Extraordinary Rendition

>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

"Do not fear, Dr. Michael Moore is here."

There are two documentary films which I would endorse youngsters to see, provided they are 18 and above (for the later). Both were released in the year 2007 and so they are contemporary;

The first is ‘Extraordinary Rendition’ starring Omar Berdouni and the second is ‘SiCKO’ by Michael Moore.

I agree that politics is incomplete without history. As we, humans, develop the richness of civilizations worth centuries of toil and hard work, we deprive ourselves of examples of achievements and failures of the past that we tend to believe in something so easy to perceive as Pasca-Modernism: a mere theory that casts the significance of philosophy, substantial utopian visions and ideal concepts, away. But forget not that improvements never end. Forget not the backbone of the people’s voluntary agreement to their nation; the ideal of being protected by law, enjoying safety and the state’s benefits. John Locke proposed this in his ‘Second Treatise of Government’ (1689).

But increasing offer to maintained demand would mean an elevation in quality. Maybe someday when we finally learned the importance of Identity or ‘Eigenschaft’, we would accept ourselves the way we are. These uncertainties of buts and maybes made us entrust our moral and physical developments to the hands of socialists, communists and markets, hence, the wars of ideology and destruction.

What is the one thing that contains ‘Eigenschaft’, history and facts and yet entertains the uncertainties and ideals? The answer is freedom of choice, freedom of speech and also freedom of fear that would constrain people from both the formers. Instead of having the fear being imposed by the government onto the people through maltreatments and practices of ‘Draconian Laws’, we need the government to feel this fear as a servant, for their own good. The fear of not entertaining a demand, the fear of taking illegal actions against protesters and the fear of perceiving wrongly or in short; the fear of wrong actions, inactions and perceptions. This is the one place marked by a solid monument; a free piece of land by the people, for the people and for the law: our own version of Speakers’ Corner, to distinguish right from wrong, critics from curses.

Before we move on to the details about the two films above, let us look at what happened due to oil price hike in the past few days:

1> Electricity tariff hike by TNB.
2> Speculation of price hike of natural gas.
3> Speculation of inflation increment to 5% by early next year.
4> Speculation of bus fare hike.
5> ‘Persatuan Pengusaha Lori’ decided to increase their standard charge to survive.
6> Speculation of another oil price hike in this coming august.
7> Fishermen having great difficulties.
8> Post office havoc across the country.
9> Bangi bank robbery.
10> 10 to 50% increase of paper price.
11> Pizza Hut (Taman Tun Dr. Ismail) robbery.
12> Seng Heng Selayang robbery.
13> Smuggling attempt of RM 356, 00.00 worth of diesel in Sabah.
14> …

Why is this oil price hike so significant to Malaysians? Why does it excite so many people upon taking its toll; thieves and good Samaritans alike? Remember ‘Vox Populi, Vox Dei’.

The fact is:

According to the ‘Receipts and Expenditures’ clause of the United States Constitution -Article I, Section 9, clause 7-, the government is required to publish a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money. This resulted to the introduction of ‘black budget’.

“It was hard for me to acknowledge that in the end, we truly are all in the same boat, and that, no matter what our differences, we sink or swim together. That’s how it seems to be everywhere else. They take care of each other no matter what their disagreements. You know, when we see a good idea from another country, we grab it. If they build a better car, we drive it. If they make a better wine, we drink it. So if they come up with a better way to treat the sick, to teach their kids, to take care of their babies, to simply be good to each other, then what’s our problem? Why can’t we do that? They live in the world of ‘we’, not ‘me’. We’ll never fix anything until we get that one, basic thing right: empowerful forces hope that we never do, and that, we remain the only western country in the world without free universal health care. You know, if we ever did remove the choke-hold of medical bills, college loans, day-care and everything else that makes us afraid to step out of line, well, watch out. Because it will be a new day in America.” This was said by Michael Moore in the film SiCKO to compare American health care with that of the European. I took the freedom of quoting it to myself because I can’t find one in the net.

Apart from the ‘wine part’, I take the entire quote to be better than just sensible and universal enough to be put into life practice by the Muslims and the non-Muslims of Malaysia.

The fact is:

“Free college education, free medical care, government-issued nannies, I began to wonder; how do they pay for all this? And then I realized; they’re drowning in taxes.” This was said by Michael Moore to describe how heavenly it is in France.

Maybe Malaysia IS in a different context. Maybe we are in a developing, third-world country with limited resources. All the more reason for the government to manage these resources carefully. We can start by making regular accounts of ‘people’s companies’ such PETRONAS, publically available, or publically announcing our own ‘black budget’.


>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

"That belongs to me? Really?"

The fact is:

“Cuba is a little island in the Caribbean with little to no resources. We can do a lot to improve the people’s health. This does not happen in the United States. Why are we able to do and you are not? There’s something to notice here. Because the more a country produces, the richer it is, the better it should take care of its people.” This was said by Dr. Aleida Guevara, the daughter of late Che Guevara and also a Pediatrician, in the film SiCKO.

Does this happen in Malaysia? We need to ask ourselves that.

My two cents worth a little bit more.