The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Dyana Sofya and the politics of beauty Posted: 24 May 2014 04:45 PM PDT Alwyn teaches at a local university-college and blogs at wyngman.blogspot.com. For comments and questions, email alwynlau@gmail.com. Dyana Sofya for Teluk Intan. What do people think? First, there are those fellas who do nothing but ogle and for whom Sofya is at best a poster girl, and at worst, a Web search item they click on while pretending to work. At least the wolf whistlers and hooters at the recent Teluk Intan campaign are honest. Most people just act as if that they're not dreaming of (or envying) a beautiful face every time Sofya's name comes up. These are the ones who are mature enough to use words like "election", "equality" and "Dyana" in the same sentence without smirking. It would be fun to hear these people talk during a polygraph test: the chart could end up resembling a Sumatran earthquake. Secondly, there are sickos who couldn't even fake a bikini photo properly. Makes the Datuk Trio video look like an MIT project. Finally, there are the majority who prioritise justice and sound leadership but, in vain, try to pretend that beauty doesn't matter. This is like a woman saying she's perfectly fine with dating any guy as long as he's really nice and it doesn't matter if his face looks like a Federal Highway roadkill. Of course, she still may go out with him, and all credit to her for giving the dude a shot, but if she says she has no qualms whatsoever, then even my sardines will roll their eyes. Beauty, like the human body which it adorns, is the bone in the throat of politics. We tell ourselves that government is serious stuff, that leaders must be chosen solely on their ability to serve the people. We proclaim that the meat of justice need the salt of a strong rational mind, not the eye candy of a gorgeous smile. Really? C'mon. The entire realm of politics is driven by nothing but the body itself. The political is that domain in which individuals, who share the common experience of having a physical body, seek to negotiate resources, rights and privileges in relation to that body. Human politics is inevitably driven by the needs of the human body and towards projects intended for the flourishing of that same body. I could not play politics with my Acer computer because the thing doesn't starve, doesn't emote, doesn't have moods and doesn't fret if it can't get tickets to the X-Men premiere. Bigshots in high places would not give million-dollar bribes to win contracts and manipulate elections if they didn't share the same bodily greed, bodily powerlust and bodily laziness as their cronies do. We say we want a candidate who can deliver and her looks are not important at all. Right. And Maria Sharapova is just a good tennis player. The body is more political than politics itself. It's the reason we have politics at all. It's also the factor that destabilises the ideology which declares that reason – and reason alone – must rule the day. That's a neo-liberal fantasy so hollow you'd be on safer ground believing Isma if they claimed that Christians plan to unleash Godzilla on Penang. The challenge, therefore, is not to be embarassed by any politician's good looks. Neither is it to trivialise physical attractiveness and treat it like a fancy side order. The critical task, instead, is to detect something absolute within appearance itself. The dare is to stop pretending that there can be principles without physicality. There should be no disconnect between love for the people and the loveliness of those fighting for them. Looking like a model could be nothing more, and surely nothing less, than a chance to model the way forward. Let us look for trust and belief in our leader's eyes; vision and compassion in their voice; goodness and hope in their smile. That some of them may look like either half of Brangelina is both incidental AND an absolutely critical thing we can be thankful for. Does that sound paradoxical? Yes, exactly like your mind and body which is two things, yet (gasp) the same. Do I think Dyana Sofya will make a good MP, able to serve her nation? Totally. Do I think she's beautiful? I've already answered that. Except I'm kinda partial to Wan Zaleha Radzi. So now you know my age. – May 25, 2014. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider. | |
