{"id":41057,"date":"2014-03-17T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T12:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=41057"},"modified":"2015-05-05T22:10:56","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T21:10:56","slug":"asean-and-the-new-orwellianism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/03\/asean-and-the-new-orwellianism\/","title":{"rendered":"ASEAN and the New Orwellianism"},"content":{"rendered":"

(A poem inspired by periodically cancerous haze within ASEAN-Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
\n<\/i>
\nAsean <\/a>mother-fuckers!
\nHere is a new Orwellianism for you, Brother,
\nHere leader-guided regional destruction is D-E-V-E-L-O-P-M-E-N-T<\/a>.<\/p>\n

H is for H-A-Z-E
\nBreathe it for your Ha, Ha, Ha … H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S.
\nIt’s only dioxins!<\/p>\n

Then index it in orientalized Shangri-La Bhutan<\/a>
\nCarefully ignore the poor Nepalese<\/a>, treated like dogs.
\nSo, now
\nMeditate on those poisonous particles
\nYou think “Asian Values” politicians give a fuck about you, your welfare, your world?<\/p>\n

Welfarism<\/a> is out
\nA new Orwellianism is in
\nwith all those “special” Asean characteristics.<\/p>\n

Here we have Asean traditions.
\nMarital rape<\/a> is legal.
\nOne in four of us, alpha “Asian males”, love to rape our wives!
\n“Asian Values<\/a>” equal human rights.
\nKleptocracy is ‘democracy’.
\nElectoral fraud<\/a> is a norm.
\nDon’t be too proud, sister.
\nYour country’s election charade is nothing special.
\nWe have the same kind!<\/p>\n

Tolerance and liberalisms upset our multiracist Social Order
\nWe do things differently here.
\nWomen’s equality disrupts gender harmony.
\nNo argument – Father and Husband know best.
\nKeep the elections for show, Grandpa!
\nHuman Rights<\/a>? We really ought to go slow.
\nThere are limits and strangeness in this White Man<\/a>‘s Democracy.<\/p>\n

Our old men know best, Brothers and Sisters!
\nBe grateful! Rejoice! \u00a0They keep power all in the family.
\nThey won’t buy votes or bribe anyone.
\nThey use fear. Aliens, they say, will slash your throats
\nDefame your God<\/a>.
\nThose votes of hate defend our Race and Faith<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sons, listen now. . .
\nAccept the dynastic truth: inheritance is good for nation’s stability.
\nDon’t ever forget.
\nIt’s best wealth stays in our family.
\nPublic\u00a0welfare is bad for economy.
\nAnd there isn’t such thing as a society.
\nCitizens are out, consumers are in.
\nRising profits lift all boats
\nBut just don’t gloat.<\/p>\n

Daughters, you want security?
\nFocus on \u201csecurities and bonds\u201d instead.
\nYou can trade those in.
\nHuman security<\/a>, communal bonds aren\u2019t “future-smart”.<\/p>\n

Communalism is bad for you.
\nCorporatism brings forth P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S.
\nForest burning or clear-cutting
\nEither way, that’s good for our Asean prosperity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who gives a shit about the health of the Planet?
\nNot even Kipling’s White Man!
\nIt’s only a giant metallic ball
\nJust go ahead & ignore Lovelock’s GAIA<\/a> \u00a0– that earth is a living organism!
\nSo, breathe in, breathe out
\nIt’s only dioxins.<\/p>\n

Remember what the Buddha says?
\n“All life is suffering.
\nEverything passes
\nNothing lasts”.<\/p>\n

So, embrace our consensually self-murderous alienating Asean-ism.
\nDon’t complain about global warming
\nto our paternal custodians in 3-piece suits,
\nwho ape the West’s homo economicus<\/a><\/i>
\nwith their\u00a0uncircumcised brains<\/i>,
\nSome of them may even be Harvard-trained
\nThey will tell you their policies won’t be a planetary drain.<\/p>\n

Breathe in, Breathe out.
\nPoisonous toxins are good for you.<\/p>\n

Human rights harm Asean harmony.
\nProfits unite, human rights divide.<\/p>\n

Thank you<\/i>, Mr. Orwell.
\n“War is Peace”, no more.
\nWe have advanced your Orwellianism.<\/p>\n

Destruction is now Development.
\nProfit comes before People.
\nBear witness brothers.
\nSee the Asean truths for yourselves sisters.<\/p>\n

Come ye back, Mr. Orwell
\nCome ye back to your old racist Burma<\/a>
\nAnd bear witness to our haze-choked Asean Development!<\/p>\n

Zarni, happily breathing dioxins in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.<\/i><\/p>\n

______________________________<\/p>\n

Maung Zarni<\/i>, Associate Fellow, the University of Malaya. Dr. Maung Zarni is a <\/em>member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment,<\/i> founder and director of the Free Burma Coalition (1995-2004), and a visiting fellow (2011-13) at the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit, Department of International Development, London School of Economics. His forthcoming book on Burma will be published by Yale University Press.<\/em> He was educated in the US where he lived and worked for 17 years. Visit his website www.maungzarni.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Human rights harm Asean harmony.
\nProfits unite, human rights divide.
\nThank you, Mr. Orwell.
\n“War is Peace”, no more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry-format"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41057\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}