Malaysia's Papal 'Indulgences'

Prior to and up to the early 16^th Century, people in Western Europe were amazed, annoyed and angry with the Pope and his Catholic Church for selling ‘indulgences’. But what was such an ‘indulgence’?

Apparently, the Catholic Church's ‘indulgence’ at that time was a religious pardon for the purchaser from all his sins.

Thus, an ‘indulgence’ released a sinner from bearing the spiritual burden of all his or her naughty thoughts and misdeeds. The more money one paid, the more sins were pardoned, until there was a belief that sinners could buy their way into becoming a saint and thus allowed automatic entry into heaven

Indulgences - what a convenient and marvellous thing – absolutely far far superior to our Malaysian mandi bunga, a ritual of washing one’s head with a mixture of perfumed water containing seven types of flowers, kaffir lime leaves and lime, so as to cleanse oneself (of sins?) and remove one’s bad luck wakakaka.

photo from An Undomesticated Blogspot

Pity we can’t enjoy that nowadays or kaytee will be the first to purchase a huge allocation of ‘indulgences’, wakakaka.

But wait ….. maybe there is still hope, the existence of such ‘indulgences’ in Malaysia, though alas, not for poor kaytee.

Free Malaysia Today (FMT)’s Anwar’s courtship with danger tells us about former MIC president Samy Vellu and his alleged acts of corruption. FMT argues that if Samy Vellu were to be found guilty of those accusations, then all those who stood alongside him and benefited from his patronage, namely MIC leaders, should be too, as they shared collective responsibility.

FMT then went on:

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is now purportedly in the midst of holding talks with several MIC national and division leaders, hoping to entice them to cross over.

With most, if not all, MIC leaders at various levels sagging under the weight of their baggage, is it wise for the PKR supremo to be courting them?

The opposition bloc’s main charge against BN is that the ruling coalition is corrupt to the core but does it mean that by joining PKR one is absolved of past sins?

Has it become the party of political absolution and redemption or a convenient option for those whose political fortunes have faded in their respective parties and are looking for a new lease of life?

Even MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek expressed puzzlement as to how the supposed sinners who leave BN and join the opposition can become overnight saints.

Overnight saints? Mucho ‘indulgences’ then, wakakaka.

I recall RPK once writing a piece that raised this same question about Chua Jui Meng, once one of MCA top leaders and now a PKR Vice President. In fact, Chua is PKR’s top bloke in Johor.

RPK has not only pointed out Chua’s ‘record’ as BN Health Minister  but also posted this.

But let’s ignore RPK lah. On the basis that Chua Jui Meng has been entrusted by none other than the Great One to spearhead PKR’s campaign in Johor, a state identified by Pakatan (not just PKR) as a vital election battle ground in GE-13, we have to accept that Chua JM, despite his not inconsiderable MCA background and what RPK has written about him, has no doubt been beatified and then canonized, and is now a saint, all thanks to the Great One who has already granted an ‘indulgence’ endorsement for lucky Chua, wakakaka.

On such political beatification or even canonization, wakakaka, I have read comments in my post The political assassination of Rafizi Ramli? at both my own blog and RPK’s Malaysia-Today, in which a certain party's supporters issued promise of overnight sainthood for Ong Tee Keat if he leaves MCA and joins Pakatan (presumably PKR) as per Chua Jui Meng’s example.

It’s wonderful that we have somehow inherited the legacy of ‘indulgences’ from Pope Leo X, the bloke who excommunicated Martin Luther because the latter condemned the Pope and his men for granting ‘indulgences’.

Pope Leo X

But as reported in FMT, some spoilt sports have the brazen nerve to doubt the wisdom of our own Pope, by questioning the questionable calibre of MIC leaders on a potential quest to PKR.

Naughtily or rather blasphemously they asked of MIC anehs and tambees:

… can they contribute the ingredients required for a better Malaysia?

This is doubtful since these leaders have been entrenched deep within the BN machine for years if not decades. […]

The opposition should be recruiting those who can raise the bar of the political standard in this nation and not those who are responsible for the benchmark being so low.

The logic is simple: one cannot improve the game when the same players are retained.

Aiyoyo, what do you know about the faultless Great One – please lah, read my previous post wakakaka.

Besides, didn't the Great One and his inner coterie also transmigrate from UMNO, bearing in mind of course that the Great One had luxuriated in UMNO for 16 years with nary a word on reforms or corruption or the evils of UMNO which he now broadcasts almost daily with great fervour.

But but but, those lesser mortals asked, what if there were to be a hung parliament after GE-13 and the former MIC but by then ‘beatified’ (wakakaka) PKR MPs do another leap, but back into BN in that amazing fashion of the Perak revolting revolving-door reprobate, Nasarudin Hashim, from UMNO to PKR and back to UMNO.

They also moaned that the Great One has not learned his lesson from the outrageous examples of those erstwhile PKR 2008 MPs. Naturally they cried out: "Shouldn't it be a case of once bitten, twice shy?"

Hmmm, I think not, not with an Immortal like manmanlai, who had shown us in more than one way that despite being bitten, he has never been shy, wakakaka.

Besides, I believe that if there were to be a hung parliament after GE-13, those former MIC by then beatified PKR MPs may be crushed in the frenzied stampede across to BN instead of being the first ones to jump, wakakaka.

Blessed be Papa Leo X and his ‘indulgences’ for inspiring our own Malaysian version.

Amen.