Sunday 4 January 2009

Musa Hitam’s Schadenfreude and the IJN takeover.

no: 6/2009

Who is Musa Hitam? The answer is at the end of this article.

The shadowy character who is said to be Pak Lah’s chief consigliore is Musa Hitam. Now he wants IJN by any means necessary. He was the person who very quickly said that TDM’s departure from UMNO was like ridding a thorn in the flesh. After that, Pak Lah was not in a hurry to re-admit TDM. Contrast this when Musa Hitam wanted to resign, TDM allowed a delegation to go to London, to court Musa Hitam to come back. TDM didn’t say, Musa Hitam was a thorn or what.

Musa was also the person who disingenuously described TDM as a person suffering from PPMS- post PM syndrome. With an MA in international studies, Musa dabbles also in psychoanalysis.

Well, inept Pak Lah made him a Tun. That wouldn’t have happened under TDM’s watch. TDM did the correct thing, because we would be very hard-pressed to count Musa’s contribution to nation building in Malaysia. He was just coasting along and pulling on TDM coattails. But Musa is the only person, Pak Lah can fall back on to dish out evil enough machinations. Like engineering the planned take over of IJN.

But like one commentator known as Mek Yam said:-

…guess the man is too slow to figure out that musa secretly despises him because he, once simply dismissed as an inconsequential no-talent in musa's camp, actually gets the plum seat musa himself coveted.

bet musa is already gloating in delicious schadenfreude about the shi*t legacy that abdullah will inevitably leave. :D

Allow me to expand somewhat on the term. Schadenfreude is pleasure taken from observing the misery of another. ( pronounced as shadden-froid) .This is a term that would describe Musa Hitam nicely. He delights on the misery of others. Can Sime Darby expect us to believe that they can maintain low rates to thousands of the ignored poor when its SJMC hasn’t got an iota of good reputation in that department?

The word referring to this emotion has been borrowed from German by the English language. The philosopher and sociologist Theodor Adorno defined schadenfreude as “largely unanticipated delight in the suffering of another. Unanticipated means just that- a bonus gratification arising from some other action. In this case, if the takeover of IJN takes place and that causes suffering in others, that is delightful.

In the original German language, the word derives from Schaden (damage, harm) and Freude (joy); A distinction exists between "secret schadenfreude" (a private feeling) and "open schadenfreude" which is outright public derision.

A more common English expression with a similar meaning is 'Roman holiday', a metaphor taken from the poem "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" by George Gordon, Lord Byron, where a gladiator in Ancient Rome expects to be "butcher'd to make a Roman holiday" while the audience would take pleasure from watching his suffering. The term suggests debauchery and disorder in addition to sadistic enjoyment.

Another phrase with a meaning similar to Schadenfreude is "morose delectation" ("delectatio morosa" in Latin), meaning "the habit of dwelling with enjoyment on evil thoughts". One French writer named Pierre Klossowski (1905-2001) maintained that the appeal of sadism is morose delectation.

A New York Times article in 2002 cited a number of scientific studies of schadenfreude, which it defined as "delighting in others' misfortune." Many such studies are based on social comparison theory, the idea that when people around us have bad luck, we look better to ourselves. Other researchers have found that people with low self-esteem are more likely to feel schadenfreude than are people who have high self-esteem.

Hence it is actually Musa who is suffering from terrible bouts of low self esteem. He must be wondering, how is that he, the superior to untalented Pak Lah who was his myrmidon once, failed to become the PM? what is he now? He is just a glorified retiree with huge salaries and remunerations. Chairman of Iskandar and Sime Darby.

Perhaps to humour Tun Musa further, let me quickly add that his mental state has many equivalents in diverse languages.

