by Azly Rahman

We must resolve the keris controversy generated by Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein, who has brandished the keris at the party’s annual assembly twice now.

At last year’s meeting, Umno Perlis delegate Hashim Suboh said at the end of the debate on economy and education issues: “Datuk Hisham has unsheathed his keris, waved his keris, kissed his keris. We want to ask Datuk Hisham, when is he going to use it? […] Force must be used against those who refused to abide by the social contract.”

This was in relation to Hishammuddin’s alleged weakness in dealing with demands from Chinese schools.

We live in a world in which signs and symbols of violence colonise our consciousness. From cave walls inscribed with images of Neanderthals clobbering a baby dinosaur, to production of images disseminated worldwide via the electronic media and Internet, we are confronted with violence.

We are creatures of signs and symbols manipulated by those who own the means of producing static and moving images. Objects of violence – of deaths and mega-deaths, of decimation and of demolition, and of the demonstration of defiance and destruction – all these, throughout history, have become symbols of choice for those in power. Read the rest of this entry »