[MGG] Why is Tun Ghafar's grave dug when his still alive?

THE GRAVE HAS BEEN DUG at the National Mosque, and those who went to
the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur were told it is for the former
deputy prime minister, Tun Ghafar Baba, now in London for medical
treatment. He may not survive the treatment in London, as Tun Razak
did not, but the officials have decided he would not return alive.
But the grave. ghoulishly, had to be dug three times because the
length of the grave each time not correct. The National Mosque has
graves for six who laboured for Malaysian independence. The former
deputy prime minister, Tun Ismail bin Abdul Rahman, was first,
followed by the two prime ministers, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein and Tun
Hussein Onn. The man who should be there and the first prime
minister, Tengku Abdul Rahman, a member of the Kedah royal family,
decided before this death that he would be buried at the royal family
masouleum there. Another man, Dato' Sir Onn bin Jaffar, is not
counted by the officials, and died a lonely death because he was in
the opposition. His son, Tun Hussein Onn became prime minister, and
his grandson, Dato' Hiihamudin, sits in the present cabinet. But
Dato' Sir Onn, who is related to the Johore royal family, is buried
at the royal masouleum in Johore Bahru.

In today's Malaysia, those who were important in the past are not
now. Who ordered that Tun Ghafar be measured for his coffin? Why was
it necessary to dig his grave while he was still alive. Admitted he
is in very poor health, and taken in an ambulance to London after he
was comatose. Almost any one who reaches high position in Malaysia
will wear charms to ward off their enemies. I travelled with a
cabinet minister into the bondooks more than twenty five years ago,
found this out at first hand. Five star appointments, let alone
sufficient rooms, are not available, and in one rural town, we ended
up in the same room. I noticed the minister was wearing charms. He
explained to me why he was wearing it. It did not help him in all
circumstances, but it saved him from the most violent backstabbing in
the UMNO supreme council. Almost everyone, including the non-Malay
men in the cabinet, wear charms to ward off their rivals. It all
depends on the power of the 'master'. So different 'masters' are
consulted. In one famous incident, the state executive councillor
could only be killed over water. He took great pains to not even go
to Singapore. He was murdered over a stream!

But this search for a 'master' can have hilarous results. One
minister's gardner had the same name as the master, and the
politicians who asked a go-between to fetch the 'master' approached
the gardner instead. And the gardner, who had told his employer about
this strange request, was brought to Kuala Lumpur and put up at the
Crown Princess hotel. The gardner was asked to give charms to ward
off his employer, and give them successful terms in UMNO politics.
All failed, and none of them are in prominent positions today. The
minister knew who his enemies are, and took evasive steps against
them. And he told the prime minister about them. Their other charms
were effective in rising in UMNO politics, but their future in
cabinet is zero. The minister told me this at the time the gardner
was in Kuala Lumpur.

One lady did not die until her charm was passed on to one who was not
in her family. She lingered for months until it was done. She had
taken a charm to ensure her husband did not stray as long as she
lived. After she died, he took a second wife amost immediately after
the mourning period. Ordinary men and women takes charms as a matter
of course. I was given two on my wedding day nearly 40 years ago. I
still have them on my body. Whether they had an effect on my life, it
is not for me to say. Perhaps my life would have been different. I
believe in the efficacy of charms when properly done. It goes against
the grain for the Western educated, who believe in proof, but almost
all Asian and African people use them. They may in the Western
education decry them, and wear them by saying that there is no harm
in it.

Most people while believing in rationality would delve in the
irrational. People are always afraid of the dark. The Western mind is
very logical and dismiss the fears people have. But they delve in the
supernatural and supranatural. In the West, where rationality is
supposed to reign, the people do go in for charms. I know of may in
the West who dismiss the supernatural but wear charms and the like.
They take the attude of the late Malcolm Muggeridge, who was asked on
BBC why after a life time of atheism he had embraced Roman
Catholicism. "What if I am wrong," he replied. We do not know the
afterlife. But the rationalist is defensive when he delves into the
supernatural. No so the Asian, African or even the South African. The
further you move from the land, the stronger the rationalist becomes.
That is why even in the United States, the rationalist and the
"modernity" of life is challenged by those who believe in charms and
the like. In modern day life, it is considered backward if you do not
accept the West's belief. So, to be modern, countries in Asia, Africa
and even South American take Western trappings. But in their every
day life, they take on the traditional beliefs which are often
apposite to it.

So Tun Ghafar wearing charms is not odd. But digging his grave is.
They had to dig his grave three times, because each time it was found
not to fit his body. They had to dig it again and again. That is why
those who went for Tun Hussein's tahlil on what would have been his
birthday found an open grave. The grave diggers had no qualms about
telling those who asked who it was for. They could not dig it and
fill it with earth so it was easy to use it when required. It could
not be hidden from the most observant who attended the tahlil for Tun
Hussein on what would have been his birthday. But is this necessary?
Why was not the grave dug up after he died? It is alright to have the
grave earmarked, and could have been dug after he died. But in this
official rush to make the prime minister a dictator, all niceties are
forgotten of those before him. Tun Ghafar was ignored in retirement.
His police protection was removed. I used to visit him often. Never
did I seen an official from the government or UMNO visit him. And not
a cabinet minister. But he has been active well before UMNO. It was
he who turned Dato' Sir Onn's Rural and Industrial Agency into MARA.
It was his support that hade Tun Mahathir turn UMNO from a
nationalist movement into the political party it is now. He did not
agree with much of what has happened, but that does not allow him to
be forgotten. He may not hold public office now, but when the history
of UMNO or Malaysia come to be written he would have a prominent role
in it.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@streamyx.com

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