Perang Dingin dan legasi Pope John Paul II

Budaya popular, melalui novel dan filem The Da Vinci Code telah mengheret Pope dan seluruh pemimpin Katolik ke perhatian umum dengan kisah konspirasi Vatican dan Opus Dei. Dalam sebuah filem Oliver Stone pula, Salvador, ketua Katolik El Salvador dipaparkan dengan dramatik pembunuhannya oleh kumpulan berhaluan kanan. Paparan dalam budaya popular ini bagaimanapun bukan kisah sensasi semata. Vatican mempunyai hubungan akrab dengan Washington. Kontroversi melanda Vatican hari ini ada kaitan dengan hubungan baik Vatican dengan elit kuasa besar dunia.


Pope John Paul II, semasa hayatnya pernah dikritik akibat hubungan baiknya dengan sebuah kumpulan rahsia Katolik, Opus Dei dan pengasasnya Josemaria Escriva. Dalam novel terkenal yang mencetus kontroversi oleh Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, kumpulan rahsia itu dikemukakan sebagai sekelompok elit yang berpengaruh dan sanggup melakukan apa sahaja untuk memelihara kedudukannya, termasuk membunuh.

Kini, di tengah–tengah kekecohan akibat The Da Vinci Code yang telah pun difilemkan dan selepas dua tahun kematian John Paul II, kontroversi Opus Dei bukan satu–satunya isu yang menjadikan Vatican sasaran kritikan dan mengaitkan papasi dengan pembunuhan.

John Paul II, yang memegang jawatan Pope sejak 1978, sangat dikenali dengan peranannya menentang komunis di negara kelahiranya Poland, sejak sebelum beliau diangkat sebagai Pontif. Di Amerika Syarikat (AS), dapat diperhatikan beliau diangkat sebagai wira atau sekurang–kurangnya berperanan penting dalam kejatuhan komunisme di Poland. Peranan beliau itu sering dikemukakan sebagai peristiwa penting yang melonjakkan kedudukannya, yang ketika itu dikenali sebagai Karol Jozef Wojtyla.

Ketika era Perang Dingin di antara AS dan Rusia, John Paul II berperanan besar sehingga disebut bahawa Perang Dingin dimenangi oleh Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher dan John Paul II. Pakatan ini telah memperlihatkan dengan jelas kaitan Vatican dengan politik. John Paul II juga dianugerahkan Pingat Kebebasan, anugerah awam tertinggi AS oleh Presiden George W Bush kerana peranannya meruntuhkan komunisme.

Satu pencetus hubungan baik AS dengan Pope ialah pertemuan beliau (ketika itu belum menjadi Pope) dengan Zbigniew Brzezinski – yang juga berasal dari Poland – di Universiti Harvard pada 1976. Dalam pertemuan itu, Brzezinski yang kagum dengan khutbah diberikan paderi dari Poland itu menjemput beliau berbincang dalam satu pertemuan. Bermula daripada pertemuan itu, kerajaan AS yang ketika itu dipimpin Presiden Jimmy Carter mendapat seorang sekutu penting dan membentuk pakatan yang dikatakan telah mengubah perjalanan Perang Dingin.

Sejak itu, AS mendapat satu wajah agama untuk berdepan dengan komunisme. Kedudukan Pope sebagai anak Poland mengukuhkan pengaruh beliau di Eropah Timur yang pada ketika itu condong ke Kesatuan Soviet. Katolik di Eropah Timur mendapat restu Pope melalui lawatan pemimpin dunia Katolik itu ke sana. Sedikit demi sedikit, pengaruh komunis diperangi dan sentimen agama diperkukuhkan untuk memerangi komunisme. Hubungan rapat John Paul II dengan Washington bukan sahaja berjaya mematahkan pengaruh komunisme Kesatuan Soviet, tetapi bakal membawa satu implikasi moral yang sangat besar kepada pemimpin Katolik itu.

Selepas kejatuhan komunisme di Rusia dan Eropah Timur, pengaruh Pope semakin kuat dan meluas, walaupun sebahagia besar Eropah yang agak liberal itu semakin menjauhkan diri daripada agama Kristian. Pendirian konservatif John Paul II terlihat dengan jelas semasa beliau menangani isu Kesatuan Eropah (EU).

Turki, sebuah negara majoriti Muslim yang menjadi penghubung dunia Muslim dengan Eropah memohon untuk diterima sebagai ahli EU. Kumpulan behaluan kanan dan Kristian di Eropah menentang sekeras–kerasnya kemasukan Turki atas banyak sebab. Pembunuhan bangsa Armenia yang mencemarkan sejarah Turki juga dijadikan satu hujah menentang kemasukan Turki.

John Paul II dalam satu kenyataannya menunjukkan beliau menyedari pengaruh Turki apabila menegaskan bahawa agama Kristian hendaklah menjadi asas EU, mengukuhkan lagi sentimen “kelab Kristian” kesatuan itu. Kenyataan beliau itu memberi sokongan kepada beberapa negara Katolik seperti Ireland, Malta dan Poland untuk lebih lantang menolak keanggotaan Turki. Sentimen yang disokong John Paul II ini juga jelas kelihatan semasa draf perlembagaan EU diusahakan. Pegawai–pegawai Vatican melobi penggubal–penggubal undang–undang EU untuk memastikan pengukuhan kelab Eropah.

Pandangan beliau turut dikongsi oleh Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger yang kemudian menggantikan John Paul II sebagai Pontif dan dikenali sebagai Pope Benedict XVI. Dalam satu wawancara dengan akhbar Perancis, Le Figaro, Ratzinger menjelaskan Turki tidak wajar cuba memperolehi keahlian EU kerana ia tidak memiliki “akar Kristian.” Pandangan ultrakonservatif ini dapat dikaitkan dengan John Paul II. Vatican di bawah beliau menjadi semakin konservatif dan beliau dikatakan berusaha memastikan konservatisme terus kukuh di Vatican.

