Negaraku

Well, the headline today reads– “Student rapper apologizes”

It’s strange because none of the quoted remarks of Meng Chee mentioned about apology.

Meng Chee was reported to say “It has taught me a lesson about the spirit of nationalism and race relations. As a Malaysian, I did not intend to shame the country or ridicule any religion.”

Newspaper jumped into conclusions that he apologized. But there is no sorry in his words. What he meant could be simply this: This really taught me a lesson, opened up my eyes on the close-mindedness of you fellow citizens. Anyway, I still love you guys.

Meng Chee was reported to say“To end the controversy, I will remove the video clip from my blog and I hope other bloggers will stop distributing the video clip”.

Newspaper jumped into conclusion that he regretted. But what he means could be simply this : Right or wrong, I will remove the clip to end the unnecessary controversy. It doesn’t mean that I have erred or regretted producing that piece of video clip. It only means that I am in no mood to entertain any more false accusations. I want to move on.

In fact, Meng Chee, in his own blog, defended, rightly, about his song. The lyrics are merely descriptive, not judgmental. Furthermore, the national anthem is loyalty preserved in the song, without modification, and so there is no issue of modifying national anthem. He didn’t say sorry. He didn’t cry out loud for forgiveness. He is man enough to stand up for what he believes in.

Maybe his father said sorry on behalf of him. Or Maybe the government is too eager to hear what they want to hear to put an end to this, so that the celebration of national day two weeks from now is all rosy. That’s fine for me. This looks like a good solution, because Meng Chee has maintained his stand, while the public selectively listen to what they think they have understood to please themselves.

Bertrand Russell has this famous quote: "A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.”. This, in my view, accurately describes the current situation.