Art and Politics

Throughout my adult life i have avoided any contact with politics or politicians but i have watched political situations from the periphery following its development from a safe distance. Growing up in Sungai Pinang I had watched the growth of UMNO in Penang as my Auntie's residence was their stronghold in the old days. My auntie then who was a midwife held strong influence over a majority of the people in the area including the Chinese and the Indians through serving them in the capacity of a midwife. Hence politicians vying for support used her influence in every which way they could. needless to say i held no respect for politicians henceforth.

Politicians are a necessary evil or par with prostitutes and Carpetbaggers. They all have the astute sense of a predator that can take advantage of any given situation to further their self interests and all in the guise of serving the people.

I don't think artists can avoid being political. Artists are the proverbial canaries in the coalmine. When we stop singing, it's a sure sign of repressive times ahead. (Theresa Bayer)

If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics encircles us today like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out, no matter how much one tries. I wish therefore to wrestle with the snake. (Mahatma Gandhi)
I was born in 1949 and the country gained its independance in 1957 hence i have grown up having a good look at the political movements of this country even before the Tunku flew to Great Brittain to sign the declaration of independance. When Tun Razak was in office as the PM Malaysia was at its height of politcal stability and very few nations in Asia then could claim to be so at the time. I was never impressed by Dr. Mahathir eventhough he may have brought the country into the twenty first century with style. I have ambivalent feelings about him because I saw him as the greatest oppotunist who knew what was there to be taken and took it. Most of those who idolize him saw how much he had done for the country but fewer saw that he could have done alot more with the resources that this country had and was at his power to use. Although used it he did but alot was in the interest of himself and his cronnies. However that was history and now we have to deal with what is today, the future of our nation in the hands of destiny itself as bothe sides of the political divide are equally unreliable and questionable in their transparency and integrity in running the country.

There is only one art, whose sole criterion is the power, the authenticity, the revelatory insight, the courage and suggestiveness with which it seeks its truth. Thus, from the standpoint of the work and its worth it is irrelevant to which political ideas the artist as a citizen claims allegiance, which ideas he would like to serve with his work or whether he holds any such ideas at all. (Vaclav Havel)

Avoiding political influence in our thinking as artists is nearly impossible in this plugged-in media-stimulated world. The emotion of choice is fear. (Brian Lee Jones).

I voted only once in my entire adult life and that was when Pa' Lah was elected PM and i was lving in Kuala Trengganu and along with most of my fellow Trengganu people it was decided that PAS was not capable of running the state. In my oppinon PAS did not fight all out to get back what was owed the state in terms of the revenues that belonged to the state including the petrolium gratuity. Like their counterparts before them the PAS leaders too were serving their selfinterests better than serving the people's needs.
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. (Plato)

The next general election is looming in the not too distant future and it will be w tie breaker as it is the choise of the lesser of the two evils in every sense of the words. The question of "What if", is plaguing most Malaysians. Their future is being greatly put in the balance and their choice of the next ruling government is as critical as it has never been before; Malaysians are at their politcal cross roads.There will be alot of accusations from both sides and the people with have to look past all these to see the real issues to be tackled by the next government. There is just too much at stake not to care and too little time to waste if we are to ever move ahead as a nation free from political divides.
The differences between revolution in art and revolution in politics are enormous. Revolution in art lies not in the will to destroy but in the revelation of what has already been destroyed. Art kills only the dead. (Harold Rosenberg)

What is prudent for us to look into when the time to cast the ballot comes is to accertain that the country still maintains a strong check and balance with regard to its representative in the parliament. For democracy to work there has to be a strong counter balance that can stand up to any abuse of power or corruption within the system. To maintain the status quo the people will have to be wise is their choices such that it is they who decideds how many seats belongs to who and avoid an emotionaly filled cast of votes that would wipe out one side for the benifit of the other. Malaysia simply cannot afford a one sided government with the absolute authority regardless of who is in the ruling seat.

The world has witnessed the rise and fall of monarchy, the rise and fall of dictatorship, the rise and fall of feudalism, the rise and fall of communism, and the rise of democracy; and now we are witnessing the fall of democracy... the theme of the evolution of life continues, sweeping away with it all that does not blossom into perfection. (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi)

When politicians deny anything fiercely, there is a good chance that it will happen. (Semir Zeki)