Lust: the foundation of humankind #GE13

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Lust is very important. Without lust we would all not exist. Lust is what drives us. Lust is both constructive and destructive. Lust builds plus it destroys. And lust is not only the foundation of humankind it is also the foundation of the Abrahamic faiths. Without lust we would not have ‘Religions of the Book’.

There are some who believe that God created Adam from dust or earth after first turning it into clay. Then God allowed this lifeless statue to set as the angels in Paradise all gathered around curiously watching God at work. God then blew a soul into this statue and it came to life.

God then instructed all the Angels to kowtow to Adam, who is going to be the Vicegerent on earth. All the Angels complied except Iblis. Iblis saw how God had made Adam, who is merely from earth, while Iblis is made from fire. So how could a more superior being created from fire kowtow to an inferior being made from dirt?

Basically Iblis suffered from the lust of power and pride. Adam was a weak creation and hence did not possess much power. Adam had emotions, feelings, needs, and whatnot and hence was weak. Iblis was not weakened by all these human ‘failings’. Emotions, feelings, needs, and so on, are weaknesses, which Iblis did not possess. Furthermore, earth is weaker than fire. Hence no way would a more superior creation kowtow to a weaker creation.

Iblis’s defiance incurred the wrath of God. God then punished Iblis by evicting him from Paradise and by condemning him to an eternity in hell. Iblis then requested that God hold back sentencing until the end of time. Iblis told God he would in the meantime like to prove to God that Adam is weak and therefore Iblis was justified in not kowtowing to Adam.

God agreed with this proposal and challenged Iblis to prove it. Iblis has carte blanche to try to mislead Adam and prove that Adam is weak and can be misled. Of course, Iblis will eventually be sent to hell at the end of time. In the meantime Iblis can try to mislead Adam and try to bring him (Adam) to hell with him (Iblis).

Soon Adam became lonely and craved for a companion. God then created Adam’s companion, Eve, from Adam’s rib bone. Adam took one look at the sexy Eve and went “Woh!….Man!” and that was how Adam’s companion got the name woman (this part the holy books somehow did not record).

But thus far Iblis had not succeeded in misleading Adam and to get him condemned to hell. So Iblis tried to work on Eve instead and to use Eve to mislead Adam. We of course know the story about the forbidden fruit and how God angrily threw Adam and Eve out of Paradise for disobeying the instruction regarding the forbidden fruit and how Adam and Eve ended up on earth and soon bred like rabbits and today there are seven billion of us running around doing bad things to each other.

That is the story of the creation of humankind, as some ‘people of the Book’ believe happened. And since coming to earth, or rather since banishment to earth, humankind has been plagued with the disease of lust -- lust for power, lust for wealth, lust for domination, lust for a good life, lust for recognition, lust for victory, lust for success, lust for sex, and much more. 

So this is what drives us, lust. This is what makes us succeed, lust. This is what makes us fail, lust. This is what makes us dominate others, lust. This is what triggers wars, lust. This is why we kill, lust. This is why we seek power, lust. This is why we persecute, lust. This is why we discriminate, lust. In short, all our strengths, weaknesses, successes and failures can be attributed to just one thing, lust. We never act unless guided by lust.

Of course, we will never admit this. We will hide behind all sorts of excuses to justify our actions. We will give all sorts of labels to our actions to present them with a noble image. Ultimately, however, it all boils down to just one word, lust.

Businessmen are driven by the lust for success and wealth. Politicians are driven by the lust for power and domination. Religionists are driven by the lust for power and domination. Everyone is driven by one lust or another and will act driven by this lust and will not call it lust but will call it something else that sounds nobler. Ultimately, call it what you want, it is still lust.

Any society that does not succumb to lust would be viewed as a backward society. The Malays used to be like this once upon a time. They were once very happy tilling the land or harvesting the sea. That is why the early Malays were perceived as lazy people. They had no ambition. They did not mind being oppressed or dominated. Anyone could lord over the Malays. Malays were always colonised by one power or another.

You could even tell the Malays to convert from Hinduism and Buddhism to Islam and the entire community would become Muslims although they did not really know what ‘true’ Islam is and many became Muslims steeped in Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, customs and traditions.

The Siamese came and the Malays called then tuan (lord). The Hindus came and the Malays called them tuan. The Indonesians from Riau, Aceh, Java and whatnot came and the Malays called them tuan. The Portuguese came and the Malays called them tuan. The Dutch came and the Malays called them tuan. The English came and the Malays called them tuan. The Japanese came and the Malays called them tuan. The English came again and the Malays called them tuan.

Then the English made one huge mistake, as did the Christian missionaries. They built schools and started educating the Malays. Then the Malays began to speak English better than an Englishman and sometimes with a Winston Churchill accent as well. Then the educated Malays began to be taught one very important word, lust. The Malays were told if they did not possess lust then they would be viewed as lazy and backward. They needed to have lust to prove that they are progressive and successful.

And the Malays who would believe anything you told them began to believe this. And soon the Malays lusted after power and wealth. And the Malays were no longer satisfied with just tilling the land and harvesting the sea. They now wanted power and wealth.

Then the British introduced the English system of government and the English system of how to choose this government. The British also taught the Malays how to cheat to gain power so that the minority could lord over the majority. Soon the Malays began to learn that those with the largest and most number of guns would win the argument. 

The Malays soon realised that power comes from the barrel of the gun and about how effective British gunboat diplomacy can be when the minority wishes to lord over the majority. So you need military power to attain political power and in turn attain economic power. The Malays were convinced through this British education that domination is crucial and that political power plus economic power can only be achieved through domination.

The British taught the Malays that they needed to reduce the Monarchy to a mere Constitutional Monarchy but the Monarchy must not be abolished and Malaya turned into a Republic like India, Indonesia and whatnot (or else the majority will rule). The Malays must retain the Monarchy and turn it into a symbol of Malay dominance or else the Malays would lose this dominance.

Then the Monarchy must be made the Commander of the military so that military power would always remain in the hands of the Malays. Then, with this military power, the Malays would have a grip on political power, which in turn would guarantee the Malays economic power as well. 

The Malays were ‘spoiled’ by the British. The Malays used to be very happy tilling the land and harvesting the sea with a colonial master lording over them. Then the Malays were sent to school to receive an English education where they were taught they needed to be more like the English.

The Malays soon refused to till the land and harvest the sea. They now wanted to wear white long-sleeve shirts and ties and sit behind a desk signing documents. Then the Malays realised that they no longer needed tuans. They could become the tuans instead. Why work for a master when you can become the master? Why help the white colonial masters get rich when you can take these riches for yourself?

Today, we have a different breed of Malays. We have a breed of Malays that has been taught lust and who now allow lust to drive them. I suppose this is what Iblis wanted. It is the game-plan of Iblis to spread the doctrine of lust and make humankind lust after power and wealth.

That is the downside of educating the Malays. And once educated you cannot un-educate them again. Lust is a very powerful driving force. It makes us do bad things and makes us think that bad is actually good. But that is what the Malays have become. And you have no choice but to live with this situation. It is no longer possible to send the Malays back to the land and the sea.

The Malays have tasted what it is like to become the master of the land. And the Malays want to be seen as the master of the land. The Malays want to be acknowledged and recognised as the master of the land. And if you try to tell the Malays otherwise you will be confronted with very hostile Malays who would regard you as a robber who is attempting to rob him of his right as the master.

Sigh…why the hell did the English and Christian missionaries go and build those schools and then educate the Malays in those schools? If not the Malays would be very happy being colonised by anyone under the sun as long as they could till the land and harvest the sea.

SOURCE : Malaysia Today