When The Thorn Is the Rose

Three superb human rights women activists were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; - Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen. Congratulations to these extraordinary women of substance who dared to go against the domain of men. What's more astounding is that they worked and lived in environment that are considered hostile, fighting, wars and other woes that inflict these nations for so long.

These are exemplary women in extraordinary times in their respective nations who dared to  walk alongside, everyday for that matter with the common people, the oppressed, the suppressed in their campaign against poverty, corruption, abuse of power and even threats on their own personal safety from authoritarian regimes. One even became the first women African Head of State!

In BolehLand, we too have our women folks trying to make a name for themselves. The most notable are wives, ordinary women of politicians really who have no political power. The law does not grant them any federal budget to run their own schemes, or even perhaps dictate government policies over the land huh?

But there is one who wields,  as public perception views, immense political power, even more than the official head of the federal government. In BolehLand, most folks including women folks would acknowledge in silence who they believe to be the real prime minister and who the official one is. The 1Malaysia administration, if one knows Chinese history, is like the powerful Empress Dowager during the dying days of the thousand year old Chinese Dynasty. The power behind the boy king was literally the person behind the thrown, the Empress Dowager, the woman who held the power in the Middle Kingdom.

In Bolehland, the one who is the most outstanding, or rather stands out amongst other wives of BolehLand leaders past or present and perhaps the future too, calls herself the First Lady of Malaysia or FLOM. Though the FLOM acronym has received very inventive meanings and share of flaps, the figure, a large one at that, behind this FLOM makes herself very much visible with a schedule that keeps the MSMedia on their toes to ensure the publicity gets into the news at least once a week the least. Her feats, the FLOM that is, most times or rather all times in BolehLand outclass and surpass the three Nobel Peace Prize winners who worked without fanfare with the people.

Noone heard much about the three Nobel Peace Prize winners until this week but in their quietness and humility, the world noticed them. It is true when people remind us that God sees the heart behind the small acts of humbleness and genuineness to help a fellow son or daughter of God and God will reward these saints. These three simple women are certainly the rose in their war and poverty thorn environment.

In BolehLand, we have our own women making a name for themselves. Some take to the streets, many toil everyday to survive the growing cost of living and many more are just too busy surviving to even think their struggles would even be noticed, or even have the time or means for window shopping to an admire a low grade ring or piece of jewellery. Talk about having time to view a US24 million piece of stone at that huh!

Anyway, BolehLand has its own cool lady of fame and the added advantage over our three nobel peace prize winners is that the name itself makes all her actions sweet smelling like any rose. So famous this rose wants to be that it took upon to get the respect it deserved by according a self-proclamation of herself as a FLOM. As they say, better at giving oneself own praise than getting nothing at all right? In local context 'shioksendiri' praise and award is better value knowing you never will be able to get a real Nobel Peace Prize solely on one's own genuine effort,yes?

Our BolehLand's FLOM really lives up to its self conferred 'shioksendiri' status and fame. No not the First Lady of Malaysia titling. And certainly not the one where many equated the acronym to an enlarged or bigger meaning. Or one that has a connotation full of pregnant meaning, which is not associated with a biological act, but rather assemble the profile of a pregnant women and jumbo size beverage bottle, that age and nature has endowed and no botox or surgical tug will ever be able to regain that youthful curvacious profile hah! Even decking oneself with expensive million ringgit accessories and branded labels to look cool cannot hide the fa(c)t of the matter right?

So if the FLOM name calling has nothing to do with form or size, what is its most impressive connotation then? FLOM is actually more related and aptly referred to Forever Leaving One's Mark from the trivial to even those related to high office matters. And so when it was reported that our FLOM, the form that leaves a mark that is, was at a meeting only reserved for those in government it shouldn't leave anyone horrified, aghast or even surprised to see a rose in the midst of highly confidential meeting discussing thorny issues on the nation's next year's overspending or lack of it - the Budget discussion. Click here for the expose of meeting of the powerful and power behind the powerful here.

There isn't anything wrong really when it is a known fact that this rose is never seen as a thorn to those in high offices or circles, even in the corridors of power and law making. When the thorn is the rose you'd expect the rose to be given a rightful place and you shouldn't grimace in horror or pain if the real rose is attached to the official post right? In fact, because of the aura of power the FLOM has built around her, you'd expect the rose to be around at all important functions and events right?

Seriously, why is this woman, if the report is true, being in the heart of government? Is this portraying the cool government where non elected officials, wives and husbands of elected politicians can be present in official meetings? Is there no official secrets Act and protocol governing such presence of non essential or non relevant or non party members?

What is the message that 1Malaysia is sending out? Grooming the first woman prime minister of Bolehland huh? Why not let the FLOM stand for election in, say Lembah Pantai  to contest against the incumbent woman elected Member of Parliament? Then we can see if all those supposedly power, influence, popularity and standing ovation and at times surpass even royalty protocol and attention that the ruling party and civil servant accord to FLOM are really about substance than form. It will be a good gauge to see if our FLOM is that almighty, powerful, influential, important and fearful that she makes herself to be or rather those apple and durian polishing servile servants attending to her make her to be and all those public hype that is created around her right?

There will be lots of potshots hurled again this time on FLOM's being everywhere, anytime especially at a meeting as important as defining the direction of the nation in the next 12 months. Perhaps her presence is living out the belief that a woman is the best manager of a household finances and better at balancing household budgets. But then if your spending money that is not your own, would you care about balancing your household budget that comes from taxpayer's money huh? That may explain the penchant for expensive shopping and accessories as there are no worries of using one's own household budget.

Since only one wife was present at a pre Budget meeting, it doesn't hold true one bit that women makes the best manager of handling money and expenditure. Simply because the other wives of those men responsible for the budget are absent in the meeting. So the presence of a woman in a highly sensitive meeting is playing the role of a tea lady perhaps or just a deco because the thorn is the rose or as married men and even those not married but have women lovers will tell you, better let the woman have the final say or you'll live to regret it, right?

But this is BolehLand, where logic does not apply in high office what more in many aspects of life. If it did, the wife would know her place and stay at home too perhaps?

There must be something that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee hold firmly too when awarding the Nobel Peace Prize. One of this must be some divine insight they have in being able to see the heart behind small actions of people, especially the three FLOM, i.e. First Ladies of Mankind.

And of a particular FLOM in Bolehland, you'd need more than divine insight but the divine Himself to figure out what's real, fake, genuine or just plain imposing too, right?

There are FLOMs, to mean First Lady or Fake Lady, Flop Lady or Fat Lady or other F word connotation. And there are other FLOMs too. Our three Nobel Peace Prize recipients, deservingly should be accorded the real FLOM status and title too given their service to mankind including the women - and they are what we call First Ladies Of Mankind - accorded by others and world wide recognition as opposed to BolehLand's version which is self-created, self-imposed, BN, civil servant and MSMedia supported 'shioksendiri' title and recognition, no?

They say that behind every man success is a woman. The confident man and successful one we can supposed, will tell you 'the further behind the women are from them, the better!' But, to our FLOM, which opponents make to be the Fading Leader Of Malaysia, the further in front his woman gets, the less successful he is! Hmm is that a cool thought huh?