Do Dyana and Zairil themselves know the meaning of patriotism?

Raja Sara Petra

Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud and Zairil Khir Johari of DAP said that Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak does not know the meaning of the word ‘patriotism’. I am sure Salleh, who is a PhD holder, knows what a simple word like ‘patriotism’ means. And I am also sure that Salleh, who is a Cabinet Minister, is not going to breach protocol by replying to two people who are not of his equal. So allow me to reply instead.

Dyana said, “Patriotism means love for one’s country, not one’s government or head of government.” I would agree with that. I, too, read Shakespeare and the part where Brutus said, “It is not that I love Caesar less, but I love Rome more.” So Brutus stuck a knife in his best friend to, kononnya, save Rome.

But students of Shakespeare will know that this was merely an excuse to justify killing Caesar. They needed a ‘noble’ reason for the assassination. So, the story they told the Romans was that they killed Caesar to save Rome. The real reason for killing Caesar was because he had become too powerful and his enemies (and friends as well) wanted to get rid of him to take over.

And now, again, we hear Dyana and Zairil saying it is not that they love Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak less, but they love Malaysia more. And then they tell foreigners that Najib stole RM42 billion of 1MDB’s money, Malaysia is going bankrupt, the two people who lost US$30 billion gambling on the FOREX market are going to save Malaysia, Najib is selling Malaysia to China while Lim Guan Eng is merely attracting investments from China, and much more.

When the Ringgit falls they clap and cheer and say that this is proof we need a change of government. They welcome all bad news regarding Malaysia and when there is good news they say it is fake news and that nothing good which is being said about Malaysia is true. In short, they marah nyamuk and bakar kelambu or cut the nose to spite the face and they say they are patriotic Malaysians.