Anwar Ibrahim thinking aloud on Da Bard...

This morning when I trod softly into anwaribrahimblog.com, I was pleasantly surprised by the host's sharing of thoughts on one of my fave subjects -- William Shapespeare. Just to whet your appetite, I reprised the opening paragraphs, and will myself re-visit the Post freshly uploaded from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, where he spoke at the
Kongres Shakespeare Sedunia VIII .

July 21st, 2006 | Category: Transkrip, Lit - Arts

"Ucapan saya di Kongres Shakespeare Sedunia VIII Ahad 16 – Jumaat 21 Julai 2006 di Brisbane City Hall, Queensland, Australia

Our answer is that those who hold positions of power also carry a moral responsibility to listen to the people. To interfere with individual freedom is to rob individuals not just of their freedom, but of the right and responsibility they have to reason. No one has a right to take away that liberty, not a single despot and not even a duly constituted legislative majority.

Teks lengkap seterusnya…


Between Tyranny and Freedom: A Brief Voyage with the Bard

Plenary paper by Anwar Ibrahim at the VIII World Shakespeare Congress Sunday 16 – Friday 21 July 2006 at Brisbane City Hall, Queensland, Australia.

Anwar Ibrahim is currently Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington DC, and Honorary President of Accountability, London.

~~~~~~~

"Ten years ago, I addressed an audience at the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. I began with the following lines:

Midway in the journey of our life I found myself in a dark wood, for the straight path was lost. Ah, how hard it is to tell what that wood was, wild, rugged, harsh; the very thought of it renews fear! It is so bitter that death is hardly more so.

While I do not intend to sound like an antique drum, I do want to remind ourselves of our inter-connectedness in the face of the forces that threaten to separate us. It is said that throughout its history, the West has defined itself in opposition to the East, in terms of the rational against the irrational, the superior against the inferior, or as Edward Said puts it, the Orient is the West’s great complementary opposite since antiquity. To paraphrase William Hazlitt in his characterization of Leontes, this discourse is “beset with doubts and fears, and entangled more and more in the thorny labyrinth” of mutual distrust and jealousy. We will have more to say about The Winter’s Tale and the overriding theme of tyranny later, but, for now, let us just say that, it is this blinkered view of the world with vociferous advocates on both sides that has led us into mutual suspicion, acrimony and hostility, and threatens to suck us into the quicksand of an even greater clash.













:
:
:

DESIDERATA will not post anything new for this weekend as his plate will be filled with relecting on ex-DPM Anwar's rumination. Yes, on with Da Bard!If you forego next week's newspapers reading for just one Essay, I recommend Anwar Inbrahim's lecture. Not that I love the local newspapers less, it's that I love Da Bard more. aMORE with Desi?

Serve thee -- my dear ER whom I urge to join me to ponder over Anwar's writes -- with a special goblet of tehtarik, kurang manis to safeguard your health, tinged with Miss Sunthi to perk us up to face many challenges in NegaraKu in truly interesting times.

Godspeed.