THEY say the pen is mightier than the sword. On that basis, how sharp could a prose penned – in an objective manner – through the lenses of a media industry veteran be like? Is there a way to pass judgment on this?
Such is probably the ‘jackpot question’ whether one would ‘fully agree’ with veteran journalist and blogger Datuk A. Kadir Jasin or ‘agree to disagree’ with his latest Facebook post entitled “The Red Flag”.
Presented in a rhyming short-and-sweet diction with a pathetic looking Pakatan Harapan (PH) flag hanging ‘face down’ from some tree branches, the national journalism laureate wrote in a ‘typical Kadir Jasin’ manner.
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It was once a symbol of hope.
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But today it’s just another ruling party.
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It’s doing exactly what it once promised to do away with.
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What was once condemned is today practised with ease.
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The reformasi struggle has given way to the comfort of power.
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Que sera, sera.
Replying to one of the many comments – both accolades and brickbats – Kadir expressed disillusionment that PH once used to be “a symbol of hope for me” but the ray and shine have eventually faded with the formation of the unity government.
“I supported it in the 2018 and 2022 GE (General Elections). Once its leaders decided to co-habit with UMNO, my trust in it dissipated,” he justified, alluding to the negative sentiment that he has portrayed.
Well, Kadir has his fair share of fans – and not forgetting detractors as well as fence-sitters – for his somehow poetic prose.
Those who stood alongside the former editor-in-chief of mainstream New Straits Times contended that “it is difficult to judge human beings for many a time, these people just put on a new clothe but the old mentality remains” or that “it is just a curse that “whoever holds the office shall repeat the same mistakes”.
The sharpest critic perhaps came from netizen Yob Cik Mat who teased Kadir that “PH is a symbol of hope then and now for some of us” but “would never ever be one” for Kadir, prompting fans of the veteran journalist to come to his defence.
In fact, Yob Cik Mat went on to chide Kadir that the latter’s stance runs parallel with that of twice former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad “who is very unlikely to reconcile with DS Anwar (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) again and I think so are you”.
Below are some neutral thoughts from so-called fence-sitters who reckoned that as the country is administered by a unity government, it is inevitable for provisions or compromises to be made to keep the alliance intact. – May 30, 2024