Sikap Vatican pimpinan John Paul II ini membawa implikasi kepada hubungan Krisitan–Islam. Beliau telah secara tidak langsung mengukuhkan sentimen anti–Muslim dan anti–Islam dalam suasana pasca–11 September yang sememangnya telah dikuasai sentimen anti–Muslim.

Hubungan beliau dengan AS sejak peringkat awal Perang Dingin juga mendatangkan implikasi besar kepada beliau yang memegang peranan sebagai ketua agama. Selain memerangi komunisme Soviet, Washington juga melaksanakan dasar luar yang bertentangan dengan aspirasi warga Amerika Latin.

Washington memberi sokongan kepada kumpulan berhaluan kanan di Amerika Latin. Sokongan AS ini membawa kepada konflik yang mengorbankan nyawa rakyat tidak berdosa, demi memastikan pemerintahan kerajaan–kerajaan pro–AS. Akibat hubungan baik John Paul dengan Washington, Katolik di Amerika Latin tidak mendapat sokongan daripada pemimpin tertingginya itu.

Suasana cengkaman autoritarian di Amerika Latin telah mendorong populariti Teologi Pembebasan, aliran pemikiran baru teologi Katolik. Teologi Pembebasan dicirikan melalui perspektif kaum tertindas dan miskin terhadap kitab Perjanjian Baru yang memberi penekanan kepada aktivisme demokrasi rakyat, hak asasi manusia, dan keadilan sosial. Teologi Pembebasan disifatkan sesetengah pihak sebagai sosialisme Kristian. Oleh kerana popularitinya di Amerika Latin, perlaksanaannya hampir dengan fahaman Marxist.

Kekejaman terhadap penduduk Amerika Latin ini tidak mendapat pembelaan John Paul II seperti mana beliau menentang komunisme bersama rakyat Eropah Timur ketika Perang Dingin. Ini paling jelas dilihat melalui pertembungan Vatican dengan Oscar Romero, seorang ketua paderi Katolik di El Salvador, salah sebuah negara Amerika Latin yang menjadi mangsa percaturan politik AS. Tentangan beliau terhadap komunisme telah mendorong beliau bersikap kritikal terhadap politik berhaluan kiri kaum tertindas di Amerika Latin, dan membawa penentangan terhadap komunisme itu ke satu tahap lebih tinggi, sekaligus mengetepikan mesej utama ajaran Isa a.s.

Beliau sendiri pernah mengecam kepimpinan gereja Katolik di Nicaragua yang cenderung menyokong kumpulan gerila Sandinista, kumpulan berhaluan kiri yang dimusuhi sekutunya Washington, yang jelas dilihat semasa pentadbiran Reagan. John Paul II bersikap agresif terhadap Teologi Pembebasan dan telah mengarahkan Ratzinger meneruskan tentangan terhadap aliran itu.

Vatican menyamakan Teologi Pembebasan dengan fahaman Marxisme. Tentangan terhadap kepimpinan Katolik Amerika Latin ini juga memperlihatkan sikap John Paul II yang tidak menerima tafsiran lain ajaran Katolik selain yang bersumber Vatican. Penentangan terhadap Teologi Pembebasan yang dikaitkan dengan Marxisme juga mendedahkan sikap politik Vatican yang menyebelahi kuasa besar Barat dan mengetepikan pembelaan kaum tertindas. Sentimen agama John Paul II menyebabkan beliau melihat Marxisme sebagai ancaman kepada ajaran Katolik. Disebabkan perspektif Perang Dingin ini, beliau tidak melihat kekejaman AS terhadap Amerika Latin.

Kedua–dua pihak menyedari apa yang ditentang pendukung Teologi Pembebasan di Amerika Latin. Disebabkan inilah Reagan memanfaatkan hubungan baiknya dengan Vatican. Kumpulan kempen Reagan pernah mengeluarkan kenyataan menjelaskan bahawa dasar luar AS perlu menentang Teologi Pembebasan kerana “kuasa Marxist–Leninist telah mempergunakan gereja sebagai senjata” menentang sistem kapitalisme dan menyerapkan komuniti agama dengan ajaran yang lebih berbaur komunis daripada Kristian.

Pakatan Reagan dengan John Paul II akhirnya mengorbankan nyawa. Ketika Vatican meningkatkan serangan terhadap Teologi Pembebasan, Reagan dan sekutunya kumpulan militan sayap kanan di Amerika Latin membunuh penentang kumpulan yang direstui Washington. Dan antara mangsanya ialah Oscar Romero yang dibunuh kumpulan sayap kanan pada 24 Mac, 1980 ketika melakukan upacara keagamaan di gereja.

Romero berdepan cabaran hebat dalam usahanya menentang kekejaman kumpulan sayap kanan tajaan Washington yang menguasai El Salvador. Beliau bukan sahaja menghadapi Reagan dan sekutunya tetapi juga alat politik Washington, Vatican, yang masih enggan mengiktiraf beliau sebagai tokoh Katolik hingga hari ini.

Ketika konflik berdarah yang melanda El Salvador, Romero menjelang akhir hayatnya hanya mampu berkhutbah kepada rakyat negara itu yang menentang pemerintah sayap kanan. Beliau pada mulanya melalui khutbah mingguannya hanya mengajak semua bersabar, tetapi akhirnya bertindak lebih berani lagi apabila mengajak pihak tentera menentang arahan yang bertentangan dengan ajaran agama. Romero akibat tindakannya ini dipandang mulia warga Katolik dan pengikut berhaluan kiri El Salvador.

