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Emperor’s New Clothes – how arrogant/dumb can one be?

“Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi trying out a T-shirt after launching The Emperor’s New Clothes boutique at Pavilion. The T-shirt was given to him by the boutique owners – his daughter Nori Abdullah (right) and his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin (left).”

– caption of a photo in page 2 of New Straits Times today.

11 comments in last hour but the real “horror” has not dawned on everyone, so I am amending the heading to include “dumb”.

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92 Replies to “Emperor’s New Clothes – how arrogant/dumb can one be?”

  1. Gosh..This guy really doesnt get the sentiment of the Malaysian population does he……but he neither has to care nor worry….the system has been fixed to give him victory irrespective of all his goof ups. Just like King Louis….only difference is the French public literally took off his head…but sigh…….Malaysians are not French……

  4. What can we say about this? That it it is great to be a PM to get freebies wherever he goes? To Boutique Owner, the cost of a designer Emperor Tee-shirt given away free is so infinitesimal small compared to advertising costs to be incurred if one were to advertise on front page NST to get equivalent publicity ! Then what about the photographs of PM in the shop holding up Emperor Tee-shirt to be hung up later in the boutique for future customers to see when they walk in and check around? There are people willing to pay for such photo ops for commercial purposes.

  10. No I haven’t seen the photo on page 2 of NST cos I don’t buy or read MSM papers for a long time already. With such rubbish being featured or reported in these papers, why waste good money on them.

  15. But is this Emperor really `stupid`. I don`t think so. He`s a crafty, conniving character – no matter how despicable one finds him.
    He knows exactly what is going on.
    I would say he is willingly part of the game.

  17. actually the boutique fits his FIL personality, in every angle. agree? agree ?

    how can one PM that suppose knowledgable, intelligent and read alot could allow such name to the boutique, seems he’s really dungu after all…… so is that means all the clothes sold by the boutique can only be bought by geniuses, and FIL is genius ?

  19. This symbolism is incredible. In the original story, the emperor was sorrounded by court officials who lied to him. In this case, the court officials ARE HIS OWN FAMILY!! Also, in the tale, a child spoke the truth, he need Sdr. Lim to tell him?

    What say an Emperor that his enemy is more honest to him than his own family?

  20. But is this Emperor really `stupid`. I don`t think so. He`s a crafty, conniving character – no matter how despicable one finds him. Tickler

    Yes he is not as dumb as we think. But then we must understand the position of prime minister-ship has become inherently too powerful in this country, due in no small measure to more than two decades of reinforcement by Mahathir. We have created the monster in the office of prime minister and whoever sits in it will be a monster.

  25. Even though I’m critical of Badawi’s performance as our PM, I feel the criticsm of his action at his daughter’s boutique is not in good taste. Yes, the Emperor’s New Clothes makes for a good satire, but still trying on a T-shirt there can hardly qualify as dumb or arrogant.

  26. Hasn’t he better things to do other than cutting ribbons and launching Malls apart from making overseas trips once every few weeks at the Rakyat’s expense?

    He seems to be enjoying himself while the country is rotting by the day with problems after problems surfacing and damnit, in case he forgets, he is handsomely paid a PM’s pay not for free! He must be reminded that he’s not the emperor, he has a job to do and owes it to the Rakyat because we are paying him!

    Has he ever made it a point to make surprise checks on police stations under his charge, and that condition of their local police lock-ups to see if they have basic amenities? This guy’s the worst Prime Minister Malaysia ever have, what a disgrace!

  27. Ooops, sorry I reword the last para:

    “Has he ever made it a point to make surprise checks on police stations under his charge, that condition of their local lock-ups have basic amenities?
    This guy’s the worst prime minister Malaysia ever had, what a disgrace!”

  29. Loyal Malaysian,
    it’s not Abdullah Ahmad Badawi alone. It’s the name of the boutique “Emperor’s New Cloth” owned by the daughter and SIL. And he was there to open it!

    YB Lim find that arrogant. So do I and the other commentators here.

