There are worse things in life than death; among them is the death of honour – personal honour and even worse, national honour and reputability, writes Clive S Kessler.
The Malaysian state may now,
If it so chooses,
Be proud of the fact
[And rejoice forever in the ensuing glory]
That its last official act towards this great man
Was to find him guilty
Of upholding the principle –
The uncontroversial and incontrovertible principle –
That the rule of law is the rule of law
And that constitutional supremacy means exactly that;
And on those grounds,
Absurdly and outrageously,
To find him guilty of sedition.
Karpal is now dead.
But Malaysia will long have to live
With the punishing cost to itself
Of this tainted and unattractively pursued victory.
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There are worse things in life than death.
Among them is the death of honour –
Personal honour
And, even worse, national honour and reputability.
Karpal is dead.
But in this context –
A context produced by his government’s action against him –
Karpal has won,
And the Malaysian state
Out of its own folly
and its false and brutal, because power-driven, sense of pride,
has lost.
“Oh death, where is thy sting,” etc
May Karpal’s memory long remain
A blessing and inspiration
To all who care for justice –
And a continuing reproach
To those who live by obstructing it
And frustrating its purposes.
Clive S Kessler is Emeritus Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Australia.
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
Not just the Government. What is the Bar Council doing about such absurd and bad decisions. Isn’t the Bar Council interested in ensuring justice prevails?
To all the Umno schmucks particularly egregious Mahathir,
This is what respect is, hundreds of Malaysians came to pay Karpal their last respect, Karpal has earned every bit of the respects he got and the respects for him will not only continue for a long long time. It will also inspire many others to take up what he left behind. You have tried to have him locked up, without trial I might add, sorry to add without any effects.
Just remember respect is earned and not by demand just like what you and all the Umno schmucks are good at !