If the carpetman Deepak Jaikishan has aspirations of changing career and writing books for a living, he should not give up his day job of flogging carpets too quickly.

NONE For many weeks, he tried to enthrall the Malaysian public with stories of senior politicians and lawyers breaking the law, of underhand business tactics and broken promises, and the abuse of power by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his family.

Sadly, his stories did not live up to expectations.

 

Shakespeare’s line, ‘All the world’s a stage’ suits Malaysians very well. All of us are acting our roles according to the script, but the identity of the author is not known, just yet.

The rakyat are the bit players, who appear happy that they are sharing the limelight with the stars.

 

Some of us fail to realise that we are being sucked in by this great show. If we are to be honest with ourselves, we should ignore this play and concentrate on the bigger picture.  

We are so desperate to see the end of corrupt rule and the downfall of Umno, Najib and his ‘self-styled First Lady’, Rosmah Mansor, that we wish Deepak’s spin will have a fairy-tale ending. It won’t.

 

The contents of the e-book ‘The Black Rose’ are neither earth-shattering nor revelatory. Much of what is written is already known. Deepak the carpetman is no saint. He is like a mercenary who plans an offensive only if the price is right.

 

He told another online portal: “I cannot be bought. I am not for sale. I am priceless.”

 

When his motives were questioned, he exposed his true colours.

azlan Referring to the botched business deal relating to a Defence Ministry project which involved Raja Ropiaah Raja Abdullah, a Wanita Umno member who is close to Najib, Deepak said: “I think it’s unfair, it’s my land. I paid for it, I get a pittance and she gets the lion’s share. She got the appreciation (value) but I got nothing. I only got what I put in.”

 

Does the majority of the rakyat keep quiet because the deal involved Umno, a woman, Najib’s close colleague or a Raja?

 

Deepak made his exposé only because he was let down by equally greedy people. Even when he said he would reveal sensitive information, he has chosen to do it in installments, just like a soap opera.

Why trust a man who boasted, for weeks, about the publication of ‘The Black Rose’, then denied that he wrote the e-book with the same title? He said: “My version is completely different from this one, I have nothing to do with it.”

So, where is Deepak’s e-book which he said would be published on Jan 2, 2013?

Why books?

 

Why do some Malaysians feel it necessary to publish the ‘truth’ in a book?

 

NONE The ‘self-styled First Lady’ wants to relate her version of Malaysian political back-stabbing in her biography. Deepak also said he would write a book after Rosmah’s book comes out.

 

He subsequently changed his mind and said he would publish a 26-page booklet, but publication of this book was eventually delayed and Deepak said he would then publish an e-book.

Deepak blamed the delay on PKR’s Rafizi Ramli who had divulged details of jewellery allegedly being bought for Rosmah by Deepak.

 

People will ask, ‘Why books?’, as Malaysians are not known for being avid readers.

 

Rosmah is probably doing it for prestige. Perhaps, she is trying to gauge the rakyat’s love for her, by their reaction at the pre-launch.

 

Is there a more sinister motive for Deepak’s series of installments? Are they a clever ploy to distract us from whatever Umno has in store for the rakyat, in the last lap of the race to GE13?

 

In Malaysia, money talks. There are few men or women of integrity, and everyone has a price.

azlan After 55 years of independence, Umno has run into the buffers. It is facing an internal crisis and its political survival depends on the outcome of GE13. Umno will cheat and bribe people. It has engineered acts of violence to intimidate the public.

 

So, is Deepak and his carpet-tales, a clever decoy to distract us for as long as possible? Will Malaysians ever learn to distinguish between drama and real life? Can Malaysians learn to take control of their lives?

Studies by the French have shown that men who are in need of attention will woo their conquests with gifts and sweet-talk them with things they want to hear.  Once these men have had their way with the women and achieved orgasm, the men will roll over and fall into a deep sleep.

 

Substitute the word ‘men’ with ‘Umno’, ‘orgasm’ with ‘GE13', ‘conquests’ with ‘rakyat’ and you’ll get the general idea: after the election, the rakyat, like some women, will be left frustrated and insecure.

 

The woman knows that one thing is certain. The same ritual will be repeated when the man wants more sex. That is what happens every five years, when Umno wants to woo the rakyat.

The fastest selling paperback in history, the erotic novel ‘50 Shades of Grey’ tells the sexual relationship of Christian Grey, a man with sado-masochistic tendencies, and his absolute control over the naïve student, Anastasia Steele.

The innocent Steele is mesmerised by the billionaire Grey, with the large ego. He seduces Steele and tells her that she will be happy under his power.

 

Malaysia’s story could be told in a novel called ‘55 Shades of Spin’. Umno is the dominant, aggressive subjugator with many dark secrets, like Grey. Umno has exercised absolute control over an impressionable and submissive rakyat, like the naïve Steele, for 55 years.

 

azlan Umno and the rakyat are locked in a violent relationship, with the rakyat being forced to obey the rules and surrender itself completely to Umno or face punishment.

 

It is time for the rakyat to take charge, to be the dominant partner and dictate the future of the country. We don’t need men spinning yarns to tell us what is right or wrong, nor do we want men and women who keep silent in the face of allegations of corruption and murder, whilst pretending everything is all right.

 

Now, the rakyat must wise up and stop being raped by Umno.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak', this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.