In Danish, Musa would fit in nicely in the expression: Der er ingen fryd som skadefryd: "There is no glee like schadenfreude." In the Dutch language:Geen schoner vermaak dan leedvermaak proverb: "No pleasure more beautiful than schadenfreude." In German:- Neid zu fühlen ist menschlich, Schadenfreude zu genießen teuflisch: "To feel envy is human, to savor schadenfreude is devilish." (Arthur Schopenhauer). In the Greek Language:The word herekakia corresponds to wanting or enjoying the misforune of others. In French: the better expression would be "Se réjouir du malheur d'autrui" ("To find joy in another's misfortune" i.e. To gloat) in Japanese, the phrase tanin no fukō wa mitsu no aji , translates literally as "others' misfortunes are the taste of honey."

In Malay, perhaps Musa Hitam is gleefully saying: padan muka means "fits your face" but the more appropriate English translation is: "You got what you deserved"; In Thai, he would be saying som nam na, which can be interpreted as: "You got what you deserved"; "Serves you right"; or "I'm laughing at your bad luck". Arabic: shamaatah shamtan, taking pleasure in the misfortune of others)

Which brings me to this point. Who else can be described of being the same beastly and devilish thing in so many languages? The only one that comes to my mind is Lucifer, the Devil himself. I’d rather be a thorn in the flesh that this description.

20 comments:

  1. schadenfreud kee kee...

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  2. Schadenfreude? Thanks Dato Sak, new word everyday. Anyway, how devilish one's can be? Untuk Musa Hitam=
    Satu dua tiga empat,
    Lima enam tujuh setengah;
    Pandai-pandai tupai melompat,
    Lama-lama jatuh ke tanah.

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  3. Musa Hitam shares the same list as Anwar and Pak Lah. All three were TDM biggest mistakes.

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  4. Musa Hitam sekadar ingin menambah ciri ciri 'kurang ajar'nya kepada rakyat.

    Musa Hitam tidak mahu keseorangan dalam 'menconteng arang di muka sendiri' bersama paklah dihujung hayat mereka ke atas anak bangsa Malaysia sebagai legasi yang disimpul mati.

    WWelldone to both of them !

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  5. Salam Maal Hijrah & Selamat Tahun Baru

    Musa Hitam ni udah jauh melencong dari rukun perjuangan orang Melayu dan rakyat mustadafin.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Salam YBB DASAA @ SAKMONGKOL AK47,

    Posting yang kristis dan membuka mata hati. Sangat Informatif boleh tahu apa yang kelabu di fikiran.

    Tapi kalau boleh YBB kurangkan guna perkataan bombastik dan bahasa asing, kerana perlu rujuk thesarus dan dictionary untuk memahami perkataan itu.

    Kalau boleh, YBB dapat juga posting artikel dalam BM, supaya warga yang kurang faham dan lambat faham BI, seperti ambo ni, dapat memahami dan memperolehi manfaatnya. Terutama isu nasional yang mendapat perhatian khalayak.

    Kalau pandangan ambo ni kurang asam harap di maafin ambo ye YBB.

    Wasallam

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  7. Another excellent post. It's posts like this one that keep me *reading* and not *writing* my own - all the time is spent enjoying others' posts:-)

    Finally, at last, I now know what Schadenfreude means beyond my previously vague idea of it.

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  8. Dato,

    A lot of your material is lifted word for word off the Wikipedia for Schadenfreude, in fact googling the phrase "Der er ingen fryd som skadefryd" hits Wikipedia, then followed by your blog on number two.

    We know what you want to say and surely a capable writer as yourself doesn't need such heavy borrowing. This isn't the first time and is a pattern observed for a few of your other past articles.

    Peace.

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  9. msleepy head,

    if it offends you, don't continue reading. of course , some technical stuff like this is borrowed from internet sources. its called research. you assemble the material and where its not necessary you borrow it without alteration. suppose, its not assembled in such a manner, would it pique the interest of the reader to find the meaning of such a term in the context of this writing?.
    unless its a pure mental frolic, then we can just merrily write according to our fancy.
    for example in the comments in this article- if it hadn't been cited, would others' attention be directed to it? hopefully, in order to expand one's knowledge from reading this article, readers can find out more by looking up the internet.
    and i think, many readers like you, will know that the term is sourced from elsewhere but hopefully, the others find its application in local context useful and serving its intended effects.

