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Do you remember Animal Farm? PDF Print
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Friday, 31 July 2009 14:05

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In 1946, the Malays united and formed a national organisation called UMNO. In 1951, the Malays, Chinese and Indians united to form The Alliance. In 1957, a union of Malays, Chinese and Indians won Merdeka for Malaya and the British colonialists were sent packing. Thereafter, the Malayan political scene transformed into a real-life situation of Animal Farm.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

At last the day came when Snowball's plans were completed. At the Meeting on the following Sunday the question of whether or not to begin work on the windmill was to be put to the vote. When the animals had assembled in the big barn, Snowball stood up and, though occasionally interrupted by bleating from the sheep, set forth his reasons for advocating the building of the windmill.

Then Napoleon stood up to reply. He said very quietly that the windmill was nonsense and that he advised nobody to vote for it, and promptly sat down again; he had spoken for barely thirty seconds, and seemed almost indifferent as to the effect he produced. At this Snowball sprang to his feet, and shouting down the sheep, who had begun bleating again, broke into a passionate appeal in favour of the windmill.

Until now the animals had been about equally divided in their sympathies, but in a moment Snowball's eloquence had carried them away. In glowing sentences he painted a picture of Animal Farm as it might be when sordid labour was lifted from the animals' backs. His imagination had now run far beyond chaff-cutters and turnip-slicers. Electricity, he said, could operate threshing machines, ploughs, harrows, rollers, and reapers and binders, besides supplying every stall with its own electric light, hot and cold water, and an electric heater.

By the time he had finished speaking, there was no doubt as to which way the vote would go. But just at this moment Napoleon stood up and, casting a peculiar sidelong look at Snowball, uttered a high-pitched whimper of a kind no one had ever heard him utter before.

At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn. They dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws. In a moment he was out of the door and they were after him. Too amazed and frightened to speak, all the animals crowded through the door to watch the chase. Snowball was racing across the long pasture that led to the road.

He was running as only a pig can run, but the dogs were close on his heels. Suddenly he slipped and it seemed certain that they had him. Then he was up again, running faster than ever, then the dogs were gaining on him again. One of them all but closed his jaws on Snowball's tail, but Snowball whisked it free just in time. Then he put on an extra spurt and, with a few inches to spare, slipped through a hole in the hedge and was seen no more.

Silent and terrified, the animals crept back into the barn. In a moment the dogs came bounding back. At first no one had been able to imagine where these creatures came from, but the problem was soon solved: they were the puppies whom Napoleon had taken away from their mothers and reared privately. Though not yet full-grown, they were huge dogs, and as fierce-looking as wolves. They kept close to Napoleon. It was noticed that they wagged their tails to him in the same way as the other dogs had been used to do to Mr. Jones.

Napoleon, with the dogs following him, now mounted on to the raised portion of the floor where Major had previously stood to deliver his speech. He announced that from now on the Sunday-morning Meetings would come to an end. They were unnecessary, he said, and wasted time. In future all questions relating to the working of the farm would be settled by a special committee of pigs, presided over by himself. These would meet in private and afterwards communicate their decisions to the others. The animals would still assemble on Sunday mornings to salute the flag, sing 'Beasts of England', and receive their orders for the week; but there would be no more debates.

In spite of the shock that Snowball's expulsion had given them, the animals were dismayed by this announcement. Several of them would have protested if they could have found the right arguments. Even Boxer was vaguely troubled. He set his ears back, shook his forelock several times, and tried hard to marshal his thoughts; but in the end he could not think of anything to say.

Some of the pigs themselves, however, were more articulate. Four young porkers in the front row uttered shrill squeals of disapproval, and all four of them sprang to their feet and began speaking at once. But suddenly the dogs sitting round Napoleon let out deep, menacing growls, and the pigs fell silent and sat down again. Then the sheep broke out into a tremendous bleating of "Four legs good, two legs bad!" which went on for nearly a quarter of an hour and put an end to any chance of discussion.

Afterwards Squealer was sent round the farm to explain the new arrangement to the others.

"Comrades," he said, "I trust that every animal here appreciates the sacrifice that Comrade Napoleon has made in taking this extra labour upon himself. Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure! On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility. No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be? Suppose you had decided to follow Snowball, with his moonshine of windmills--Snowball, who, as we now know, was no better than a criminal?"

