M(ala)y Dilemma - 2003-10-17 3:30 p.m. My boss recommended Michael Moore's "Stupid White Men" yesterday. I see it on the shelves at the nearby MPH but I never had the urge to pick that book up. But since he already finished reading it, I might as well borrow it. He also read "Malay Dilemma" but he got dizzy after a few chapters. I last read it when I was 16, and I never actually grasped what Che Det was trying to convey. Some people say the book is relevant 25 plus years ago as it is today. I don’t know… From a certain perspective, it does look like my race has taken a step forward in some areas. I can see that the numbers of professional Malays have multiplied compared to the 70s and 80s. But unfortunately, we are still being plagued by the same emotional diseases like inferiority complex and corruption. I used to read Marx and everything about socialism when I was in college. I wanted to be Proletariat. I wanted to change my country. I wanted to change my people. I wanted to make a difference. Fuck the bourgeoisie. Let’s start a freaking revolution. Just 2 months after I came back, the Anwar Ibrahim debacle happened. Impressionable as we were, we jumped onto the bandwagon and headed straight for the FRU’s clubs and boots. Our beloved Che Det tightened his grip on the youth and masses, and the rest, as they say, is history. We never even got the chance to vote the immediate election. Now that, my friends, was a brilliant chess move. Fast forward 5 years later, here I am, on another bandwagon and this bandwagon ain’t going nowhere except to the path of material enlightenment. The banner on the road sides read “Welcome, fellow Bling Seekers” and “Go towards the light. It’s because of the gold, dummy”. Go figure. It’s funny when I scour through several online forums to find young people preaching Marxism, Anti-McDonalds, Socialism and Equality. I used to be like that and look at me now. I am what I was rebelling against 5 years ago. I’ve become corporate bastard - a yuppie in a slacker suit, and that is only because my company permits t-shirts, jeans and sneakers. I wish the kids that advocate equality and total-independence are stronger than me. I hope that they become people of substance. I want to leave this earth knowing that the kids seated on the chairs of Dewan Negara and Dewan Negeri(s) are those that put principles, integrity and belief above everything else. As for me, I think I’ll join Promuda next year. It’s a starting point for me to start something, plus I used to know some of the guys who are in there. Who knows, I could change my country from a different perspective. It’s not proletariat against the bourgeoisies anymore. It is proletariat helping the bourgeoisies and vice versa.