| Salahkah ajak Ahmad Said masuk PAS? Posted: 24 May 2014 04:07 PM PDT
Jika semasa Datuk Seri Ahmad Said hilang pertimbangan selepas dilucutkan jawatan Menteri Besar Terengganu lalu dia keluar daripada Umno, tidak pelik dan tidak salah kalau ada orang PAS menyerunya menyertai parti itu. Ketika dia keluar Umno, tidak siapa tahu dia hilang pertimbangan atau tidak. Tiada yang tahu berapa hari dia hendak berada di luar Umno. Apabila dia keluar daripada Umno, dia memilih menjadi Adun Bebas. Jika ada orang PAS yang mengenalinya mengajaknya masuk PAS, maka ia adalah satu seruan yang baik bagi menyelamatkannya supaya dia tidak terkontang-kanting menjadi orang Bebas yang tidak tahu hendak ke mana. Dan mengajaknya masuk PAS adalah pilihan yang lebih baik daripada menjadi orang Bebas. PAS adalah parti yang memperjuangkan Islam dan ia adalah tempat politik yang terbaik bagi orang Islam. Setiap masa kerja PAS ialah mengajak orang masuk PAS. Kalau sekarang ia mengajak orang bukan Islam menyertai PAS, maka apa salahnya kalau Ahmad Said masuk PAS. Jika masuk PAS itu untuk membantu PAS menegakkan kalimah Allah, maka dia dapat pahala. Tetapi kalau kerana marahkan Umno, entahlah. Tetapi setelah masuk PAS bolehlah dibetulkan nawaitunya. Mengajak Ahmad Said dan mana-mana orang Umno untuk masuk PAS kira-kira sama seperti Rasulullah menyeru semua orang Mekah dan Madinah masuk Islam. Setiap ahli kitab dan penyembah berhala seperti Abu Jahal dan Abu Sofian diseru masuk Islam. Abu Jahal tidak menerimanya, tetapi Abu Sofian dan isterinya Hindun yang amat membenci baginda masuk Islam. Dalam kempen PAS hendak menggantikan Umno, tentulah yang hendak mengisi PAS orang Umno. Kalau orang Umno tidak keluar Umno dan masuk PAS, tidak dapatlah dijayakan kempen PAS mengganti Umno itu. Maka membuka pintu PAS kepada Ahmad Said adalah patut dan wajar. Jika boleh, semasa Dato Onn Jaafar keluar Umno dahulu, kiranya PAS ada pada masa itu, patut diajak dia masuk PAS. Semasa Mahathir dipecat daripada Umno dahulu, ada yang mempelawa dia masuk PAS. Tidak malu PAS jika dia menolak. Tengku Razaleigh sebelum membentuk Parti Melayu S46 diajak masuk PAS. Dia tidak mahu kerana dia percaya penyokong tidak akan ikut. Bukan memalukan PAS jika dia tidak mahu. Mengajak Najib, Muhyiddin Yasin dan Ahmad Said masuk PAS adalah kerja yang mulia, tetapi menjanjikan Najib akan dikekalkan jadi perdana menteri dan Ahmad Said balik jadi Menteri Besar Terengganu, ia tidak boleh dibuat oleh sesiapa. Masuk PAS dahulu, lepas itu tunjukkan diri betul-betul jadi orang PAS dan buktikan apa yang Umno itu tidak betul, maka ketika itu baru boleh difikirkan apa status masing-masing. Mereka mesti tunjukkan jadi Saidina Umar al-Khattab dulu. Walaupun Saidina Umar semasa jahiliyah pernah menanam anak perempuannya hidup-hidup, tetapi setelah menyertai Islam berkata Rasulullah, jika selepas baginda ada lagi nabi, maka orang itu adalah Umar. Pada masa Najib dan Umno menghina Ahmad Said, maka memang patut PAS meredakan duka nestapanya. Jika dia tidak lagi laku dalam Umno, dia boleh dimuliakan dalam PAS. Orang hendak lemas seperti itu wajar diselamatkan. Adakah dia hendak berterima kasih pada PAS, ia adalah masalahnya. Tapi dia wajar diselamatkan dan dimuliakan. PAS punyai beratus ribu ahli . Mungkin pemimpin tidak ajak lagi dia masuk PAS. Mungkin dalam ramai-ramai itu berkata kepadanya, tempat yang baik dan selamat untuknya ialah dalam PAS. Tidak hina dan tidak malu PAS berkata begitu. PAS tidak kecewa jika dia balik ke dalam Umno. Sudah ramai Cina dan India yang tidak Islam masuk PAS sekarang. Dan ramai lagi akan masuk. – 25 Mei, 2014. * Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan The Malaysian Insider. |
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