  30. oknyua,
    I believe I undestand where LKS, you and the others are coming from.
    It’s just that I will like to see the PM’s action as a fatherly gesture to his daughter at a boutique owned by her at the Pavilion he had just officially opened.
    Yes, the name of the boutique does arouse illwill as that does that SIL

  32. Well Dr Mahathir has his Bread shop, AAB has his “Emperor’s New Clothes”!

    When he’s voted out of office GE2008, KLites may visit Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sitting there like an “emperor” watching the till.

  37. “For this general election, the commission said it would need 48,000 bottles of the ink. This will cost RM2.4mil and the whole procedure will take less than RM1mil to implement.” STAR

    These girls look like they are giving us their middle finger!

    By the way who gets the contract to supply the ink??

    thestar.com.my

  40. Of all the jingbang outlets in the Pavillion, the NST has to show him in his daughter’s and s-i-l’s place. Talk about free publicity and advertisement!!!!

    Now all the carriers know where to go to get some “merits”. Price not important. Material not important. Size not important. Total bill paid may be.

    Does the “Emperor” need such an XXXXXL size Polo T-shirt? Even the bodyguard seems surprised!!! See the “Emperor” logo?

    Now the “little Napoleons” sorry, “little Emperors” can take the cue.

    I won’t talk about possible c**r**t practices ‘cos I will be deleted.

  45. Most of us missed the horrific point which YB Lim saw in today’s NST article with a photograph on Abdullah Badawi’s launching of The Emperor’s New Clothes boutique owned his daughter and SIL.

    It is a satire on Abdullah Badawi’s out-of-touch-with-reality somnambulant governance, which all Ministers and leaders of component parties, MIC, MCA, Gerakan, etc are very afraid to point out to him — the NAKED TRUTHS.

    They are very afraid of losing their positions along with all the perks should they be upfront about their honest opinions and be outspoken. They rather sell their souls.

    The mainstream media is prevented from telling “the Truths, even if the Truths hurt”.

    And later, it was told that Abdullah Badawi will listen to “the Truths even if the Truths hurt” only from his supporters, and not from everybody else.

    One maverick, Gerakan Youth’s Paranjothy has spoken on one NAKED TRUTH about the marginalization of Indians from “womb to tomb”. Despite threats to sack him, he has maintained his stand and got into trouble, with his political future in uncertainty.

    Of course there are many more NAKED TRUTHS. Paranjothy’s is just one example.

    However, the results of the coming GE will tell whether the voting populace know about the NAKED TRUTHS behind the story of The Emperor’s new clothes. My guess is that the majority will not know the truths basing on the comments on this blog so far taken as sampling of people who can read and understand current events fairly well even though YB Lim has given several hints.

    A children’s story “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Hans Christian Anderson may provide the background story to this thread.

    Part of that story extracted from the Internet is reproduce below, in order to understand the satire underlying the launching of The Emperor’s New Clothes boutique. Paranjothy is the boy who said “The Emperor is naked”.

    Who is the Emperor? A Chinese saying goes like this “When you draw a man, you need not draw his entrails”. YB Lim’s hint “Arrogant” should suffice.

    *************************
    The Emperor’s New Clothes
    by Hans Christian Anderson

    Once upon a time there lived a vain Emperor whose only worry in life was to dress in elegant clothes. He changed clothes almost every hour and loved to show them off to his people.

    Word of the Emperor’s refined habits spread over his kingdom and beyond. Two scoundrels who had heard of the Emperor’s vanity decided to take advantage of it. They introduced themselves at the gates of the palace with a scheme in mind.

    “We are two very good tailors and after many years of research we have invented an extraordinary method to weave a cloth so light and fine that it looks invisible. As a matter of fact it is invisible to anyone who is too stupid and incompetent to appreciate its quality.”
    …….

    Fast forward to later part of story……

    An applause welcomed the regal procession. Everyone wanted to know how stupid or incompetent his or her neighbor was but, as the Emperor passed, a strange murmur rose from the crowd.

    Everyone said, loud enough for the others to hear: “Look at the Emperor’s new clothes. They’re beautiful!”

