Author: Dr Navin C Naidu

Drainers and strainers of swamps

Trainers, strainers, and drainers of swamps represent three major political parties. – Native American chief Seattle While draining the swamp is the ideal, the ordeal caused by those dedicated to straining the swamp is optically awkward and morally reprehensible. To separate the drainers from the strainers, just watch proponents and

Disingenuous democracy: No cure, just endure

EXTENSIVE scholarly works showcase the gradual development of politics and government since 2000 BCE. Strangely, unity was considered a myth associated with the denial of politics. Individuality became the first fact of participation in politics between 2000 BCE and 400 BCE. This clearly explains the divide-and-rule form of disingenuous democracy. 

Politicised pronouns

Humans are ingenious at sniffing out minor differences to figure out whom they should despise. – Steven Pinker, Canadian cognitive psychologist WE, inevitably, morphed into us-and-them no thanks to misguided socioeconomic imbalances. If anything, it’s a reflection of sheer populism and elitism erected by the AS-WE-IS (Anglo-Saxon-Welsh-English-Irish-Scots) colonials as a

To preserve, protect and defend

An errant judge is not qualified to inquire into the truth. – Horace, Roman poet The Oaths of Office for Malaysian judges do not contemplate their pre-eminence or prominence in safeguarding the Malaysian Federal Constitution. The judiciary, as the third organ of state, has no police power, no constitutional court

A dangerous cult

Nothing comes from doing nothing. – Shakespeare’s King Lear There is no greater mortal sin than that of doing nothing to oppose, and depose, oppression that manifests as government policies under the ‘rule of law.’ Doing nothing has become a dangerous cult. Law and order, as fear mongering devices, offer

Mamikalal menace

Information is the currency of democracy. – Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President The inception of government from a distant past, slowly but surely, created the menace of mamikalal – acronym: more and more is known about less and less – designed, structured and applied to the dumbing down of the

Government: Few shepherds, many sheep

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worse state, an intolerable one. – Thomas Paine, American Revolution activist It took one man, strong of body and mind, to man up with a small army of tested and trusted soldiers to convince fearful people that

Contagious CUP culture

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. – Shakespeare’s Hamlet CUP (Cruel Unusual Punishment) is a psychological necessity, reliable companion, and faithful ally to those running, undermining, and ruining affairs of state. Primarily caused by stinking thinking, it permeates through every nook and cranny of

Suez moments

There is a tremendous gap between public policy and public opinion. – Noam Chomsky, American professor of linguistics Public policy and public opinion clashed in the UK while facing its Suez moment in 1957 when it deservedly lost its monopoly over the Suez Canal impelled by the relentless anti-colonial policies

Unborrowed visions

 Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.  – Warren G. Bennis, American author America, born in the bowels of rebellion, was conceived from an unborrowed vision that thrust life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as the principal apparatus of and for governance. It was a tall order