Melihatkan keganasan yang melanda negaranya, Romero, dua bulan sebelum dibunuh, telah menulis surat kepada Presiden Carter, sekutu John Paul II meminta agar Washington menghentikan daripada memberi bantuan ketenteraan kepada pemerintah El Salvador kerana peralatan tentera itu membunuh ramai rakyat negara itu. Rayuan beliau tidak dipedulikan pentadbiran Carter.

Jelas sekali Vatican pimpinan John Paul II gagal melaksanakan tanggungjawabnya sebagai pemimpin dunia Katolik apabila mengabaikan satu jumlah besar warga Katolik Amerika Latin yang menjadi mangsa dasar luar AS. Pakatan Perang Dingin John Paul II dengan pemerintah AS telah menguasai sikap politik beliau dan seluruh Vatican.

Konservatisme – yang diperlihatkan melalui hubungan dunia Kristian dengan Islam – kini semakin kukuh di Vatican hasil daripada sikap John Paul II. Katolik yang masih kuat di Eropah tidak dapat dielakkan akan melihat ke Vatican dalam menentukan pendirian dalam banyak hal, termasuk terhadap penduduk Muslim Eropah dan dasar terhadap dunia Muslim termasuk Turki. Ketika dunia dilanda ketegangan antara kuasa besar AS dengan dunia Muslim akibat sikap dan dasar yang menyeleweng, tidak kedengaran suara lantang Vatican menentang kuasa politik yang mengetuai agenda itu.

Pemusatan kuasa Vatican akhirnya mendatangkan masalah kepada ajaran Katolik sendiri, seperti yang diperlihatkan dengan jelas melalui pertembungan dengan Teologi Pembebasan. Sejumlah besar penganut Katolik menjadi mangsa permainan politik kepimpinan Katolik dunia. Sangat jelas di sini, Vatican ingin mengekalkan kuasanya dalam ajaran Katolik tetapi gagal melaksanakan tanggungjawab sebagai pemimpin agama umatnya. Perhatian yang lebih telah diberikan kepada agama berdasarkan maksudnya yang sempit dan mengabaikan masalah asas umatnya.

Mungkin disebabkan kemelut kuasa, ajaran Katolik semakin kehilangan ramai pengikut yang banyak beralih kepada agama lain termasuk Islam. Kepimpinan dan institusi papasi seperti yang wujud dalam dunia Katolik ini tidak dapat dielakkan akan membawa kepada permainan kuasa yang merugikan pengikut agama tersebut. Kuasa hampir pasti tidak akan mematuhi tuntutan lain selain mengukuhkan kedudukannya sendiri.

Kemelut dihadapi dunia Katolik ini menyediakan satu pengajaran penting kepada agama lain, termasuk Islam. Kuasa yang dipusatkan dan diinstitusikan cenderung untuk mengetepikan tanggungjawab sebenar kepada pengikutnya. Pengukuhan kuasa mentafsir diperkukuhkan manakala tanggungjawab diabaikan kerana keperluan mengekalkan kuasa.

Ini kemudian mendorong autoriti agama bercakap dalam bahasa kuasa, seperti juga pemegang kuasa politik yang menguasainya, dan lebih buruk lagi sekiranya agama itu sendiri menjadi alat kuasa politik. Elit kuasa ini akan cenderung untuk memelihara kuasa dan mengabaikan kepentingan umat terbanyak. Autoriti agama yang menjadi pemegang monopoli tafsiran agama tidak terelak daripada memelihara kuasanya sendiri, sama ada secara sedar atau tidak. Akhirnya, institusi itu dan segala pandangannya dilihat sebagai agama itu sendiri.

Dalam kes pertembungan Vatican dengan Teologi Pembebasan, dapat dilihat bahawa tafsiran oleh kuasa di Vatican mengatasi segalanya, sehingga mendorong pemegang kuasa agama mengabaikan penindasan. Hubungan baik dengan kuasa Barat kelihatan menjadi satu–satunya yang dipelihara Vatican. Ini menunjukkan bagaimana penguasa agama sedia berada di bawah kuasa politik dan membiarkan politik menentukan tindakan.

Akibatnya, institusi agama tidak melaksanakan tanggungjawab mengkritik pihak yang berkuasa disebabkan hubungan baik kedua–dua pihak. Akhirnya, politik permainan kuasa akan menguasai dan mendominasi tafsiran ajaran agama.

In memoriam, Gailan Mahmood Ramiz (1933-2004)

It's been two years now since Gailan Mahmood Ramiz, the man who first taught me international relations, passed away. He was a passionate reader of The New York Times and seen as America's intellectual ally. Gailan was perhaps the happiest Iraqi when the United States defeated and ended Saddam Hussein's rule, but later grew doubtful of America's role in Iraq, and the future of that country itself.

From the Guardian, May 10, 2004

Obituary

Gailan Ramiz

By Lindsey Hilsum

Few people spoke so eloquently of the dilemmas faced by thoughtful, patriotic Iraqis as the political scientist Gailan Ramiz, who has been killed in Baghdad, aged 71. The day after the statue of Saddam Hussein fell last year, he described his emotions on Channel 4 News. "I was in the cellar of my house when I heard the rumble of American tanks," he said, his voice hoarse from cheering the demise of the dictator. "I screamed to my family, 'Why didn't the Iraqi army do it before? This should have been done by the Iraqi army.'"

Later, he became a regular commentator in the international media, explaining how Iraqis felt liberated and humiliated in equal measure, and predicting many of the mistakes their western occupiers would make.

Ramiz came from an illustrious family. His father, once an Ottoman army officer, took part in the 1920 revolt against the British, and was never favoured by the colonial authorities. None the less, he was elected to the Baghdad parliament, and inculcated in his son a sense of democracy and national pride. The young Gailan was sent to school in Egypt, becoming part of the first generation of Iraqis to be educated abroad. In 1958, he took a law degree at Princeton, before studying for an MA at Harvard and gaining his DPhil at Oxford in 1973.

