No, We’re Not Egypt..I think…
Egyptian protestors were attacked by thugs on camels in Tahrir Square.
RANTINGS BY MM
When the Arab Spring happened in January 2011, our leaders reacted in a very odd fashion. The first response was to bring all our students in Egypt, all 11000 of them, home as if Egypt had just turned into a warzone and our students were in grave danger. It was very clear however, from what the students themselves said when they got home, that there was no physical danger at all. The ‘danger’ was more in the heads of our leaders who were perhaps afraid that our young people might get some funny ideas about democracy. Perhaps they thought the word doesn’t exist in Arabic.
There were also a lot of protestations by our leaders that Malaysia is not Egypt and our PM is not Mubarak. Well yes, Malaysia is certainly more economically advanced than Egypt. It doesn’t have the high levels of poverty and great inequalities that that country has had for decades, as well as the high youth unemployment, all of which added to the recipe for unrest that was bound to come at some time.
So no, we are not Egypt. But you know what they say about how people doth protest too much. What is this obsession with us NOT being Egypt anyway? If we’re not, then why worry? Besides, who needs to worry about the Arab Spring unless they identify themselves with Ben Ali, Mubarak, Gadaffi and Assad?
And if our PM is not Mubarak – that ex-Air Chief Marshall of the Egyptian Air Force who ruled for nearly 30 years and is now on trial on allegations of corruption as well as the premeditated murder of peaceful protestors – then what is he?
Mubarak used to torture people he didn’t like.
Mubarak was allegedly very corrupt.
Mubarak was much adored by the Americans, which was why they didn’t know what to do when the revolution started. After all they got Egypt to sign a peace treaty with Israel. During the Gaza siege two years ago, it was the Egyptians who obstructed aid from going to Gaza through Rafah. Nice guy, Mubarak.