"He fought bravely at the Battle of the Cowshed," said somebody.

"Bravery is not enough," said Squealer. "Loyalty and obedience are more important. And as to the Battle of the Cowshed, I believe the time will come when we shall find that Snowball's part in it was much exaggerated. Discipline, comrades, iron discipline! That is the watchword for today. One false step, and our enemies would be upon us. Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back?"

Once again this argument was unanswerable. Certainly the animals did not want Jones back; if the holding of debates on Sunday mornings was liable to bring him back, then the debates must stop. Boxer, who had now had time to think things over, voiced the general feeling by saying: "If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right." And from then on he adopted the maxim, "Napoleon is always right," in addition to his private motto of "I will work harder."

By this time the weather had broken and the spring ploughing had begun. The shed where Snowball had drawn his plans of the windmill had been shut up and it was assumed that the plans had been rubbed off the floor. Every Sunday morning at ten o'clock the animals assembled in the big barn to receive their orders for the week. The skull of old Major, now clean of flesh, had been disinterred from the orchard and set up on a stump at the foot of the flagstaff, beside the gun. After the hoisting of the flag, the animals were required to file past the skull in a reverent manner before entering the barn.

Nowadays they did not sit all together as they had done in the past. Napoleon, with Squealer and another pig named Minimus, who had a remarkable gift for composing songs and poems, sat on the front of the raised platform, with the nine young dogs forming a semicircle round them, and the other pigs sitting behind. The rest of the animals sat facing them in the main body of the barn. Napoleon read out the orders for the week in a gruff soldierly style, and after a single singing of 'Beasts of England', all the animals dispersed.

On the third Sunday after Snowball's expulsion, the animals were somewhat surprised to hear Napoleon announce that the windmill was to be built after all. He did not give any reason for having changed his mind, but merely warned the animals that this extra task would mean very hard work, it might even be necessary to reduce their rations. The plans, however, had all been prepared, down to the last detail. A special committee of pigs had been at work upon them for the past three weeks. The building of the windmill, with various other improvements, was expected to take two years.

That evening Squealer explained privately to the other animals that Napoleon had never in reality been opposed to the windmill. On the contrary, it was he who had advocated it in the beginning, and the plan which Snowball had drawn on the floor of the incubator shed had actually been stolen from among Napoleon's papers. The windmill was, in fact, Napoleon's own creation.

Why, then, asked somebody, had he spoken so strongly against it? Here Squealer looked very sly. That, he said, was Comrade Napoleon's cunning. He had SEEMED to oppose the windmill, simply as a manoeuvre to get rid of Snowball, who was a dangerous character and a bad influence. Now that Snowball was out of the way, the plan could go forward without his interference. This, said Squealer, was something called tactics. He repeated a number of times, "Tactics, comrades, tactics!" skipping round and whisking his tail with a merry laugh. The animals were not certain what the word meant, but Squealer spoke so persuasively, and the three dogs who happened to be with him growled so threateningly, that they accepted his explanation without further questions.

All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings.

Throughout the spring and summer they worked a sixty-hour week, and in August Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoons as well. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half. Even so, it was found necessary to leave certain tasks undone. The harvest was a little less successful than in the previous year, and two fields which should have been sown with roots in the early summer were not sown because the ploughing had not been completed early enough. It was possible to foresee that the coming winter would be a hard one.

Animal Farm by George Orwell (extracts from chapters 5 and 6)

Comments (35)Add Comment
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written by wongnoball, July 31, 2009 14:21:25
That means Ku Li is the Old Horse sent to the Old Glue Factory........must that happen before malay realise??