Back in Iraq, Ramiz rose rapidly in the foreign ministry. But he refused to join the Baath party, and, despite being given the rank of ambassador, he was never posted abroad, being transferred instead to a teaching post at Baghdad University.

In 1990, when corrupt senior officials tried to steal some of his family's land, Ramiz went to Saddam's office to complain. He was subsequently imprisoned for six months - an experience that affected him profoundly, though he rarely mentioned it. Released after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, he went to teach at universities in Jordan and Malaysia, where his book, Political Pressure And The Future Of The Muslim World, was published. He returned to Baghdad in 2000.

The fall of Saddam gave Ramiz the public exposure he had previously been denied. Last May, he wrote in the International Herald Tribune: "There is no greater curse for the human soul than the loss of personal freedom." In those optimistic early days, he observed: "All Iraqis are looking forward to a free, independent and sovereign Iraq, whose democratic values and institutions would be a shining light to the Middle East."

Visitors to the elegant, ramshackle 1930s house he shared with his young wife Nadia, and their small daughter Sarah, would find an eclectic gathering of former generals, academics and businessmen eating cakes and sweets and arguing about politics. Tall, thin and angular, a committed anglophile who favoured tweed jackets, Ramiz believed the British should understand Iraq better than the Americans because of the historical ties between the two countries.

But he grew increasingly frustrated that no one from the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) would meet him. He felt that the authority, and its American leader Paul Bremer, failed to reach out to Iraqis beyond the exiled community they brought to Baghdad with them.

Journalists, however, came to value Ramiz as an energetic, powerful and intelligent analyst. "If the Americans are true liberators, they should not mind if people tell them to go after liberation is done," he said. He constantly stressed that Iraq's problems were not technical but political, and that the CPA needed to open a space for greater political debate. He believed that Saddam had "demonised the Iraqi soul", so strong leadership - on the lines of a constitutional monarachy - was necessary alongside democracy.

Ramiz watched Iraq's descent into chaos this year with gathering despair and bitterness. "If hope is lost because of the Americans' poor management, they will face total revolution, and Iraqis can be sophisticated revolutionaries," he said.

In the end, Ramiz fell victim to the turmoil he had hoped his country could avoid. When a suspected chemical weapons factory was destroyed in an accidental explosion during an American raid, half his house - which happened to be next door - was also blown up. He and his family were inside. His wife and daughter, who were slightly injured in the incident, survive him.

· Gailan Mahmood Ramiz, political scientist, born January 1933; died April 26 2004


Gailan on Iraq

"Iraqis understand that for the sake of their own security, the United States cannot leave overnight. But in the interest of both Iraq and America, the questions of whether Iraq is 'liberated' or 'occupied' must become irrelevant."

- How to Give Iraq Back to the Iraqis, International Herald Tribune, August 28, 2003

"Although in sentiment and conscience I am a republican, as a political scientist I believe the interest of Iraqi stability and democracy - and indeed Iraq's very survival as a state - would be best served by the restoration of the monarchy.

"I strongly believe that the restoration of the monarchy is neither a moral choice nor a philosophical question but a political necessity, based on pragmatic realities of the situation in Iraq. It constitutes, to use a Kantian phrase, the "categorical imperative" for a democratic and stable Iraq."

- Iraq Needs a Constitutional Monarchy, International Herald Tribune, May 7, 2003

''I believe the United States has committed an act of irresponsibility with few parallels in history, with the looting of the National Museum, the National Library and so many of the ministries. People are saying that the U.S. wanted this -- that it allowed all this to happen because it wanted the symbolism of ordinary Iraqis attacking every last token of Saddam Hussein's power.''

- The New York Times, April 14, 2003

"In Fallujah [Americans] are acting out of proportion to [the deaths of four U.S. contractors]. I understand their anger, but they get poor marks. I am convinced now, they created a situation where Iraqis are in total psychological revolt."

- The Christian Science Monitor, April 20, 2004

"Saddam Hussein's greatest crime is that he brought the American army to Iraq."

- Associated Press, April 12, 2003

"This notion that technocrats with technocratic solutions is what Iraq needs is entirely naive. It completely ignores the political and cultural spheres. What was needed was real Iraqi leaders."

- The Christian Science Monitor, April 9, 2004

"We are not Somalia or Afghanistan. We were a developed country and we yearn to be one again."

- The Washington Post, May 9, 2003

World watch: China's oil needs

"China's appetite for oil also affects its stance on Iran, where a growing confrontation with the United States over nuclear programs has already unsettled oil markets. China has invested heavily in Iran, and as a permanent member of the Security Council, its position on the question of sanctions is crucial.

"They are buying long-term supplies wherever they find them, including in unsavory places like Sudan, Iran and Burma, where we won't buy," said Michael J. Green, a Georgetown University professor who directed policy on China at the National Security Council until late last year. "They say it is benign, because they don't interfere with the internal affairs of other nations. And we say it is anything but benign, because it finances these regimes' bad behavior."

- The New York Times, April 19, 2006

"Second, China is now underwriting its second genocide in three decades. The first was in Pol Pot's Cambodia, and the second is in Darfur, Sudan. Chinese oil purchases have financed Sudan's pillage of Darfur, Chinese-made AK-47's have been the main weapons used to slaughter several hundred thousand people in Darfur so far, and China has protected Sudan in the U.N. Security Council.

"The biggest obstacle to forceful action is China. The latest outrage came a few days ago when the U.S. and Britain tried to impose the most feeble possible sanctions — targeting just four people, including a midlevel Sudanese official. China and Russia blocked even that pathetic action."

- Nicholas D. Kristoff (The New York Times), April 23, 2006

"With the Chinese there are no strings attached," said Gal Luft, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. "They don't talk to you about democracy or reform. They give money, the Saudis give oil and there are no hidden agendas. The Saudis find those kinds of relationships more appealing."

