M'kini: Hisham's non-apology apology

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http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/82142

Hisham's non-apology apology
Ong Kian Ming and Oon Yeoh | Apr 30, 08 11:27am

comment We've all said and done things that we wish we could take back.
Hishammuddin Hussein surely must rue the day he first raised that keris at
the Umno general assembly in 2005.

He probably had no idea that the image of him waving that keris with a look
of fierce determination would forever haunt him.

A picture speaks a thousand words and this one was used to good effect by
the opposition in the recent election. He was given the moniker
'Kerismuddin' by some and that issue was to dominate subsequent Umno general
assemblies.

Once Hishammuddin had let the keris out of the bag, so to speak, there was
no way of putting it back in. He simply could not fail to raise the keris at
subsequent general assemblies because it would have been seen as a sign of
weakness. He had gotten himself onto a one-way street with no U-turns.

While he himself did not pay a personal electoral cost for his actions some
of the electoral fallout on the Barisan Nasional component parties could be
attributed to the keris-waving incident.

And so we come to last week, when Hishammuddin apologised for his actions.
Was it a non-apology apology? Some people think so, for good reasons.

Firstly, he said he was sorry 'if' he had offended the non-Malays. Is there
any doubt that they were not just offended but outraged by it? Even party
veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah attributed the keris-waving as one of the
reasons why non-Malays were willing to vote PAS over Umno.

Secondly, in the same breath, he also apologised to the Malays for failing
to defend the use of the keris as a Malay symbol. How does he expect anyone
to interpret his apology as sincere when he takes back with one hand what he
extends with the other? While we understand that this was a political move
to defend his position within Umno, it would only provide fodder to those
(such as ourselves) who question the sincerity of such an 'apology'.

He's a fake ultra

The sad thing about this incident is that we do not believe Hishammuddin to
be a traditional Malay ultra. Like his deputy, Khairy Jamaluddin, he is what
you'd call a fake ultra - someone who tries so hard to be an ultra for the
sake of drumming up grassroots support.

His upbringing and demeanor certainly gives no indication of any deep ultra
roots. His father, was third prime minister Hussein Onn, who probably had as
many non-Malay friends as Malay ones. His grandfather, Onn Jaafar, famously
tried (but failed) to open up Umno to non-Malays.

Furthermore, Hishammuddin's track record as the minister of education has
not been a bad one, especially when it comes to giving financial assistance
to Chinese and Tamil schools and making it easier for them to relocate. But
with one movement of his arm, he undid much of the goodwill that would have
come his way from the non-Malay community.

His apology has resulted in calls from within Umno for him to resign but for
different reasons.

An Umno leader in Johor came out to say that the apology was not sufficient
and that Hishammuddin should step down because his actions led to the
historic electoral losses. This could have been a strategic ploy to weaken
Hishammuddin and strengthen the hand of another Johor Umno leader who is
poised to take on Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the presidency of Umno.

Meanwhile, another Umno figure from Cheras has come out to call for
Hishammuddin's resignation for giving into the demands of the non-Malays!
This is probably more reflective of the general sentiment within Umno,
especially in Umno Youth, but even if they feel this way, these days they
would generally think twice before articulating it.

While Hishammuddin would like this matter to be put behind him, the whole
issue of the keris (should it be raised again or not?) and the apology (was
it insufficient or was it not even necessary?) will bound to emerge from
time to time, and especially when the Umno general assembly draws near.

Hishammuddin has refused to say whether the keris will be raised again but
we think that given the events of the past two months, it's highly unlikely
that it will be raised - at least not in the same belligerent fashion as
before. It might still make an appearance but in a non-threatening way.

Ol' Blue Eyes once sang: "Regrets, I've had a few, but then again too few to
mention." Hishammuddin might not have too many regrets in his life but if he
were to ever write an autobiography, the one regret that he would probably
mention is his decision to raise the keris on that fateful day in 2005.

Let this be a lesson to others aspiring leaders within Umno.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ONG KIAN MING is a PhD candidate in political science at Duke University and
OON YEOH is a writer and new media analyst. You can listen to both of them
discuss this topic in their Realpolitik podcast.
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Pix: http://media1.malaysiakini.com/19/e6d4ee9e1b2e57e394f3679feb9da0ac.jpg
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http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2008/04/30/after-the-apology-over-the-keris/

After the apology over the keris
by Azly Rahman posted on Wed, April 30th, 2008 at 08: 12.58

We must resolve the keris controversy generated by Umno Youth chief
Hishammuddin Hussein, who has brandished the keris at the party's annual
assembly twice now.

At last year's meeting, Umno Perlis delegate Hashim Suboh said at the end of
the debate on economy and education issues: "Datuk Hisham has unsheathed his
keris, waved his keris, kissed his keris. We want to ask Datuk Hisham, when
is he going to use it? [.] Force must be used against those who refused to
abide by the social contract."