    “And the colors! The colors of that beautiful fabric! I have never seen anything like it in my life!” They all tried to conceal their disappointment at not being able to see the clothes, and since nobody was willing to admit his own stupidity and incompetence, they all behaved as the two scoundrels had predicted.

    A child, however, who had no important job and could only see things as his eyes showed them to him, went up to the carriage.

    “The Emperor is naked,” he said.

    “Fool!” his father reprimanded, running after him. “Don’t talk nonsense!” He grabbed his child and took him away. But the boy’s remark, which had been heard by the bystanders, was repeated over and over again until everyone cried:

    “The boy is right! The Emperor is naked! It’s true!”

    The Emperor realized that the people were right but could not admit to that. He though it better to continue the procession under the illusion that anyone who couldn’t see his clothes was either stupid or incompetent. And he stood stiffly on his carriage, while behind him a page held his imaginary mantle.

  47. Has anyone wondered why AAB is so calm/arrogant at this point of time? I am sure BN has a few tricks up their sleeves. AAB is not going to give in so easily. Please be careful. They are capable of anything.

  48. OH GOD, THIS IS HILARIOUS!

    Aren’t these people even aware of the Hans Christian Andersen story?

    This ranks up there as classic tale of Marketing Disaster. Marketing Guru’s will be speaking about this for generations to come!

    I wonder how Reichsfuhrer for Misinformation, Herr Zam, will spin this.

    Now, I don’t believe in taking advantage of the mentally incapacitated. Given this, i’ll do my National Service duty and will throw Zam a freebie link on what the Emperor’s New Clothes is all about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Clothes

  50. I guess it is Ok to parody and satirize public figures and politicians when they unwittingly provide such appropriate symbolism and opportunity –that we could laugh at and with.

    However my sentiment is in line with what Loyal Malaysian said at 18:40.08, let us not go overboard to impute our emperor ‘dumb’ or stupid by it.

    After all it is not as if it were some official act that we are entitled to condemn as stupid. It was a private event and, as I said, was just giving some free advertising publicity to the boutique owners for commercial advantage – what’s new (to us) as far as those related to him is concerned? He would have us believe that a family man with strong family sense he is always available to lend a helping hand by way of publicity and free advertising to his family next-of-kins’ commercial ventures and perhaps we should treat it as just that!

    I can imagine the Bread Seller of “The Loaf” sniggering now at all this. But in relation to the naked emperor, isn’t the Bread Seller the “two scoundrels” in Hans Christian Anderson’s fable, whose recent remark of his anointed successor being a seat warmer of one term is a reflection of how after manipulating Malaysian politics for 22 years he still want to control it for years to come via proxies after his stepping down?

    The Question is : whilst in the Pavilion, would we rather patronize The Loaf (where the bread though touted as nice is very expensive) or The Emperor’s New Clothes Boutique (ie if both not ideal and expensive which is lesser of two evils?, a question undoubtedly admitting conflicting opinions).

    Simpleton, naked emperor misled by hangers to carry on the procession of ‘somnambulant governance’ (to borrow Earnest’s words) under pretension that there is substance, or whatever, could that be what he wants us – and kampung folks in rural heartland – to think and believe?

    [When asked how he should be addressed at the beginning of term of office he tried the art of disarming humility by saying a simple avuncular “Pak Lah” would do. “After all, referring to me as Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi needs almost 14 syllables, while calling me Pak Lah needs only 2”, he quipped].

    It is very much a part of his political personae – or mystique, if you will – to cultivate and portray the image of simple common man who could identify with simple kampung folks – the cornerstone of his constituency. But whether he really is that simple minded and asleep all the time or pretending to be so – well, it depends on whether one wants to give him benefit of the doubt, and really who but those very close to him, really knows?

    But back to the question : should we call him “dumb” holding up this striped tee-shirt (that Sheriff said was reminiscent of convict’s attire) in The Emperor’s New Clothes with all its symbolism?