"In 2004, the two countries agreed to hold more regular political consultations while Sinopec, China's state-owned oil company, signed a deal to explore for gas in the forbidding deserts known as the Empty Quarter. Last year, Saudi Aramco signed a $3.6 billion deal with Exxon Mobil and Sinopec for a joint oil refining and chemicals venture in south Fujian Province. Talks are continuing with Sinopec regarding investing in a plant in the northern Chinese port city of Qingdao.

"When you have a country of 1.3 billion people growing at 10 percent annually, importing millions of tons of oil, Saudi Arabia has to be there," Prince Walid said. "It's clear Saudi Arabia is going where its interests are, and China is going where its interests are."

- The New York Times, April 23, 2006

The Stones and the Great Firewall

Has the Rolling Stones breached the infamous Great Firewall of China, or has the symbol of rock and roll been compromised by the authoritarian Chinese government? Neither is true, although both may claim otherwise.

In was in fact a compromise for the two seemingly opposing sides. The Stones would really love to get new fans from China, a country with 1.3 billion people, the fastest growing economy in the world and the most populous in the world, more than four times the population of the United States, the biggest consumer of rock and roll in the world.

And the Stones playing in China is a sign that can be presented as many things by the Chinese government. The most important would be a symbol of an easing up of the notorious restrictions that have befallen the country's population.

It is too easy to see that business was the major reason for the Stones' coming to China. But their concert has highlighted income disparity in the country, and critics were not so sure if the rock stars succeeded in winning over new fans. One critic reportedly said that it was only "comfort music for expats."

One of the reasons were the very high price of tickets, way beyond the means of most people in China. The cheapest was about US$40, the reason why most of the 8,000 people who attended were Western expatriates. And even if the Stones managed to win over some new fans, the economic reality of China may not be on their side, as a huge bulk of Western popular culture products sold in China are pirated.

Another minus point for the Stones was the fact that the Chinese government banned four of their songs from the concert, something clearly against what Mick Jagger and friends stand for. In a nutshell, it was so not rock and roll.

And it was not a new band trying to woo impressionable and naive Asian fans because they are not known where they come from, it was the Rolling Stones, purportedly "the world's greatest rock and roll band."

Clearly, the ban made a louder sound than the music that the rock and roll icon played.

But then, the censorship may have been as big a deal as China's market. Perhaps this was the so not rock and roll part of the compromise.

For the Chinese government, the high profile concert may be the clearest sign to show the lighter side of the authoritarian government, which endeavors to control everything including the internet. By allowing the Rolling Stones concert, the government may appear to have loosened up and a little populist to some.

But the reality is clear to all. The Chinese government is more than willing to go to great lengths to restrict the people's freedom. And Western popular culture, which was what the Rolling Stones represents, is one element that the government is wary of. The government is worried about the influence of imported popular culture on the country's population, especially the young, although local popular culture is not free of such social impact.

The Rolling Stones concert may have presented one thing, but a more important symbol emanating from the concert was the appearance of Chinese rock star Cui Jian, the "father of Chinese rock and roll."

The Stones may be seen as an icon coming to start some sort of cultural revolution in the country, but a more real symbol of freedom at the concert was Cui, who also played in Tiananmen Square during the famous protests in 1989. He played his song Nothing to My Name, which eventually emerged as an anthem of the struggle for freedom for the protesters.

Cui was also part of the reason for the government's move in shutting down the China's edition of American pop culture magazine, Rolling Stone. The popular Chinese rock star was featured in the country's first issue of the popular magazine. As a result, the magazine was shut down only after one issue. At the same time, the Chinese government also moved to limit the number of foreign magazines marketed in China, much to the chagrin of foreign publishers eyeing the country's vast media market.

We may not be really sure who gets what and who gets the most through this compromise. But what is clear is only that politics is a game of symbols, where libertarian values and authoritarianism may seem to meet harmoniously.

Lawak Kissinger

Kissinger's promise

Henry Kissinger goes to see a poor man and says, "I want to arrange a marriage for your son." The poor man replies, "I never interfere in my son's life." Kissinger responds, "But the girl is Lord Rothschild's daughter." Well, in that case ..."

Next Kissinger approaches Lord Rothschild. "I have a husband for your daughter." "But my daughter is too young to marry." "But this young man is already a vice president of the World Bank." "Ah, in that case ..."

Finally Kissinger goes to see the president of the World Bank. "I have a young man to recommend to you as a vice president." "But I already have more vice presidents than I need." "But this man is Lord Rothschild's son-in-law." "Ah, in that case ..."

(From Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938 by Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas G. Brinkley.)

Orang British yang jahat

I watched Charmed last night, and unapologetically, I might add. What really caught my attention was the British guy, some witch who appeared out of the blue to ask Paige (Rose McGowan, who went to an MTV award naked, with Marilyn Manson) to marry him.

A fierce competition ensued between him and Paige's boyfriend, the cop. The thing that caught my attention was that Hollywood never fails to caricature the Brits.

And the caricatures are quite funny too, for instance, they appear too posh, speak and behave in funny (for lack of a better word) way. They also wear preppy clothes all the time. But they often have bad teeth.

But anyway that was not the worst (or best) potrayal of British people. One that I really like is an Englishman in an episode of The Family Guy who bought the bar in the show.

In that episode, a hurricane destroyed Quahog, the town they live in and that bar was destroyed. So the owner sold the bar to an Englishman, who had all the feature of a caricatured Englishman: wore preppy clothes, had bad teeth (remember Austin Powers?) and told crappy jokes. And as usual, as in many American shows, Englishmen are the bad guys.

But of course Americans are also caricatured in TV.