Anyway the problem is Malays do not understand Racism cum Communisism until they go overseas and study as students. The fact that Tunku sacked Singapore with the signature of a Illegitimate Agong have made what Malaysia is Today. OBLITERATING 52 years of UMNO racist Pembunuh Kejam is not easy, TRY we MUST for that is the Destiny of Allah for Malaysian!!....another By-election in Penang....Obliterate UMNO!!
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written by Proarte, July 31, 2009 14:22:38
Why does the name Hadi Awang come to mind when I read about Squealer? smilies/angry.gif
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written by Come clean, July 31, 2009 14:26:45
Way to go, RPK, for bringing back George Orwell's masterpiece back to life!
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written by lamakawan, July 31, 2009 14:29:22
You are absolutely right, Peter. Malaysia has become an animal farm instead of an independent and democratic country populated by right thinking "immigrants"".
If we continue to brag over our history and stop moving with the times, it won't be long the whole country will turn into a jungle of all sorts of living creatures governed by the laws of the jungle!!!!
We are living in a modern society and globalisation is going to swarm the whole world soon. Unless we wake up, forget about our differences and march forward, we will be going backwards to the times as before independence.
Everyone must realise that we have to work together, live together, and not to continue bragging on where we come from. We must stand together and work for the good of the country irrespective of our differences in religion or race or ideology. It is only when we think and work as one that we can find progress. Independence will then be worth while achieved!!!
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written by densemy, July 31, 2009 14:31:30
Extracts from chapters 5 and 6 of the UMNO Strategy Manual
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written by arazak, July 31, 2009 14:38:59
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."

Animal Farm, George Orwell,pg.120 Pengwin Modern Classics, 1951
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"The tyrant UMNO/BN regime leaders looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."

Read also 1984 if you enjoy Animal farm. . .!
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written by Richfyf, July 31, 2009 14:48:48
Sounds more like Perak State Assembly story !!!!!!!!
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written by hellosunshine, July 31, 2009 14:50:26
Aiya, Animal Farm lose big time to Bolehland lah. We have a few big Napoleons (one of the biggest and most sinister is so called 'retired') and many little Napoleons. smilies/grin.gif
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written by johnT, July 31, 2009 14:52:08
If you release the animal in the farm they will surely die cause they can't take care them self and they don't know how to look for food.
That's is the same thing is certain kroni races in Malaysia.
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written by AlwaysFair, July 31, 2009 15:12:32
I remembered the animals all started with equal status then gradually some of them said," we are MORE EQUAL than others," and started to elevate their own status.

Yes since Merdeka we are all equal except for some concessions in the Article for Malay rights but today some are not only more equal, they have become supreme and even above the laws.
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written by malgal, July 31, 2009 16:10:06
if the animals did not panic and took stock of Napoleon's agenda, they could ring together and bite back the ugly hounds.
but they ran when Snowball was under attack. Now had they not turned tail and retreated tails between wobbly legs, they might win the day.

let's see who stays home tomorrow and expects others to stick their limbs out.
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written by karyeowl, July 31, 2009 16:11:23
Interesting note: Animal Farm is supposed to be the satire to the Russian Revolution, as Orwell hated the Communists.

UMNO is now reflected by Animal Farm. Will that make UMNO more like Communist? If UMNO is communist, then who is Chin Peng? UMNO makes a big fuss on Chin Peng.
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written by karyeowl, July 31, 2009 16:12:42
For those who haven't read the book Animal Farm by Orwell, here is a link by our Lulu:

http://lulufarm.********.com/
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written by arazak, July 31, 2009 16:18:51
MT Readers,

What Anti Relon have posted above are part of Najis' PR agency spin using international media. The money Najis used to tarnish DSAI image internationally are from us, the tax-payers' money! We should not let that happen. That millions of RM should be used to help poor Malysians instead.

Anti Relon please put that in your thick skull. You are so pathetic. . ., you don't even know what the regime is doing with your hard-earned money!
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written by singam, July 31, 2009 16:29:57
Mikewang, you gotta read Animal Farm. The irony of it is that pigs = UMNOputras.

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written by Bigjoe99, July 31, 2009 17:25:52
Of course BN rule is Orwellian, feudal etc. But the point is this, if Malays don't have UMNO and Ketuanan Melayu to believe in, what do they believe? Islam? That is even more dangerous.

In the end, the Malays have to believe in something. Esoteric concepts of liberty are not believed by those who lack heros, new ideas and self-reliance.

The opposition success is NOT because the Rakyat believe in them, they are because the Rakyat do not believe in UMNO/BN. In the end, the opposition has a concept that is only beginning to be proven. BN greatest nightmare is for PR to have a track record that is just even credible. People like Toyo, Nazri, etc are scared like hell the opposition can even do a credible job in their states.

