All abuzz over 'Kajang Move'
ON Wednesday, I saw a screen capture of an Urban Dictionary page on Twitter that summarised the biggest news of the week which was Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s move to contest in the Kajang by-election.
@TinaMaliq (Tina Maliq) tweeted: “Urban Dictionary: Kajang Move LOL!” and attached a photograph.
It seems Urban Dictionary (a veritable cornucopia of streetwise lingo, posted and defined by its readers) described “Kajang Move” as “a tactical move to bring someone to power under the pretext of bringing greater good to the people”.
I retweeted @TinaMaliq’s tweet with a “Lol!” and some of my followers had a good laugh over the cheeky definition.
“Kajang Move” was coined by PKR’s Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli in his defence/apology/explanation of his party’s decision to field Opposition Leader Anwar in the vacant state seat.
“I hope that one day when we are in Putrajaya, we can look back to the difficult days of what will be called the ‘Kajang Move’ as the game changer in our quest for Putrajaya.
“I honestly hope that it will be our defining moments that allow us one step closer to Putrajaya,” he wrote in a posting titled “The Kajang Move: Game Changer in Putrajaya Quest” in his blog RafiziRamli.com.
Rafizi explained that PKR and Pakatan Rakyat Selangor need to be fortified so it “can expedite reforms and simultaneously fend off political attacks and manoeuvres from Umno”.
“We need as many of our top leaders around Selangor to defend Selangor because it remains the crown jewel of any political coalition in the country,” he wrote.
Clever masterstroke by Rafizi to bring in the Pakatan bogeyman –Umno. Except for Pakatan diehards, most – especially those in civil society – didn’t buy Rafizi’s “Kajang Move” explanation. Some even grilled him for likening Anwar to Winston Churchill.
“Throughout the last few days, I reassured myself that it was Churchill who chose to be unpopular and remained a minority voice of alarm against the advancing Nazis till the end despite a public popularity to appease the Nazis.
At the height of Nazi power, Churchill stood alone when everyone else in Europe bowed to Hitler,” he wrote. Here’s a sampling from social media comments on Rafizi’s “Kajang Move” explanation.
Megat Ishak: “It’s comedy hour here!! Churchill?! Nazis??! What relevance is that? Are we under threat from Nazis?”
Wan Zul: “I always thought Rafizi is different from other politicians who treat us like idiots. Apparently, I’m wrong. Shame on you Rafizi.”
Either he was getting emotional or he had lost touch of reality, Rafizi (?@rafiziramli) hit back at his critics on Twitter.
“Ha3 timeline dipenuhi tweet2 berbayar 20sen cybertrooper Umno. Takpe lah raya sakan kamu dpt habuan. Nnt rakyat faham kamu xde can buat duit (Ha3 my timeline is filled with tweets by Umno cybertroopers who are paid 20 cents. Never mind when there is a festivity, you will receive your reward. Then the people will understand that you don’t have the chance to make money),” he tweeted.
If he bothered to check, he would have found that some of the tweeters critical of his “Kajang Move” were those who worshipped him as Malaysia’s fresh batch of “clean” politicians.
Do I buy Rafizi’s explanation on why the “Kajang Move” was necessary? I like writer Nathaniel Tan’s thoughts on the matter.
“At some point in The Life Of Pi, a pair of Japanese gentleman are presented with two different stories, and are asked: which story do you prefer?” wrote Tan, who joined PKR during the Ijok by-election 1997 when it was a one-seat party.
“The question was not which do you think is true, the question was: which do you prefer?”
The first story, according to Tan who quit PKR on Tuesday, is Rafizi’s narrative.
The second story, “Khalid runs the state in a way that makes the people happy, but makes politicians unhappy,” he wrote in an essay published in a news portal.
“In this story, the most important thing about Khalid is that he does not easily accede to party wishes. If you ask his detractors, this applies to questions of policy (though I cannot think of many such policies). If you ask his supporters, this applies to how the party wants the state to be a bigger ‘resource’ for party activities,” he explained.
“If you ask a cynic, he or she would say, all the PKR people want is their fingers in the jar that Khalid has kept so tightly closed. Is it all just about the money? To say so would probably be a disservice to the varied members of the ‘Anwar for Menteri Besar’ team.”
“Or, is it mostly about the money?” Tan wrote.
“I suppose you will have to look as objectively as you can at the things they are saying. If they make sense to you, then the answer is ‘no’. If they do not make sense to you, then the answer is ‘yes’.”
When I was researching this article, I clicked UrbanDictionary.com to search for “Kajang Move”.
There was no such entry.
I tweeted to @TinaMaliq, “how come when i go to urban dictionary, i can’t find “kajang move”? was it a fake meme? thanks.”
“Yeah, it’s fake. A friend Whatsapped the image,” @TinaMaliq replied.
It is apt that the Urban Dictionary entry was fake.
source : thestar
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