But speaking of The Family Guy, I think that Stewie, the evil baby that aspires for world domination is the sickest (in a cool way) use of "Englishness" in American TV. I'm not sure why but I think English accent seems to do a better job in bringing out the evil better than American accent.

Adaptasi

From the Guardian today

Film of the book: top 50 adaptations revealed

"As anyone who has seen any version of Anna Karenina knows, a great book does not necessarily make a great film. And while The Godfather was a great movie, was it a great novel? Probably not."

World watch: Israeli lobby and U.S. foreign policy

Two American political scientists, John Mearsheimer (photo, left) author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, and Stephen Walt (photo, right) author of The Origins of Alliances, are accused of being anti-semitic for writing an essay on Israeli lobby's influence on U.S. foreign policy.

Reportedly, one of the point their article makes is how American support for Israel is hurting America, something that almost everyone has talked about.

Few people addressed the issue and the article honestly. One is by William Pfaff, published in The Korean Herald. Norman Solomon of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, and Eric Alterman of The Nation pointed out how the two international relations professors are discredited.

World watch: "The iPod Pope"

From The Observer today

Blessings all round from the iPod Pope

"A year ago Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was billed as 'God's rottweiler' when he succeeded the charismatic John Paul II. Instead he has surprised us with his taste for iPods, Prada and a gentle message of 'all you need is love'. Here, as Benedict XVI delivers his Easter message to the world from St Peter's, a leading Catholic writer judges his first year in office."

More on the Pope later.

South Park lagi..

South Park, the animated show that constantly pokes fun at almost everything, is entrenched in a new controversy. And again, it is about religion.

But this time it's not Catholicism or Scientology. It's Islam and it involves Prophet Muhammad.

Recently, Comedy Central, the network that airs South Park refused to show an episode that depicts Prophet Muhammad.

The banned episode was supposed to have shown a scene where an image of a person presented as Prophet Muhammad meeting a Family Guy character, Peter Griffin.

"In light of recent events, we feel we made the right decision," Comedy Central said in a statement. But many feel that it shows Comedy Central's hypocrisy and cowardice.

In a recent episode, Cartoon Wars, Kyle and Cartman argued over Family Guy, the show that the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker seem to really hate.



Kyle told Cartman that he should love the Family Guy, as it seems like his kind of sense of humor, to which Cartman responded, "Don't you ever compare me to Family Guy! Compare me to Family Guy again, and so help me, I will kill you where you stand!"

Somehow I am not surprised at all. Of course sooner or later Islam will become the subject of ridicule. It's South Park. Wonder what will happen next.

On boy bands and Dave Chappelle

1. Internet kills the boy band star. Really?

2. "Dave Chappelle's open letter to white people." Very funny. Everything you need to know about black-white relations. Almost.

"And how am I supposed to know you're not gonna embarrass me by misinterpreting something I do in a skit? Like, when I play a homeless crackhead shitting in an alley, you might think that all black people do that! Sure, some black people shit in alleys, but some white people watch Laguna Beach. I won't judge y'all if you don't judge us. "

Lagi debat Playboy

Saya pun tidak bersetuju dengan kelahiran Playboy di Indonesia. Tapi saya lebih berminat mengulas mengenai kualiti kandungan media berbanding isu moral majalah itu.

Dalam hal Playboy di Indonesia, dasarnya ialah bisnes. Playboy masuk ke Indonesia kerana pasaran yang besar disediakan Indonesia.

Seperti juga di Malaysia, Cosmopolitan masuk ke pasaran Malaysia kerana market yang baik disediakan pembaca Melayu Malaysia. Cosmopolitan merasakan ia satu brand yang popular, walaupun sudah ada majalah wanita berbahasa Melayu glossy seperti Eh! dan InTrend (saya nampak majalah ini diterajui nama besar majalah wanita, tapi malangnya nama sangat tidak original, kerana sudah ada majalah InStyle dan banyak kesilapan ejaan untuk sebuah majalah glossy) yang saya kadang-kadang beli kerana kawan-kawan ramai menulis.

Saya setuju majalah Malaysia (seperti Jelita) ada menerbitkan artikel "berat," tapi maksud saya sebenarnya ialah secara kolektif, media Malaysia masih jauh kualiti berbanding sebahagian besar majalah di Barat.

Satu contoh yang saya beri ialah Playboy dan majalah "dewasa" yang lain dan majalah budaya pop seperti Rolling Stone juga mengambil bahagian dalam debat nasional, contohnya dalam isu minyak, perang, pilihan raya, dan banyak lagi.

Di Malaysia, menerbitkan artikel seperti ini masih sukar untuk berlaku bagi majalah "picisan."

Maksud saya, kalau kita membeli majalah picisan di Malaysia, mustahil kita akan dapat membaca artikel mengenai Malaysia pasca-Mahathir, contohnya.

Tapi, kalau kita beli Rolling Stone, di samping membaca kisah Britney Spears, kita boleh baca artikel atau interviu tentang contohnya, ketagihan minyak Amerika, dan sebagainya.

Soalan Kusyi: "Segala kejahatan di dalam Playboy, bolehkah ditutup dengan artikel bermutu dari seorang penulis/wartawan terbaik dunia?"

Jawapannya tidak, tapi ia memberi justifikasi untuk majalah itu wujud, dan menunjukkan majalah seperti itu tidak mengabaikan kewartawanan yang baik.

Films

1. Historic film guide up for sale

"A historic influential film guide which dismissed modern-day masterpieces such as Citizen Kane is to be auctioned.

"For more than 30 years, the reviews gave cinema-owners hard-boiled assessments of the commercial prospects of the latest releases."

2. Premiere magazine's the 100 greatest performances of all time, from this month's issue (It costs almost RM30 here!). I think Premiere should be bestowed with the greatest film lists of all time award.

World watch: Blok Timur?

The latest on KL-Beijing relations.

