Thursday, December 4, 2008

Long Live the Man in Gold



Somehow I felt sad looking at the enlarged photo of King Bhumipol of Thailand in front of the Emporium tonight.

He does look very kind and benign, waving to his subjects, who simply adore him and worship the ground he walks upon.

Unlike us Malaysians, sorry to say, but royalties hardly figure in our lives.

Yet, there are so many stories of how much influence Bhumipol has in the power struggle that makes up Thailand's political landscape today.

Not everyone appreciate the Royalties, though. Dissent is real, and growing although hidden and hushed for fear of the Les Mejeste law that can throw one in prison until His Majesty pardons.

Or until the sentence is served. Hell, that could be a lifetime!

Truth is, many Youths prefer a republic but Thailand has a long way to go in this area. It's not just the Constitution. Hearts would bleed if anything untoward happens to their beloved King.

I stopped by the Emporium (which by the way has a very good selection of books in its version of Kinokuniya) on my way home from work. It was already about 11.30pm, and preparations were underway for his Birthday tomorrow.

I worry for that guy up on the billboard (can you see him?) although it seems he has two glittering angels looking out for him - right in front of him!

Those angels are of course part of the coming Christmas celebrations you see every where in Bangkok, which considers itself a Buddhist state.

Then I noticed that although he is dressed in gold over there, His Majesty has really gone on in years. When I see him on TV, I felt his eyes no longer hold any passion or life.

Does he really care anymore for what happens in Thailand? Is he finally giving up in the midst of all this chaos and uncertainties?

Maybe it is just a figment of my imagination?

I still wonder how a frail and sick man can be at the centre of a political storm?

When will he give up?

No matter how much wealth one has, or how much one is worshipped or reverred, these pleasures are temporary and would soon come to an end. Like a movie reel.

Long Live the King, indeed. I know he has lived his life well.

But just as soon as I thought that, somewhere deep in my little heart, I truly, truly fear for my adopted home when the inevitable happens.

2 comments:

rainstorm said...

As i watched the news 2 nights ago when he inspecting a guard of honour by royal troops, he looked so frail & weak....

Yes, King Bhumipol has so much influence in the power struggle in Thailand's politic. I still remember when i was in Thailand for a wedding in the early 90's (if not mistaken in 1992), there was a coup attempt. For days there were unrest until King Bhumipol asked the 2 factions to see him. Once he spoke to the 2 guys, immediately the killings stopped. It just shows how much the Thai people respect, worship, adore & love their king!

Happy Birthday King Bhumipol! Yes, long live the king & may God bless you always.

馬丁 said...

想想慕克力的言論,再想想黃明志所要表達的華校生困境,不管你是尊孔,中化,寬中,日新,國民型的鍾靈.請問有幾個會寫文章在UTUSAN,我家老主人,小主人, 小主人的表哥表姐, 老主人的表哥表姐表妹表弟,從upsr,spm,lce, mce,stpm 90%馬來文都是最少credit,但個個都是邊緣人,馬來文都曾經好過,又如何.你們都不是主流.

大家明知英文,馬來文是那麼重要, 慕克力的言論在華人是taboo是禁忌,何苦! 慕克力的言論會讓華人被同化,有沒有想過,你被同化的同時,你也進入主流社會,你的後代才有機會.

何不讓市場去決定華文的需要,S.H.E.不是說大家衝著學華文嗎?華文不會沒落.

如此大馬才會出現obama,obama是”美國人”多過”黑人”,培辛是”泰國人”是華人也不是華人, 泰國政治人物在選舉時也偶爾喜歡說自已是華人.

華校有存在的需要嗎?華教and捍衛華教是大馬華人社會的主流課題,是件很衛大的事 是強勢,慕克力的言論是華人該考慮的,但可惜是taboo,也只有華人養的猫才敢講,”人”是華人就不行了,不可講,在華人社會更于不行.

其實捍衛華教人士知道上面所述嗎?他們都很清楚,查查看他們子弟讀什麼學校,再來他們都有錢,孩子長大都到外國讀書.一大堆華校生才來壞才不遇, 可憐!這中間你們有多少優秀華人被浪費掉.

丟掉這包袱吧!

猫也學丘老師叫春,……喵mahu ………tak mahu….喵mahu ………tak mah喵mahu ………tak mah喵mahu 華校………tak mah華校 rrrr……………rrrr…華校………….rrrrr…aaa……………aaaaa華校

這是明志的”丘老師叫春”要表達的.對嗎?明志.

明志的話題不新鮮,10年前老網友,young gun等在KOPITIAM都談過.

你們要謝謝明志,他那不入流的表達方式.讓大家再次看這問題.

中南部問题更大是--獨中搞到像名校,大家跑去讀,有錢華人沒關係,可出國,沒錢的跟大浪走,跟潮流走…….走….走…..走…..到荷蘭…

我這頭猫跟主人到PUDU LAKE, 到LUMUT, 到SENAI 走小路,人家KAMPONG小學課室個個裝滿冷氣,你們華人小學,窮呀!.....錢不給你,官他要派人來作.淡米爾小學呢?.........厠所也沒有…..想想..那些英文說得很好,…..做律師的印度人會讀淡米爾小學嗎?問問加巴星.