AT THE SEMINAR, AUDIENCE AND THE NEWS

One day Ahmad, Raju and Ah Chong were invited to participate as speakers in a political seminar entitled “ People orientated politics for the new Millennium”.

Ahmad spoke first. He spoke about how corrupt the government was. He spoke about how inefficient the government was. [The crowd clapped] He spoke about how the main party government had been hoodwinking the people for years. When he finished most of the audience clapped.

Then it was Raju’s turn. He spoke about how discriminatory the government was. He spoke about how arrogant the main party has become. He also mentioned a few of the main party’s politicians and condemned them as not credible.[many applauded with wolf whistles] Everyone in the audience clapped.

Then it was Ah Chong’s turn. He started by talking about the role of politics in shaping the nation. He spoke on the dynamics of political parties and political supporters. He explained on the mechanics of realpolitik and how the citizens can play their role in ensuring that realpolitik does not override the general interest of the citizens and the nations. [There was yawning in the crowd.]

He emphasized that whatever one’s political inclination may be, the overriding factor is that political activity should not be detrimental to true national interest. He criticized the people’s obsession with politics to the extent that each has, unwittingly become pawns for the politicians from all sides of the divide. He distinguished the difference between the government and ruling party. Finally, he ended by saying that the people must reform the political system and stop focusing on personalities. Some of the crowd clapped lifelessly and formally.

After the seminar, the news papers covered the story.

THE MOON paper – “ Dato Jagung lambasted at seminar on political development” The story covered the speech by Raju.

THE JUPITER paper – “Change the Government – says Ahmad”

THE DOUBLE TIMES paper – “People fed up with main party’s policy – says Raju and Ahmad.

No paper carried Ah Chong’s speech. No one understood and it was not sensational and it required people to think about THEMSELVES!

A man read the Jupiter and was excited. He rushed to his learned friend and said: “Did you read the papers?

“Yes, I did”

“Shocking isn’t it?”
“Oh yes. Absolutely shocking!. How in the world did Manchester lose?”

“huh?”