COMMENT Wishes of birthday boy Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi aside, it is probably difficult for a Malaysian author to win the Noble Prize in Literature if the BN government's stranglehold over the rakyat's hearts and mind continue.

Instead of asking Malaysian writers to do more as he did, it is his government that should take the first step and liberate the writers and the rakyat from their shackles before asking of them to win any Nobel Prizes.

This is as new security laws continue to be enacted as archaic ones dating back to our colonial days are wielded, as both Zahid and his boss Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak continue to promise to do all they can to fight what they claim are "security threats".

Though critics have noted that government actions are usually against dissenting voices and seem more to secure their hold on power than address any real threats to the public, as the government continues to crack down on writers, shackle journalists and ban books, as well as persecute critics and dissidents.

Clearly the atmosphere is less than ideal for writers who want to write real and meaningful works that would be even considered for the prestigious international award.

Unless of course what Zahid was talking of is for government-friendly writers to step up.

Which is kind of how Indonesian poet Goenawan Mohamad, who gave a talk during a recent visit to Malaysia, described Soviet revolutionary leader Joseph Stalin's view of writers - as "engineers of the soul" and architects of government control.

This is something that the former journalist doesn't agree with.

For while Goenawan believes writers don't necessarily have to write pieces critical of authority, they must write about society and be its true mirror, and more importantly they must be in the forefront when it comes to fighting tyranny and oppression.

And indeed as quoted on the awards' web page, the very words weapons magnate Alfred Nobel who bequeathed his fortune for the prizes, used in his will specific to the Nobel Prize in Literature are, "to the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction".

The key words here are "the most outstanding work in an ideal direction", not works that pander to those in power.

Oppressive rule

And if we are to take Goenawan's view on writers as opposed to Stalin's, then the Malaysian environment with the government stranglehold over public hearts and minds is not conducive for literary development, nor for outstanding works in an ideal direction.

Indeed the ideal direction in the current Malaysian context would be to write tales and stories of the rakyat's struggle under the increasingly oppressive rule of a scandal-ridden government that refuses to allow for legitimate dissent.

It would be tales and stories that call for the people to liberate themselves, in whatever ways that are available to them within our nation's democratic confines.

None of which would please Zahid or Najib, who as recent events have shown, continue to threaten those with such thoughts and have taken stern actions against the merest hint of criticism even in their race-based party.

More so, the government's botched handling of the education system, encouragement of right-wing behaviour and at times favouritism-tinged incentive-delivery for those in the creative industry, doesn't promote much room for great writers to develop nor the proper audience to read and appreciate them.

Unless and until his own government can relinquish this stranglehold over writers and the hearts and minds of the rakyat, waiting for a Malaysian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature will always be a pipe dream for Zahid and our country, even in far-off 2057.

Though perhaps, he and the Umno-led government are indeed playing reverse psychology like former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad supposedly did yesterday to attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali over the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s infamous RM2.6 billion "donation" investigations.

Naijb and Zahid are hoping perhaps that the oppressive environs they are fostering will motivate writers to write great works worthy of the Nobel Prize, or perhaps hope writers who had to flee and live in exile from their persecution would deliver such writings.

Though ironically, their endeavours in this persecutory fashion may even see a rather vocal incarcerated critic of the government, winning the Nobel Prize in a different category altogether, and sooner rather than later.

HAZLAN ZAKARIA is a member of Team Malaysiakini.