True Colors

It is said you see a man's true colors or characteristics in how he responds to a crisis. As long as there is no crisis, the carefully built up charade and facade can be maintained. But mind you, it can't be any old crisis we're talking about here, it has to be a crisis that has a direct bearing on said man. Reading about a crisis happening halfway around the world will force a man to reveal his true nature and colors as much as heavy rain in Singapore will cause crops to abound in Kedah.

Speaking of Kedah, true colors and crisis reminds me of our old Prime Minister, and yes I very much mean old, and the current jolly good mess he finds himself in. Can't blame the old geezer for feeling cranky and upset, though.

As any parent of a 2-4 year old will tell you, once a kid has your permission to play with a certain toy for a certain amount of time, any change of heart on your part about allowing him to play with it at a later date or time will cause the kid to become upset. Now the degree of upsetness can vary according to kid, but the fact is, the kid is used to that toy and your decision to withhold it from him will upset him. Some may sulk, others may disregard you and play with it behind your back, some others might throw a tantrum, some may roll on the floor and scream bloody murder - hoping you'll relent and give in, some will retreat in prolonged silence and i'm supposing as many other different reactions as there are different types of kids.

But what's this got to do with the old dude? Well, firstly, he's behaving like a kid who's toy's been yanked away from him. Close your eyes and pick any of the above levels of upsetness and I'm sure you can apply it to one or another of Mahathir's actions over the last year or so.

Here's a guy whose toy for 22 years has suddenly been taken away from him. Infact he thought the new kid was only going to play with it for a little while and, even if not give it back to him, at least then to somebody who'll allow him to play with it once in a while. But, as so often happens to even the best laid plans, it got screwed. someway along the line, the new kid decided that he liked the toy so much, he wasn't gonna part with it.

"Hey", you're asking, "what's all this children squabbling got to do with how you started the blog?" Doesn't it look like a mighty big crisis to you? Well, put yourself in the shoes of a 4 year old kid who's just had a toy snatched from him and is being told he can't touch it anymore, let alone play with it.

Suddenly the cultured, nehru-suit style of gentlemanly demeanor has flown out the window. In its place a malay warrior now stands. All of a sudden, all traces of bangsa Malaysia has disappeared from his speech and replaced by bangsa Melayu. He looked anyone in the eye and fought for his country, but now, although he can still look anyone in the eye, it's to fight for himself, and to a certain extent, his family.

This is by no means a Mahathir bashing exercise. I don't need a let-it-all-out-you'll-feel-better session here. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I almost idolised this man at one time. He was the Malaysian hero. He put Malaysia on the world map. I felt proud of this man when I looked up at the twin towers. But today, place this man next to someone like Raja Petra Kamarudin and you'll see for yourself who's the real MALAYSIAN hero. A man who knows what it is to be really MALAYSIAN.

At the end, if anyone reading this is disappointed not to read any character assassination of Mahathir here, my apologies. You read and come to your own conclusions about true characteristics and colors.