Opposition need to show they we can believe in each other. That we can trust each other and it does not matter who wins who loses so long as all of us get to win sometimes and loses sometimes. That is dynamism, that is world today and the future...
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written by Vivarium, July 31, 2009 17:26:28
Though not yet full-grown, they were huge dogs, and as fierce-looking as wolves. They kept close to Napoleon.
******************************************************* ************************
Though not being competent and professional, MACC,PDRM and Ulamas are used as dark forces, and as cruel and criminal-looking thugs on the streets. They always kept close to BN, forever ready to show their snarling jaws at the slightest instruction from the master.
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written by Pakyeh, July 31, 2009 17:45:51
This part of the story about Animal Farm is the anti climax...the corruption of ideals by authoritarian leaders started by Mahathief Muhammad,Sleeping Beuty and our present Crime Minister.
The rootcause of UMNO/BN's corruption is Mahathief Mohammad. When UMNO Baru is created out of a lie, all things started to degenerate. God despise lies and liers.

Read more "Yo Mahathief ! You are the cause of corruption in UMNO." at...

http://warongpakyeh.blogs
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written by hellboykl, July 31, 2009 18:26:20
All the politicians are only there to make money,
they really don't bother about the citizens interest.
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written by Huador, July 31, 2009 18:59:21
"Squealer spoke so persuasively, and the three dogs who happened to be with him growled so threateningly, that they accepted his explanation without further questions."

Here is from the STAR online;

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said his men would screen motorists.

“All those planning to attend the illegal gatherings must be prepared to face stern action from us, regardless if they are for or against the use of the ISA. We will not compromise as far as security is concerned,’’ he said.
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written by KopiO, July 31, 2009 20:23:55
I have recently read the 2 masterpieces by George Orwell: '1984' and 'Animal Farm'. Highly recommended. You can get these 2 books in Popular Bookstore in the Classics section. For those staying in PJ, there are still several copies of the 2 books in Popular Bookstore in Ikano Power Centre.
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written by biggun129, July 31, 2009 20:35:41
In animal farm, have you ever heard that the Animal cleans their Shit?And this Animal by the name of 'Shit' is asking the good citizen who try to clean his Shit by asking how on earth we clean the 'Shit', ISA is 'Shit' for our country, and our ideas of cleaning up the 'Shit' is no other than 'Abolished the ISA', and when we protest to clean up the 'Shit'that left behind by the animal in the farm, the one who is 'Shit'and left his 'Shit' said it is no good ! 1, August, 2009, will be the day to remember because the Citizen is Cleaning up the 'Shit' left behind by those Animals ! or else shall we let the animals eat their own 'Shit' to clean up their 'Shit' !!!
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written by cruzeiro, July 31, 2009 21:05:54
Now that Snowball was out of the way, the plan could go forward without his interference. This, said Squealer, was something called tactics. He repeated a number of times, "Tactics, comrades, tactics!"

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He said that the country can have an economic advantage with China and India with the Chinese and Indian communities in Malaysia and also encourage investments from the Middle East because Malaysia is a Muslim nation.

“1 Malaysia is not rigid, it is something that is not cast in stone but it is a national discussion. We will incorporate other views and opinions,” he said, adding: “It is a strategic ambiguity.”
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written by sydput, July 31, 2009 21:55:29
Its friday night and I am too drunk to comprehend what the whole animal shit is all about.
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written by born2reign, August 01, 2009 00:14:05
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
George Orwell – Animal Farm


George Orwell’s classic novel Animal Farm was inspired by the a scene he witnessed:

“I saw a little boy, perhaps ten years old, driving a huge carthorse along a narrow path, whipping it whenever it tried to turn. It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat.”

Orwell wrote the novel during World War II and published it in 1945. It was a contemptuous indictment of Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union. He recognized that propaganda and abuse of language could smoothly control the opinions of enlightened intellectuals in democratic countries. He saw through the prism of Soviet propaganda to the true evil of Stalin and his KGB Dogs. Intellectuals in Great Britain’s Ministry of Information attempted to censor his right to publish the book because it would offend their supposed ally Joseph Stalin. He knew the truth, while intellectuals were horribly wrong. Stalin murdered 700,000 Russian citizens during the Great Purge of the 1930s.

