The first ray of sunlight; it was one of those rare days when I woke up before the sky lit up entirely. Photo may be familiar to some as it's basically the same shot as the ones here, here and here.
When I was a kid, I had a congenital dislike for news in all its forms. I would have given newspapers a wide berth if it weren’t for my teachers who preached on the importance of knowing “current affairs”. And news on TV had as much appeal as watching Today in History encore. Keeping up with the latest events just didn’t make sense; if something is that important, surely it would reach me sooner or later, right?
So, being always the last to know, I wasn't aware that two members of Parliament (MP) had made the headlines until I read this mail from someone writing under the pseudonym "Beeblebrox".
I'm somewhat relieved after reading your post on "Future Leaders". It's assuring that the government is doing its best to find capable leaders among young Malaysians who will replace the d------ (word partially censored for being slanderous to named person(s)' intelligence) MPs we have in the Parliament. Did you read the theSun today? F--- the stupid proposals...
The rest of the mail then goes on indulging in more speculations of named MPs' intelligence. It's peppered with expletives, to say the least, and thus not fit to be published on a blog that's big on ethics and values (ahem).
After scouring ever credible and easy-to-navigate Malaysian news sites to no avail, I found the news the guy/gal was referring to at long last by borrowing a copy of aforementioned newspaper. Just in case you haven't read the article, here's what's pissing Beeblebrox off: Apparently, some MPs were discouraged by the fact that the mandatory death sentence is not doing any good in stopping drugs from entering the country. So, one of them came up with the idea of sending the nation's drug addicts to an island and supply them with free drugs. Another suggested beheading the addicts in public and show it on TV.
I wanted to send Beeblebrox a reply but he gave an email address that's cryptic and obviously phony (theanswertolifeuniverseandeverything@42.gxy). So, here's for you, Beeblebrox:
Granted, on their own, both proposals sound reasonably dumb. But, if you would kindly see them as one grand proposal, you would realize that you've given the two MPs too little credit for brilliance. C'mon, island and TV? Doesn't the combination ring a bell? Both MPs are obviously big fans of reality TV shows.
Already, I could see how it could be done; it'll have a catchy name (say "Addiction Island" or "Ice Island" as not to sound too much like "Temptation Island") and it'll be modelled after Survivor, with groups of drug addicts being pitted against each other in obstacle courses and challenges. The winning teams will get free drugs as promised by the MP and the losing team will have to vote off one of its members, who will ultimately provide what the public so craves for. He'll have his head chopped off in such a way that has the public in rapt attention and keeps them watching day after day, wondering who will be next (yes, it'll be a daily show since there are possibly thousands or more drug addicts out there).
I tell you, it's pure brilliance. Ads revenue from the show will help pay for the drugs. When drugs are available gratis, drug traffickers can kiss their thriving business goodbye. The small fries at least; the major traffickers will be conferred rights to legally import drugs so as to supply the stars of our reality TV show their daily fix of meth and whatnot.
I tip my hat to the two MPs for their far-sightedness; kudos!