    In this Information Age, yes to be intelligent is important to succeed especially in context of a leader of a nation. But can anyone define and measure intelligence with precision? What is intelligence, in its broadest sense??? What if he’s crafty and pretending dumb?

    Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale symbolizes the futility of any attempts to discern with precision who is intelligent, and it is demonstrated by the vanity and foolishness of those who believe they can.

    In Hans Christian Anderson’s parable the child being innocent was the one who said aloud – “The emperor is naked” and soon all the people were saying aloud, “But, he has nothing on!” The Emperor hears what they said, and he shivers, for he knows that their words are true. But it would never do to stop the procession; and so he holds himself stiffer than ever. And behind him his officers carried the invisible train and carry on the charade.

    So in Hans Christian Anderson’s parable, who is dumb – the scoundrels, the go-between Prime Minister or the Emperor, the child that pointed out innocently that the Emperor was naked or the people watching the procession?

    We’ll soon find out from the results of the coming General Election. :)

  51. Jeffrey:-

    So in Hans Christian Anderson’s parable, who is dumb – the scoundrels, the go-between Prime Minister or the Emperor, the child that pointed out innocently that the Emperor was naked or the people watching the procession?

    Very well put my friend, very well put =)

  54. He’s so blur and so dumb, his dotter and sil called him the “emperor” and he thinks he absolutely is.

    For this GE 2008, he asks to be voted in and given the mandate again. What kind of mandate does he think he deserves? …an emperor to rule us? Or shall we hang him huh?

  55. They hang him in Fremont:

    FREMONT — While countries such as Israel and Pakistan are infamous for imposing strict emergency security rules on civilians, the plight of ethnic Indians in Malaysia is less well-known.

    The tropical nation along the South China Sea officially is Islamic, and Hindu residents there complain of second-class treatment by the government.

    Recently, Malaysian police detained several Hindu Rights Action Force leaders under a nearly 50-year-old law that allows people to be held for years without charge.

    On Saturday, local Malaysian Indians plan to gather in Fremont to make banners for a rally Feb. 16 at the Consulate General of Malaysia, Los Angeles, to call for an end to discrimination they say their people routinely suffer under Muslim dominion.
    http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_8137819

  57. Bad-awi (`awi` in tamil means `soul`) is nowhere compared to King Canute who sat his throne on the beach, and the evident disregard of the sea for his commands to roll the waves away from the land was proof to his courtiers of the limitations of a king.
    But Bad-awi (soul) is already Emperor with no kingdom.

  60. “My guess is that the majority will not know the truths basing on the comments on this blog so far taken as sampling of people who can read and understand current events fairly well even though YB Lim has given several hints.” EARNEST

    I wish you’d stop insulting our intelligence.

  63. BlackEye Says:

    Yesterday at 22: 55.34
    “Well Dr Mahathir has his Bread shop, AAB has his “Emperor’s New Clothes” JONG

    Not to worry. Jeanne will have her tongkat ali shop.

    I tot she would have to go for the kacip fatimahs??….

  66. The stress on the removal of MIC president S Samy Vellu as if this would solve all the problems of the Indian community is wrong and would only serve to perpetuate the injustices, said a social activist today.

    Charles Santiago said it was not any one person on whom all the blame should be dumped for the social and economic woes facing Indians, but the larger political system or structure.
    http://votecharles.wordpress.com/2008/02/02/anybody-but-samy/

    I take it to mean the whole BN should be chucked out.

  67. YEs, dont fall for the “Clean GUy crap” by TDM. You expect a clean new face will be able to change the rotten head within UMNO? Dream on! NO matter how clean one is, he/she will sooner or later be “converted” into one of them. So dont fall for it again!

    Cut of the rotten head and the whole body will cleanse itself!

  68. The Emperpr’s New Tax
    http://sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=20635
    According to a circular from the Selangor Water Authority (LUAS), factories and golf clubs will have to apply for a licence and then have to pay for rain water! …The circular, which cites a state enactment of 1999, also acts as a “Notis Pemberitahuan Kesalahan” (Notice of Offence) and requires all commercial organisations to fill up a form and make the necessary declarations.

