Raggie Jessy
Doing what I do is never an easy thing.
Back when Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak was still Prime Minister, people closest to me accused me of receiving millions from him to fight his cause. They referred to me as “Najib’s blue-eyed boy” even though I was struggling to make ends meet. I had yet to meet the man. But even when I told that to my critics, they scoffed it off as “the usual scripted reply” and asked me where I kept my stash hidden. It was depressing then.
It’s still depressing now.
It’s even more depressing when one considers that Najib is no longer the Prime Minister of Malaysia. It’s always been about me “having received millions from Najib to fight his cause,” the only difference now being the nature of the cause, which, according to those who once told me Dr Mahathir was a crook, is “to whitewash his (Najib’s) crimes so as to make him look good.” The funny thing is, some of those who are criticising me today are at this very moment claiming to be his saviours.
And that, my friends, is what we call human nature.
As a matter of fact, what these people are doing corresponds to an evolutionary flaw that traces all the way back to the days of the caveman. Back then, survival of the fittest was the order of the day where the prevailing instinct was to kill. Over the centuries, we’ve grown accustomed to thinking that everyone around us has an ulterior motive and may well be out to “get us” or “get ahead of us.” We have in us a “prehistorical instinct” demanding that we do “everything within our means to keep ourselves safe from and ahead of the enemy.” That has, over some ten thousand years or so, turned us into a negative race and resulted in multiple crusades and political conquests.
And mind you, this is not some figment of my wild imagination.
On the contrary, this is a valid scientific hypothesis that many a researcher has gradually learned to accept as the truth. There are well acknowledged philosophers out there who are beginning to see that humans resonate most with negative news. The CIA and the FBI have long taken this gospel and have been using such philosophy to manipulate governments and regimes. The French military used the mainstream media to topple a legitimately instituted government all the way back in the late 1700s and proved how humans could easily be manipulated with fake news.
And it is fake news that ultimately resulted in the downfall of Najib Razak in May 2018. Some of those closest to me have since shunned me and are telling me that I should quit supporting Najib, as, according to them, “the majority has spoken through the ballot box and no longer wants him around.” They easily forget that the majority of people in Malaysia are also Muslims, meaning, if they truly believe that I should stop supporting him, all those professing Hinduism, Christianity and Thaoism should immediately convert to Islam.
Makes sense?
I mean, has anyone seen God standing right in front of him? No? Then why believe in a God in the first place, considering that EVERYONE, not just the majority, has yet to see Him? Why must a Hindu or Christian father tell his son never to embrace Islam, when, according to him, the “rule of majority applies in any situation?” And if the “rule of majority” does indeed apply all the time, then, should Allah not be the supreme being everyone should start praying to?
And don’t get me started on the question of democracy.
Many are saying that I should stop supporting Najib as the 14th general election was a “democratic referendum” against his leadership. But are they also saying that I should stop being the opposition and help turn this nation into a “one party dictatorship?” Does that not contradict the very notion that Malaysia needs a healthy opposition to continue being a democracy?
See the stupidity?
Those who are at this very moment rejoicing the birth of “Malaysia Baru” are themselves confused about the concept of democracy. To them, if the majority says Najib is guilty, he is guilty. If it is a factual article that deals with “reasons why Najib did not steal money from 1MDB,” it’s a “desperate attempt by Raggie Jessy to cover up his crimes.” But if it’s about “the way in which Najib stole money from 1MDB,” it’s a winning article that should be nominated for a pulitzer.
Yes, articles that demonise Najib garner the most attention as it is human nature to resonate with the negative. Thus, an anti-Najib editorial would automatically get wider coverage than a pro-Najib one if both were to be released at the same time. Our tendency is to ask a million and one questions if we’re told Najib is a crook and less questions when we’re told he’s a saint. At the end of the day, it becomes an uphill battle for people of good conscience to do what is right as the villain who twirls his moustache ultimately gets his say.
I can be as virtuous as I want to be.
But if I were to exhaust all my energy trying to change Malaysians, I would end up battling the forces of nature that turned us into the negative people we have come to be. I can’t recede the evolutionary tide with just the snap of my finger. I can, however, ride on that tide and reach out to others surfing alongside. We could then join hands in the spirit of solidarity and set sail against the winds of negativity. The trick is always to sail against the tide and not to get myself drowned by it.
So go ahead.
Tell me I’m making millions supporting Najib. Tell me I am an opportunist attempting to ride on his predicament. Tell me you’re mother Teresa and I’m the devil. Tell me you’re Saint Nicholas and I’m Lucifer. Tell me whatever you wish, I don’t really care. You could be my friend, my girlfriend, my teacher, my confidante, my classmate, my neighbour, my uncle, my niece, my adopted father, my adopted mother or even my brother for all I care.
What I do, I do for you.
And what I do, I do because I fear no man or cause other than the cause of fear itself. If you feel I’m a crook and an opportunist, so be it. If you feel you’re Mother Teresa and I’m the devil, so be it. If you feel you’re Saint Nicholas and I’m Lucifer, so be it. If you feel I’m a useless and ungrateful person, so be it. If you feel I made millions by supporting Najib, so be it.
I’m on a very specific mission, and nothing you say or do will ever stop me.
