ACCORDING to political scientists, ‘enemy of the state’ encapsulates a designation for the political opponents and for the social-class opponents of the power group within a larger social unit, who, thus identified, can be subjected to political repression. Enemy of the state is synonymous with the oppressor and suppressor of fundamental rights.
Some pundits even go as far as saying that it is also another subtle reference to the deep state eyeballing everything from pin to battleship. If that is so, why even bother with elections? Mind you, no Arab Spring in Malaysian culture except for street demonstrations.
Elections and chameleons share the same rabbit-hole. Stalin reportedly remarked that “it’s not he who casts the votes that counts, but he who counts the votes.” So, the deep state is not that subtle at all because its tricks are barefaced lies which is readily and willingly accepted for fear of repercussions (read: Operation Lalang).
Fortunately for Malaysians, adherents and advocates of treason are simply incapable of bulldozing a dictatorship into place with the army and police forces behind them? The enemy of the state has birthed many wannabe dictators voting for the deep state to remain a potent force.
How do you recognise an enemy of the state? The best showroom to select your model is the Dewan Rakyat. Many aspire, on a regular basis, to mouth off enough vitriol and venom to invoke the Speaker’s feigned wrath. Swiftly, a fake apology is articulated to please fellow actors, and the compliant Speaker.
Providence probably knows when Malaysia’s prosecutorial apparatus was last calibrated and tuned. Treason is not in our statute books. I am sure royal pardons are out of bounds for such crimes. Sadly, an enemy of the state simply goes unstopped, uncaught and unpunished despite a daily dose of treason.
Treason is not a punishable offence in Malaysia’s statutory scheme. The word is absent in the Penal Code, but section 121 enumerates the death penalty or life imprisonment for anyone waging war against the King and the Rulers of States. The Reid Commission’s deliberations will be worthy of intense study.
Some experts say that treason, per se, casts a Nelson’s eye on the deep state which is way up, above and beyond the law. Political chicanery is legalised when the government comforts itself that “if the reasons accuse us, let the results excuse us” — a Machiavellian garnish to a poisoned drink.
Marcus Tullius Cicero led the charge when he suggested that “a nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the outer gates is not as vicious as the one that slyly whispers treason in the corridors of government.” We can relate to this aphorism with our irresponsibly unruly Opposition.
Where are we headed as a nation? Do voters have the courage and the conviction to effectuate change and reform without parliamentary imperatives? Such questions justify Carl Schurz’s lament that “we have come to a point where it is loyalty to resist, and treason to submit.”
The American politician Ron Paul made an interestingly poignant point when he remarked that “truth is treason in an empire of lies.” The discerning public is most aware of this rot. It is brazen treason to do nothing about getting rid of government sponsored stench? It is excitingly wise to submit to resistance with empty polling stations occasioned every five years.
Manipulating the national education imperative is the greatest act of treason ever committed by the state. And the money-changers and money-makers in the marketplace of ideas offer private education at exorbitant rates that only the money-keepers are able to afford. Incurable cancer. Bad karma.
Try engage any local graduate in a conversation. His or her command of the English Language is fodder for a well-operated comedy club. Are we allowed to laugh at this sordid state of affairs? Teachers and tutors are paid to commit treason on a monthly basis while awaiting their salaries, perks and allowances.
The Borneo Territories have weathered official treason since Malaysia became a bitter treaty treat. Part V of the Federal Constitution’s Tenth Schedule (Additional Sources of Revenue Assigned to States of Sabah and Sarawak) is a blatant and brazen illustration of legalised prevarications. Failure to exercise the prevalent two-thirds advantage in Parliament to right constitutional travails is open treason.
Abhijit Naskar was right on the money when he observed that “heroes of culture are often branded as enemies of the state.” But the 4-R culture (race, region, religion, ringgit) rules and reigns with ruthless rigor revealing the rituals of the region and ringgit as the renegade ringleaders.
Weapons of mass distractions exemplify and expose the enemy of the state. Issues like bak kut teh as a national heritage cuisine, and liquor-handling by Muslims have unnecessarily excited talking heads paid by the government to stir the hornets’ nests with their ludicrously irresponsible statements. The Sedition Act seems to be on permanent vacation.
Meanwhile, the moral police allow access to internet pornography, but policy-makers and policy-breakers worry about dress codes in public. Hypocrisy has its limits. PMX is seen to be speeding towards infamy. Is that his ultimate goal? At this rate, nobody will move the goalposts for him.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