  71. Darkhorse, Jong

    Failure of connection doesn’t mean lack of intelligence. When you failed to connect online, you are not less intelligent.

    Don’t you realize that there are enough people to hate in the world already without your working so hard to give others in this blog another, at my expense?

    Yes, I will defend to Jong’s death my right to my opinion.

  77. “Yes, watch again how these Malay girls give the Oppositin their ‘middle’ finger”-DarkHorse

    You blind or what? It is the forefinger and not the middle finger. Also it is true that it is typical of Malays to be used in anyway during elections.

    Lastly the girls are not giving the signs to the opposition. They are saying “NAH” and showing the middle finger to the BN government.

    HA HA HA

  80. Don’t waste your time on the old man EARNEST aka DAFTNEE. He wants to take off from where limkamput left. Once in a while he comes in to insult the intelligence of commentators here. Another one suffering from ADS.

  82. Just proves how dumb and dozy AAB is. If he had any brains he would have declined to show up for the boutique even if it is owned by his daughter. He is acknowledging himself as an emperor and at the same time the subject of ridicule in a Hans Christian Andersen children’s story.

  83. That’s ‘kurang ajar’. Listen to the wiseman, don’t be stubborn and didn’t you say earlier there’s enough hate in this world already? — Jong

    don’t understand why do you want Jong to die? Don’t you mean to say “I’ll fight to defend my right to free speech till death do us part??” – Darkhorse

    “Till death do us part”…. is a solemn marriage vow. If Jong were my better half, death would be a great relief because of our loggerheaded irreconcilable differences.

    Jokes aside, I never wanted Jong to die. On the contrary, I wanted to defend her belief in free speech till her death which I guess will occur long after I leave this world, basing on my guesstimate that she is in her 20s, about half my age premising on her hotheadedness when she misconceived a comment which was not meant to be provocative, and the fact that females have longer life expectancy (75.8years) than males (71.1 years) in Malaysia. There is not an inkling of hatred. Where did she get that from? Judgment clouded by her predisposition to criticize me?

    Failure to defend your freedom of speech is not a capital offence. It will not lead to anybody’s death. Defend to death here means defend to natural death, dying of old age.

    It is largely because of the contribution of 18th century philosopher Voltaire that we now have the Universal Declaration of Humans Rights 1948. Voltaire said “I may not agree with everything you said, but I will defend to my death your right to say it”.

    Since I do not expect Jong who urged others to ignore me to say that in defence of my freedom of speech, I volunteer to do so on her behalf, which if you have read my comments carefully does not in anyway express my desire for her death, but rather to defend her belief in freedom of speech beyond the grave (my grave), and my spirit to support her as long as she lives.

    Colonel’s comments were based on misinterpretations and misconceptions.

    I note that Jong’s advice to ignore me is not heeded, which is good for me because I wish others in this blog would take more seriously LUAS’s gross abuse of power as pointed out by k1980 in the following link on “The Emperor’s New Tax” than Colonel and Darkhorse’s misconceived “insult to intelligence”.

    http://sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=20635

  84. “Till death do us part”…. is a solemn marriage vow. If Jong were my better half, death would be a great relief…” EARNEST

    Wow! This is the final thrust – a coup de grace!

  85. The self-declared employable but unemployed SIL now co-owns an expensive shop at Pavilion, a paradise for the rich. Intrestingly, TDM also has a shop there.

    Soon a command will be issued by KJ/SIL that anyone wishing to meet AAB at his Putrajaya PM office must wear clothings and underwear (inclusive of bra, panty, and brief) bought from The Emperor’s New Clothes boutique.

    Without The Emperor’s New Clothes (halal or not, we don’t know, since this line of clothes may make people feel naked), one cannot meet AAB. Easy money, right?

  92. …. with such stupidity and arrogance… AAB might as well just wear “birthday suit” everywhere he goes and oh, whoever will burn down that shop, well done! lets boycott the shop and if we buy the shirt, lets step on it

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