores of our nation, to reach us ..."

"or were you considering a noble discourse of philosophy – in that case, we are but insignificant specks in the greater scheme of the universe as our Great Sage instructed us ..."

"or has it to do with ..."

At this stage he was cut short by an impatient Bao, who snapped:

"You bloody idiot, someone has stolen our tent!"


story based on an earlier email I received some 3 years ago - I couldn't find that email but still recall from memory the basic storyline - therefore the above has been largely rewritten, which allowed me to modify it to Chinese characteristics

& the moral of the story?

Someones we cannot see "the woods for the trees", or more approriately for this story, "the sky for the stars" ;-)