The plot of Orwell’s Animal Farm is quite simple. It follows the Russian Revolution from 1917 through 1944. Three pigs—Snowball (Leon Trotsky), Napoleon (Joseph Stalin), and Squealer (Vyacheslav Molotov) formulate Old Major’s (Vladimir Lenon) principles into a philosophy called Animalism. The animals defeat the farmer Mr. Jones (Czar Nicholas II) in a battle, running him off the land. They rename the property Animal Farm (Soviet Union). The cart-horse Boxer (Russian working class) devotes himself to the cause with particular passion, committing his great strength to the prosperity of the farm and adopting as a personal axiom the affirmation “I will work harder.” Napoleon (Stalin) and Snowball (Trotsky) increasingly argue over the future of the farm, and they begin to struggle with each other for power and influence among the other animals. After a speech, nine attack dogs (KGB) burst into the barn and chase Snowball (Trotsky) from the farm.

Corruption
“All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” George Orwell

“In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia. The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history." George Orwell


Myopia
Animal Farm represents any human society whether it be capitalist, socialist, fascist, or communist. Leaders are capable of being corrupted by power within any form of government. The myopic thinking of the Pigs in Animal Farm will eventually destroy the farm. Orwell ends the novel with the animals watching the Pigs mingling with farmers through a window. They couldn’t tell the difference between the supposed revolutionaries and those they had fought against. If he had looked into the future he would have seen that the Soviet Union would decay from the inside as the corrupt few eventually came to believe their own lies and propaganda. It collapsed 44 years later as a corrupt, bankrupt, shell of a country.The combination of myopia, greed, wickedness, ignorance and indifference are a brew that are leading Malaysia down the same path. As the Pigs in our society have enriched themselves, the average Malaysian has seen their real standard of living stagnate over the last 40 years. The Pigs have manipulated government inflation statistics so the masses think they are getting ahead
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written by Sagaladoola, August 01, 2009 01:33:53
This is a great book. Still makes sense after all these decades.

Perhaps something never changes .. especially human behaviour.

Change has to be continual in order to counter this.
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written by NSTPravda, August 01, 2009 07:41:53
Isn't this book where the IGP PIGs rule the rest of the flock?
MMMmmm, RPK you are being too subtle again. What's your point lah?

As if the PIGs will throw any other animal off 14 floors, and knew how to use C4 against pregnant animals, even of a different species. There is nothing there about submarine, helicopter commissions being of benefits to any of the Pigs. There is not that much organized terrorism against the flock under the guise of Internal Security to the farm.

Maybe Animal Farm is just a watered down version of our reality. There is perhaps some analogy in their belief that All Pigs are Born Equal, Most Pigs are more equal than other animals... seems to have a ring of truth in that somewhere.

Rasuah sayang eh!
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written by jaz, August 01, 2009 08:47:18
NSTPravda,
you could write a modern day version of the Animal Farm.
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written by POKKU, August 01, 2009 12:17:43
Be careful PROARTE

He is the President of a component party in PR.

Do you want to start another infighting in PAKATAN?

Do you want to test his party members support for him??

Do you want the animal farm to continue to be under Napoleon???

Do you want BN to continue to govern Malaysia after GE 13????

RPK said to win PR need 70% support from the rakyat. You think PR can get 70% support without his party involvement?????



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written by Barking out loud, August 02, 2009 03:30:02
Seriously, I think the JAIS people are really a bunch of perverts who has nothing to do but to spy on other people.

Please our dear lawmakers please use your brains and only enact laws that are enforeceable. This close proximity thing is not an enforceable law. Please scrap it.

I think even the law that says sodomy is a crime is also non-enforceable. Please scrap it too. How the h... can you ever proof that someone has had sex before. Unless it is a law saying that All Malaysians must be virgins. GDU if that happens then we will need to keep on importing people from Indonesia to maintain a population as there will no longer be any more pregnancies here in Malaysia. smilies/cheesy.gif smilies/cheesy.gif smilies/grin.gif
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written by VVijay, August 02, 2009 13:22:56
Animal Farm is BN & UMNO's wawasan! I bet the IGP and the AG are using 1984 as their guide book!
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written by sambal muncha, August 02, 2009 14:08:09
Hi Pete,

30 years on and the story still brings a chill to my spine.

Truly amazing of Orwell to foresee Malaysia in 2009.
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written by Fairminded, August 02, 2009 19:19:26
Great that RPK had inerested all of you in reading "Animal Farm" by George Owell, now go and read "1984" also written by George Owell.
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