China's Defense Minister thanks Malaysia for not supporting Taiwan in his visit to Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Here's the story, from xinhuanet:

Chinese, Malaysian defense ministers discuss military ties

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak met with visiting Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan here on Monday, and they exchanged views over the two countries' relations and ties between the armed forces.

Cao, who is also vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of China and a state councilor, said China and Malaysia are close and friendly neighbors and the cooperation between the countries has been expanding in various fields in recent years.

The relations between the armed forces of the two countries have also made much progress in recent years, and China is willing to make concerted efforts with Malaysia to deepen the friendly cooperation, Cao said.

Cao also expressed appreciation of the Malaysian government's adherence to the one-China policy and its support to China's reunification cause.

Najib said Malaysia firmly upholds the one-China policy and is committed to unceasingly strengthen the friendly cooperation of mutual respect and mutual benefit between the two countries.

The Malaysian armed forces are willing to expand and deepen the friendly cooperation with China's armed forces, he said.

Cao arrived here earlier Monday for an official goodwill visit to the country at the invitation of Najib.

Utusan Malaysia also published the news today.

But Malaysia, always nice to everyone, is still a close economic and political ally of the United States and both are currently negotiating a free trade agreement.

Pasal Playboy

Artikel ini ialah jawapan kepada beberapa soalan di blog Kusyi, daripada respons untuk posting tentang Playboy di Indonesia. Saya tidak bercakap kita atau Indonesia patut membawa masuk Playboy hanya sebab interviu dia yang menjadi perhatian.

Saya hanya bercakap tentang kualiti isi majalah, dan malangnya, Playboy lebih mampu menerbitkan artikel berkualiti berbanding banyak media di negara kita yang "Islam" ini.

Dalam Intelektual Masyarakat Membangun, Syed Hussein al-Attas menimbulkan persoalan siapa punya tugas menerbitkan artikel-artikel "berat," atau artikel yang lebih susah berbanding yang banyak boleh dibaca di media. Kebanyakan media akan menolak kerana menganggap artikel itu terlalu berat, akhirnya tidak ada siapa akan menyiarkanya.

Playboy hanya satu contoh, bukan isu utama. Maksud saya ialah di Barat, artikel "berat" atau interviu yang baik boleh dibaca di Playboy, Penthouse, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Cosmopolitan dan banyak lagi. Maknanya, apa yang boleh dibaca di New York Times atau majalah "berat," boleh juga dijumpai dalam majalah seperti Playboy.

Di Barat, majalah seperti Playboy juga berperanan meningkatkan kualiti pemikiran, walaupun mungkin tidak ramai orang yang membeli Playboy hanya untuk membaca interviu dengan Gabriel Garcia Marquez, contohnya.

Dalam debat nasional di Amerika Syarikat, contohnya isu seperti perang Iraq, hampir semua majalah, termasuk Rolling Stone menerbitkan artikel membincangkan isu ini, tidak seperti di Malaysia.

Tentang kemasukan Playboy ke Indonesia, memang tidak terelak isu seperti penjajahan budaya dan soal ekonomi yang berkaitan. Dan saya tidak bersetuju kemasukan Playboy ini dikaitkan terus dengan tahap kemajuan atau keterbukaan.

Bercakap mengenai eksploitasi wanita, ada satu artikel menarik mengenai wanita di Observer beberapa hari lalu, tulisan Alecia Moore, yang lebih dikenali sebagai Pink.

Beliau mempertahankan diri daripada kritikan berpunca muzik video Stupid Girls. Antaranya Pink menulis:

"Where are the inspirational women in popular culture? Have a look at the US magazine Forbes's list of the 100 Most Powerful Women - you will probably only know a handful: Hillary Clinton, Cherie Blair, Condoleezza Rice. All are regularly criticised in the media for their weight, clothes and hairstyles. Why aren't we seeing more of these smart, strong women who change the world in positive ways?

"More value has to be placed on achievement and talent than chest size. Unbelievably NBC recently produced an item on Condi's exercise routine! This is the first black, female secretary of state and a professor of political science - but you know what I've always really wanted to ask her? 'How many minutes of cardio do you do?'"

Kadang-kala, wanita terlalu banyak bersuara tentang eksploitasi lelaki terhadap wanita dalam budaya popular, tetapi terlupa dan/atau mengabaikan eksploitasi oleh wanita sendiri, dan kesalahan mereka sendiri, seperti mengeksploit diri mereka sendiri.

Ramai juga yang mengabaikan hakikat bahawa CEO Playboy ialah Christie Hefner - anak kepada Hugh Hefner - seorang wanita.

Eksploitasi wanita memang banyak dilakukan lelaki, tetapi banyak juga yang direlakan dan didorong wanita sendiri. Selalu kita lihat, penilaian wanita terhadap wanita lain juga bersifat sangat superfisial.

A lesson in coolness

Here we go again, another politician using popular culture as part of her PR effort. Condoleezza Rice, the United States' Secretary of State in a recent visit to England, revealed that she was a fan of the Beatles. But her timing begs more explanation than just her taste in music.

She may indeed be a Fab Four fan, as it is hard not to like a band that produced great music, but her revelation isactually an attempt to use popular culture as part of her political armory.

During questioning by a reporter, she could not understand a well-known Beatles reference, and appeared to only know the title of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. Her attempt to connect to a significant number of British people flopped.

Her reference to the Beatles, a British pop culture icon, is understandable. The US-led war in Iraq is growing more and more unpopular everyday, and she was facing loud antiwar protests at every turn, while being labeled a terrorist and killer. The Beatles could possibly assuage that anger. Or so she hoped.

Unfortunately, Rice failed miserably in her first attempt to blend politics with popular culture. She did not connect with the British people as well as she would hope. And the Beatles did not help in minimizing the angry protests. Rice is actually not a zero when it comes to music. Other than engaging in diplomacy for the world's hegemon, she is also a classical pianist. But apparently, the Beatles is not her thing.

