'Discuss the possible permutations to the Malaysian political landscape post-Mahathir.'
It was September 1998, and I was halfway through a pol sci module under Dr Hussin Mutalib, an academic whom I really respect and admire. It was a very interesting module on the politics of maritime Southeast Asia, and it was a tumultuous period following the watershed 1997 Asian financial crisis which witnessed the rumble and change in governments around the region. It made the study exciting – very current and alive.
The above was a topic i chose for my term paper essay. There I was, a week before the deadline all fine and dandy almost three quarter done with my paper. Things seem set in place, Anwar seemed entrenched in his No 2 position, and you can more or less outline the natural progression upon his succession.
And then came the ludicrous turn of events – his arrest and the subsequent lurid details of an unbelievable trial. My essay went completely out of the window.
I remember being glued to the news and sending a message text to a friend’s pager (yeah it was THAT long ago when the Motorola message pager was oh-so-cool-and-indispensable). You know, the kind when you had to call the operator and tell her your message and she’ll send it to the intended number. Only my message was “Did you hear the news? Sh**t. My essay’s rubbish.”
Operator: Sorry M’am, we don’t accept the word ‘sh**’.
Me: Ok, change it to ‘Die. My essay’s rubbish.’
Operator: Sorry M’am, we don’t accept that word either.
Me: ^%&*^$*%#$*%!
Ok, so I didn’t exactly say that last bit out loud. The whole thing was just so funny and archaic now that I think about it, this control of expression.
So anyway, I had about 5 days to re-think my essay now that the political landscape has changed. It was no longer a clear-cut scenario. I remember how passionate I was about the issue then, and how much I admired Nurul Izzah, and how I wanted to name my daughters after Anwar’s daughters (seems like I have to wait some more since I have almost 2 sons now).
And now the political landscape has changed yet again. Thank goodness I had no essays to lose sleep over this time :)
