Nov 5 is not just nomination day in Malaysia, it also marks Guy Fawkes Day when the British Parliament faced its biggest threat. It’s a day to safeguard the House.
Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot
IT’S Nov 5, a very important day for Parliament – a day that emphasises the sanctity of the august House.
It’s a time to remember that Parliament must be safeguarded from forces that seek to destroy it and take away democratically- elected rule. An explosive day is on the cards, with lots of fireworks and excitement.
No, I am not talking about nomination day. It’s Guy Fawkes Day, the day that inspired the rhyme above.
Just who is Guy Fawkes? You know that mask that people wear at protest marches? Of a grinning, pallid face with a weird drawn-in moustache? That’s Fawkes.
He was part of a group of plotters who wanted to blow up the British Parliament way back in 1605, in what was known as the Gunpowder Treason Plot. They smuggled barrels of gunpowder into the basement under England’s House of Lords.
The idea was to blow up Parliament, kill the King and put in place a Catholic head of state. It failed, but to this day, bomb squads comb the cellars beneath the Parliament on Nov 5 to ensure no copycats try anything.
Fawkes and gang were Catholics and they hated that Protestant beliefs were being forced on them, never mind that both were Christian. So, they wanted to impose their own beliefs.
It was a dangerous idea. In fact, it’s still a bad idea, even now in multi-racial Malaysia.
We have seen it in recent days. A guy walked over a colourful kolam, a cultural and religious icon of Hindus celebrating Deepavali, while another – presumably a woman – giggled, at a private hospital.
She was tickled pink. Most of us, though, just saw red.
Then, there was the university that decided that Chinese and Indian traditional clothes, like the cheongsam and saree, were a “no-no” at its convocation.
In both cases, there was an outcry, thankfully from a large section of Malays and Muslims, forcing both the university and the hospital to backtrack.
But there were the Guy Fawkes-types who actually sprang to defend these (mis)deeds.
One guy said the hospital should just stop having kolam to mark Deepavali while another said it was the university’s right to set a dress code, and that it did not need to pander to the minorities.
Meanwhile, a teacher in Penang apparently saw fit to get rid of religious paraphernalia worn by a student. Her excuse? The student was wearing the “wrong” kind of shoes. The cops are investigating.
If such opinions are allowed to flourish, we will be heading down a steep, slippery slope. It was the kind of slope down which Fawkes and his mates rolled.
It didn’t end well for Fawkes. He was sentenced to be dragged backwards by a horse with his head near the ground before he was to be hanged to “within an inch of his life”.
Luckily for him, Fawkes fell from the platform on the Tower of London and broke his neck, dying instantly. Death gave him escape from the horrors that awaited him.
If he had lived, his genitals would have been cut off and burned before his eyes. Only after that would he be killed – with his bowels and heart removed. His dead body was still quartered and dismembered.
That seems like really cruel punishment and we have to thank God that the Malaysian Parliament has got rid of the mandatory death penalty.
We in Malaysia have a lot in common with the British Parliament. Our government is fashioned after the Westminster system and we, too, are a parliamentary monarchy.
In recent times, we have even started to change our prime ministers almost as often as the British.
They have had four since 2016, we have had three since 2018.
We have also had our share of devious plots and treacherous acts over the last couple of years that have kept the country in a constant state of uncertainty.
Today, there will be celebrations, bonfires and fireworks in Britain.
And things are set to be quite explosive in Malaysia too. With so many big names ousted, and some mind-boggling decisions by political parties, a lot could happen this nomination day.
There are plenty of parties and coalitions for those dropped to pick from.
The anti-hopping law, for all its hype, is just a toothless piece of legislation during this mad pre-election melee.
Will the likes of Umno’s Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim, Tan Sri Annuar Musa and Tan Sri Noh Omar take things lying down or will they switch sides to add to the fireworks? Shahidan has already defected and the others are already dropping hints.
Even the PAS-types are switching sides to become Barisan Nasional candidates while some from Barisan are jumping to PAS in a crazy merry-go-round.
It’s not much better on the Pakatan Harapan side either. Many long-serving MPs, and MPs who actually served, have been axed with new names being brought in, some of them discards from elsewhere.
Will DAP’s Charles Santiago and PKR’s Tian Chua stay out? Bentong’s Wong Tack is not likely to. And what of the spurned Parti Sosialis Malaysia?
They all have reason to be sore. After all, a brother-sister pair are in the fray, some non-performers and those with court cases have been retained while good workers were dropped.
There are also the oddballs that have found their way into the mainstream – Makkal Sakthi, Indian Progressive Front and Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimma), for instance.
Even the man known as the “carpet seller” has been listed as a candidate although some believe it just won’t fly.
After all, he hardly seems qualified. He reminds me of an MP who stood and won on just one rather unique qualification – he had shot a video of a lawyer talking on a phone.
That MP didn’t last long, either.
We really do not need poor quality MPs, especially when there are massive challenges ahead for the country. Only the best should be in the Dewan.
The chaff – there’s lots of it – should be flushed down the sewer. Which is why I think polling day comes on a rather apt date.
Nov 19, you see, is World Toilet Day.
