When in doubt, brandish the keris about It's remarkable that 49 years into nationhood, I can still pick up the newspaper and read all about kerises being bandied about in public to whip the country into a frenzy for the protection of the "bangsa, agama and negara". I suppose after 49 years of Merdeka, there may be a perfectly logical reason to do so, to reaffirm the dignity of the Malays as politicians so eloquently put it. I really don't have a problem with that except when there is an unspoken meaning laying dormant just below the surface of the act of the keris being brandished. In fact, it wasn't so dormant or opaque when the well-meaning Mentri Besar of Selangor, several years ago, talked about dipping the keris in blood. That created controversy but members of the ruling coalition decided to keep quiet and maintain a "dignified" posture. Wasn't it just three years ago when the Kampung Medan incident happened for all the world to see? I am not drawing any parallels here between what politicans do and what the ground thinks but I am certain some elements are more easily influenced, manipulated to take certain actions, perhaps in the heat of the moment that could spell difficulties that far outweigh any perceived benefits. Apparently all that talking behind closed doors, as BN fondly likes to state, has yet to make calmer heads rule. And so, like a compact disc on automatic replay, talk of the keris being brandished is making headlines again. This time by another politician whom several years ago, I thought would give rise to a breed of far-sighted and reasonable politicians.But the act of brandishing a keris is sexy no? Who can resist a man on a soapbox talking about kerises or even better, brandishing one above his head? This a powerful statement of unbridled machismo. I am sure ,as I write this, a string of ambitious toadies from the ruling party are probably perfecting their scripts for such an act to be unveiled in the not too distant future.

As far as I can recall, my memory of the keris being used as a public statement by politicians was way back in 1987 when I was in high school. I think it was the ambitious and up and coming Umno leader Datuk Najib Tun Razak who led a rally at the Raja Muda Stadium in Kampung Baru, preaching "lessons" to his non-malay brethrens. A lone soldier's rampage in Chow Kit, letting off a few rounds from his M-16, did not help matters. I am pretty sure the keris was mentioned in the script somewhere but my memory fails me at this moment. But I do recall the furore Najib's statements made in the Star which at that time, still had testicles.

These interesting things happened during an economic slowdown when our commodity-dependent economy was taking a battering from a global meltdown. The home-made pie was not getting any larger and doubts especially amongst the Malays were consciously or unconsciously raised. Economic insecurity, I believe, was the ultimate reason for this doubt to appear prominently in the pysche of the Malays, although I dare say that all the people in Malaysia were then apprehensive of the future.

Fast forward to 2006 and the economy has yet to really blossom under the leadership of the current Prime Minister. Foreign investment is sluggish, output is generally nothing much to shout about plus a lot of bad press in the foreign media titles. The economy is not exactly chugging alone nicely. Doubt amongst the Malays are slowly picking up steam as the gravy train slowly grinds to a shuffle. Suddenly there is a sense that there is no need to be nice and polite, and an overpowering urge to bully seems to miraculously appear. And so, there is talk of Umno Youth demanding its "rightful" post of Chief Minister in Penang and unflattering remarks about the Chinese at some Umno meetings (according to Raja Petra Kamaruddin's article in Malaysia Today). Not surprisingly, even the keris had made a comeback.  ¶ 7:29 AM