This was in relation to Hishammuddin's alleged weakness in dealing with
demands from Chinese schools.

We live in a world in which signs and symbols of violence colonise our
consciousness. From cave walls inscribed with images of Neanderthals
clobbering a baby dinosaur, to production of images disseminated worldwide
via the electronic media and Internet, we are confronted with violence.

We are creatures of signs and symbols manipulated by those who own the means
of producing static and moving images. Objects of violence - of deaths and
mega-deaths, of decimation and of demolition, and of the demonstration of
defiance and destruction - all these, throughout history, have become
symbols of choice for those in power.

Consider those crude-looking objects like sharpened stones and rocks used by
cavemen to club one another, spears used in Alexandra of Macedonia's
phalanx, the spears and swords used in the Taiping Rebellion in China,
cannons used in Gettysburg in the Civil War in America, and the rifle used
by the Saddam Hussein in celebrating victory, the 21-gun salute in a modern
military-inspired ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, the range of inter-continent
ballistic missiles buried in the silos of Nevada - and finally the Malay
keris.

Consider the sharp and pointed object. It involves release of inner tension,
of perhaps the libido and repressed energy, of anger or frustration and of
the lack of language to communicate peace.

All the energy from the body, flowing through the shoulders, the biceps, the
hand, the wrist, the fist, and finally all these, the chi, the chakra or the
tenaga lahir dan batin - all contained like the Einsteinian fusion-ed
energy - is released through these objects of anger and destruction such as
the keris. The technology of killing continues to be perfected as human
beings become more sophisticated in the art and science of anger
mis-management.

The traditional keris - like Malaysia's proposal of the East Asia Economic
Caucus - is a weapon of mass confrontation and has evolved in this
postmodern era into a symbol of mass deception. It is a symbol. It is a
sign. It represents something. The keris is a semiotic subject of study and
must be looked at from different perspectives of meaning.

What is the nature of repression, the untamed libido, the repressed energy,
the anger, the frustration, and the bottled up fear that is encapsulated and
buried in the psycho-archeology of the keris? I hope the original creator of
the Umno logo can answer this question.

Proposal for Umno

I want to propose something new. I want to invite Umno to consider changing
its antiquated logo, the keris. It'll be a good branding exercise to
increase marketability in line with Malaysia's corporate-ideological
restructuring.

If Apple Computer can do that with its original 1970s unfriendly logo of an
apple falling on Newton's head and have it evolve into something friendlier
like 'take the byte off an Apple', then Umno can do so as well.

When I was a child sitting under a rambutan tree in a Malay kampong in
Johor, I had this question: what if Parameswara the assassin-prince - who
was watching with thrill a mousedeer kick a Rottweiler into the Straits of
Malacca - had sat under a durian tree and the fruit fell. What if it hit his
head and he had to be taken back to Palembang to be hospitalised for
concussion?

Would Malacca have been 'founded'; would ketuanan Melayu have become an
issue; and would the keris have been wielded at the Umno general assembly? I
do not know.

History can be the greatest coloniser. Memories lie. There is no such thing
as 'historical fact' when selective, authored and doctored accounts based on
power/ideology/genealogy of truth and falsehood are used to report
'historical events' - and turned into 'facts' to be disseminated by our
nationalistic and patriotic Sejarah/Tawarikh/History teachers and curriculum
developers of the Biro Tatanegara.

Umno must improve its logo. It must hold a logo competition. The criteria
must be this: only symbols of peace are allowed. And one must submit an
essay of 500-word on why the symbol of the party is chosen.

One must first read studies on signs and symbols of violence throughout
history and how they have shaped human consciousness/cognitive evolution.

And one could consider these words from an ancient Malay text:

.. .Shukur dan sabar ihsan Islam
Suci dan ikhlas hakikat dalam
Menjalankan ucap siang dan malam
Memuji Tuhan Halkul Alam.
Inilah keputusan jalan hakikat
Ibu nyawa sudah dapat
Nyawa dan badan sudah mufakat
Boleh kita membawa sifat.

A symbol of any good and friendly ancient Malay scripture that glorifies the
common person and not the ancient rulers would be a good replacement. A
symbol of peace is needed.

The enquiring mind is more powerful than the weapon of mass deception. A new
regime must have this as a foundation. I hope to see Umno's new logo.
____

Hisham's apology: 'Where's the sincerity?'
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/82072

Would he have apologised if BN won its two-thirds?
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/82037

Now See What Happens When You Play Around With The Keris?
http://www.othermalaysia.org/content/view/164/52/

Khir Toyo: Blame the keris, not the broom
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/82154
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