道可道, 非常道 : Pull Back!

by shuzheng

A political disaster is unfolding with Lim Kit Siang’s Malaysian First and the persons to pay for his inanity are, ironically, those who thought he might be right. Now ‘they’ happily go to town with Malaysian First:

Malays, come, come; look and see: If that Ah-Pek wins, we – the Malays – will be Second. You tahu, what’s it to be Second! You want proof? Look at Nazri, the first Malay to fall.

Promptly, Mahathir Mohamad et al turns up in, of all places, a PAS area with the same message: get Ah-Pek, get PAS; two birds with a stone. Meanwhile Ibrahim Ali proposes ‘unity’ talks. Up the stakes, and to countermand the point that Malays can turn up Second and to give it legal colouring, they round up the people who believed in Kit Siang, in Malaysian First. Sadly, those who don’t buy it, get thrown into the cell as well.

Worse than being obstinate is being naive.

To Malays, Indian Friends, to DAP Members:

雖有智慧
不如乘勢
雖有鎡基
不如待時

Though you may be clever and wise,
The time of the season is what you must know.
Though you may farm with the blade of a hoe,
The fortunes of circumstance are better to ride.

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道可道, 非常道 – dao ke dao, feichang dao
名可名, 非常名 – ming ke ming, feichang ming

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And recall this good advice:

• observe developments soberly,
• maintain our position,
• meet challenges calmly,
• hide our capacities and bide our time,
• remain free of ambition,
• never claim leadership.