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  10. m sepial.

    tuan jangan lah gitu. nak ambik dictionary pun malas,macam mana nak belajar. orang lain pung baca artikel serupa. tapi demi nak tahu, ambik kamus. orang dah susah payah menyusun artikel, mu tokse nok buko dictionary, gapo dio weh.
    salam untuk mu

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  11. M. Sepial. Saya tak berapa pandai. Kadang-kadang tanya cucu maksud perkataan tu, haktu apa, ini pula apa dia? Tapi biaqlah Sdra Sakmongkol tuleh payah-payah sikit, dapatlah kita yang berumuq ni belajar cepat-cepat. Yyok sikit. Masa dan mata dah kurang sangat ni. Yang Schandenfreude tu pernah saya dengaq, selama ni duk teka, tapi tak sekali pun saya usaha cari. Terima kasih sangat pada Mekyam dan Sakmongkol.

    Berkenaan sumber maklumat pula, tentu-lah Si Penulis kena usaha cari sana dan cari sini. Dia rajin, Sakmongkol ni, saya pula malas. Sesuai lah tu. Hasilnya kita semua seronok, pulun baca. Berbakti namanya tu. Sakmongkol. Baguih, baguih.

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  12. ha ha ha... what a slime derby!

    can't you people think beyond umno shenanigans! malays are not only lazy but stupid ka? forget umno la. a party full of a**holes -past and present.

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  13. Dato Sak,

    Maybe you could just put in citations where due so you won't be subject to undue criticisms for your efforts to apply it to the current situation....(oghe ni meme carik jalan je bila dengki..)

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  14. Dato,

    Thanks for clearing that up, was just about to add to the earlier comment that the whole article makes sense in the context that you've sculpted it in. And I truly do enjoy the flavor you've brought into the issue on TMH with the etymology of the word for us to sink our teeth into.

    Just that I was caught by surprise when some of it were word for word as I had assumed otherwise.

    No offense intended and none taken. Will continue reading and learning from your articles.

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  15. Salam, mamat Musa Hitam ni 'musoh dalam selimut'. Tak minat sangat dengan caranya ketika beliau dalam cabinet pon.
    Wife dia tu member saya ketika kami orang 'muda2' dulu. Manage to chat with her after many years of lost contact, mmmm, style pon sudah lain juga. Rezeki masing2 semoga mereka bahagia. Amin.
    ml

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  16. I am not an admirer of Musa Hitam. He ordered the police to shoot and kill, women, young boys and men in the Memali tragedy.

    Burn in Hell, Musa.

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  17. Salam Dato',

    The name itself does make sense, considering what Musa is doing.

    Musa Hitam, Musa the Black, The Black Musa, or The Dark Musa, much better, sounds like Dark Forces on Star Wars.

    p/s don't mean to offend his father.

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  18. Hear hear, I share the same sentiment with Tok Wan Hang Pa, all old farts like us, unker inclusive, think alike! Older & wiser mah, so they say, throw in abit of Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s for good measure…hehe….

    Dato Sak, you can’t please everyone in this world all the time, sometimes it’s best just to give those difficult buggers, the old truly Malaysian (made famous again recently by YB Adnan Yaacob) ‘Park Pao’ ‘one size fits all’ salutation. Unker prefer the more authentic old time favourite; making a ring with the left hand index finger & thumb with the right hand index finger sliding in & out of the ring with a grin in your face .

    So Dato, you carry on writing what’s best for you, gua sokong lu seratus percent.

    Cheers,
    Unker Tommy.

    PS – I can imagine An-Nimr trying the index finger & thumb ring sliding motion. Good one mem!

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  19. Unker Yew,

    If I ever see you, I will just flip you the bird..clean and easy.

    BTW, you really gotta stop that "apek stail" crude gesturing you described when you in the mood with Auntie. No wonder always kena reject by her.

    These Chinamen I tell you tsk, tsk...go to my blog and read how the civilised Muslims treat their wives, k?

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  20. Never knew such people can be lucky bastards! even for this Musa schadenfreude!They are never contented !
    Good one Sakmongkol ! This guy should be AKAYED!!

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