Rice's attempt failed due to many reasons. It was clear that she was using the Beatles to present a friendlier face of herself and the administration she was representing. Her role as a close aid to a war president easily overshadowed the Beatles' antiwar stance (it was reported that protesters were planning to distribute t-shirts that read "Fab Four, Not War.") And one of the Beatle, John Lennon, went on to write Imagine, a song seen by many as a global peace anthem after he left the popular British band. Rice and the Beatles clearly stood a world apart.

The use of the hugely popular the Beatles is a no-brainer in this case. British politicians have been employing this tactic for a long time. Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and John Major have all attempted to use the Beatles for an image makeover, much like political parties here in Malaysia flock to Mawi and Siti Nurhaliza to reach out and connect to potential voters.

Perhaps Rice would do better to learn from a more genuine fan of the Beatles, and the prime minister of the country she was visiting: British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Until today, no politician has succeeded in mixing politics with popular culture quite like the New Labor prime minister. It is no exaggeration to name him the coolest British prime minister of all time.

The first single Blair bought was the Beatles' I Want to Hold Your Hand. He is a fan of rock groups such as Dire Straits, Supergrass, and The Darkness. He once jammed with a group of British school kids, had a rock band called Ugly Rumors when in college, invited Oasis's front man Noel Gallagher for a drink, and even appears in the popular animation The Simpsons. And the list inevitably seems to grow. Even among politicians that regularly cozy up to rock stars, Blair looks like the real thing. He knows the game well.

Once, to the surprise of many, Blair used a song by punk band Sham 69, If the Kids Are United as his walk-on music in a Labor cenference. One may think that he only used it for the title, much like conservative politicians in the US - including ex-president Ronald Reagan - mistakenly thought Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA to be a patriotic anthem. But not Blair. He chooses his pop culture item carefully.

The composer of the angst-ridden If the Kids Are United, Jimmy Pursey, who was himself caught by surprise had this to say: "Usually you see him with Geldof and Bono, the jet-set political messiahs. I see my band as more of an SAS unit. We're outlaws." We may never know if the use of that song managed to gain him new voters, but it could easily raise his visibility in the pop culture community.

But the tactic of employing popular culture as a political campaign tool is not without its critiques. Many have pointed out that it may deflect attention from the issues that matter most, which is to a large extent, very true. The mixing of politics with pop culture could reduce important issues to a few punchlines and slogans. Not that this tactic is absent in political campaign, but pop culture tend to focus more on the "star qualities" than anything else. Some have expressed politicians' reference of pop culture figures as pretentious.

A British Conservative politician, John Redwood once wrote: "I don't sing Oasis hits in the bath, nor do you catch me humming Supergrass behind the Speaker's chair. ... Let me declare firmly my lack of credentials. I do not admire middle-aged trendies who pretend to a second teenage by strenuously enjoying modern stars."

And pretentiousness and lack of street cred really showed in Rice's attempt. It looks like although the US is the world's biggest pop culture exporter and the bastion of cool, it still has to a thing or two to learn from a British prime minister.

Scientology vs South Park

Ever since Isaac Hayes quit South Park last month, the war between Scientologists and South Park seems to be intensifying further.

Now South Park fans hate Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. There was a war of words between Hayes and the creators of South Park.

And a couple of weeks ago, for some time in the Scientology page in Wikipedia, someone slipped in "Tom Cruise sux, Katie Holmes sux too" in between the article.

Berita pasal minyak hari ini

1. Chavez maneuvers to alter global oil politics.

2. Opec can't prevent oil price rise.

Iklan buku lagi

RumahPenerbitan Suarasuara is currently publishing books of various genres written by some fresh and undiscovered young and mostly urbane poets and writers.

The books are an anthology titled KataHati, Rahmat Haron's inaugural magnum opus titled Utopia Trauma, a bilingual short story collection titled White Elephant/Gajah Putih by Zakaria Ali, a poetry anthology Fosil by Amirul Fakir, and KataKataHati poetry anthology by Raja Ahmad Aminullah.

KataHati anthology carries a wide range of works in a multitude of trajectories and various forms and genres such as poetry, essays, fiction and non-fiction works, sketches, photographs as well as travel writings by the invigoratingly fresh, new, current and mostly unheard talents.

They are Fazli Ibrahim, Tan Sei Hon, Rozan Azen, Zulkifli Ramli, Chuah Chong Yong, Izwan Suhadak, Haris Zalkapli, N A Halim, Raja Ahmad Aminullah, Wira Budiman Azizan, Nor Azlina Masnan , Masnoor Ramli, Nurhanim Khairuddin and Zaslan Zeeha Zainee.

Utopia Trauma is Rahmat Haron's debut anthology. Rahmat is an artiste who travels across the very palimpsest of our modern lives and his poetry draws upon the experiences mostly visible but utterly unutterable to many. His poems are refreshing and his delivery is multidirectionally out of the current and canonized convention. He is also a sketch artiste and a theatre activist.

Fosil poetry anthology by Amirul Fakir, a fresh, new-gen poet with a very distinguished style.

Gajah Putih/White Elephant is a collection of four short stories in English and Malay.

Professor Dr. Zakaria Ali is a novelist, poet, troubadour, painter and prominent cultural and art historian.

KataKataHati is Raja Ahmad Aminullah's second poetry anthology. He is a poet and a writer

The books that are being published will be a form of representation for the new-gen poets, writers, playwrights, painters and artistes in general. The publication of these works are mainly due to the absence of the new-gen voices in our current national discourse and canon.

In the near future, Rumah Penerbitan SuaraSuara will be publishing works and entries such as poetry, fiction and non-fiction, sketches, paintings and photographs by seasoned and fresh new-gen writers in parallel.