(Continuation of Tale 1)
The title of the story should preferably be changed to "The Taming of the Shrew".
As usual in the morning, the children gathered around Agong to listen to his stories. The eyes of some of the children were still red from their crying yesterday after hearing the tragic end of the protesters who stormed the prime minister's residence in the story. Sitting quietly beside them was Uncle or "Philosopher" as he was called by the adult villagers. Uncle was seldom present at the storytelling sessions, but he seemed to get increasingly interested in Agong's stories.
Looking around to ensure all the children were present, Agong began his story: "What I told you yesterday were not the end of the story. Despite the crackdown on the group of radical protesters who stormed the prime minister's residence, the rest of the protesters still refused to disperse. Crowds of defiant demonstrators still controlled a number of major thoroughfares and intersections in the congested city.
In order to know what all the fuss was about, we have to go back 17 years into the past when the kingdom was defeated by an invading army. In addition to large cash payments, the emperor was forced to give his second youngest daughter, who was only a few months old at that time, to the king of the invading army as part of war reparations. The foreign king also demanded the emperor for several ministers to stay with the baby princess in his country. To get rid of his political opponents, the emperor picked several ministers, who were most vocal in opposing his policies, to stay with his daughter in the foreign land. Why the foreign king demanded several ministers from the emperor’s court to stay in his land is anybody’s guess.
When the princess was five years old, the foreign king betrothed her to his youngest son of the same age. The marriage ceremony was supposed to be held at the age of thirteen. The restless prince loved to ‘see the world from above’ by climbing up to high places such as trees and walls. At about the age of ten, he climbed up a ladder and sat on a wall. Unfortunately, he had a great fall like Humpty Dumpty, and all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put him together again.
When the princess was twelve years old, the foreign king suffered a series of military setbacks in his wars with other countries. To seek the economic cooperation of the emperor, he decided to return the princess to the emperor on the condition that she must have more than one suitor to choose for her marriage and a period of fifty years to adjust to the new way of life in her ancestral land. Hitherto, every princess was allowed to throw a silk ball from her window at only one suitor who had been prescreened by the emperor. As the sun dipped steadily toward the horizon, the ministers, who left with the baby princess for the foreign land early in the morning twelve years ago, now embarked on a journey with the child princess in a procession of six horse-drawn carriages eastward back to their ancestral land.
Despite the progress and prosperity in recent years, the kingdom was still bogged down by the historical baggage of the past decade, and the emperor was plagued by the phobia and nightmare of foreign bogeymen creeping out from the historical baggage under his bed at night. After their return, the emperor was more suspicious of the ministers and retired them as commoners to the countryside. The emperor suspected they were behind the massive street protests as they had openly wished their sons could marry the princess. He also wondered why they kept silent when the princess was betrothed to the foreign prince at the age of five.
As the protests dragged on, more people were getting frustrated with the disruption to their lives and incomes. Pawn shops, inns, medical stores, tea houses, restaurants, clothes stores and markets in the city remained closed. Scuffles broke out between demonstrators and anti-protest groups who tried to remove the barricades set up by the former in the streets.
One angry shopkeeper said, 'The majority of the people do prefer more rights, of course. What they are opposed to is the massive protests that are currently taking the city hostage and disrupting their lives.' Another businessman said, 'I used to support the protesters, but they need to do everything legally. I can’t support them anymore. To pursue their dreams, they are robbing people of their livelihoods. You may not like your home, but you can’t destroy it.' An old carriage driver grumbled, 'The whole city is descending into chaos because of these people. What if they kill my horses and break my carriage? What if they drag me off and beat me? I don’t dare to show my anger at these hooligans on the streets.'
When the anti-protest groups demanded the demonstrators to end their protests, the latter responded by shouting 'mind your own business' and singing 'happy birthday', a tactic used to drown out opposition voices. 'It means nothing to us, we don’t care what they yell at us,' said a young protester. 'We can’t deny that we will cause some inconvenience for this period of time, but if we don’t stand up to speak now then we won’t get another chance to speak out again.'
A member of the public pointed out that the main problem was that everybody suddenly discovered their right to break the law. According to him, everybody would ask, 'When all other people can break the law, why can't I?' Another anxious parent expressed her worry that naive youngsters would be brainwashed by political opportunists and acted without thinking in the future.
After one year, the emperor told his eldest son, 'My patience is waning thin. Before reaching the breaking point, I want you to go on my behalf tomorrow to seek the advice of a hermit monk who lives in a cave on a nearby mountain.' The prince set off on a three-day journey with two bodyguards to the mountain next day, but when he reached the mountain cave, he found that the cave entrance was blocked a huge slab of stone inscribed with the words meaning 'not in' in Chinese. The prince and his bodyguards took another three days to return to the palace, but the emperor ordered him to make a second trip next day. The following day, the prince and his two bodyguards went to the mountain again but could not find the monk. The emperor again ordered him to make a third trip to the mountain. On hearing this, the prince said with evident reluctance in his voice, 'It looks like I have to travel at least 18 days up and down the mountain.' The emperor said angrily, 'What is a short journey of 18 days to a young man like you compared to your great grandfather's long march to power from the south to the west and north of the country when he was in his forties?'
The prince, accompanied by the two bodyguards, set off on his third trip to the mountain next day, and this time they found that the cave entrance was no longer blocked by the stone slab. The prince called loudly outside the cave, 'We are seeking an audience with Your Holiness on behalf of His Majesty, the Emperor!' Out came a thunderous voice, 'Come in, Your Royal Highness!'
Inside the cave, they saw an elderly monk sitting in lotus position on a straw mat. After the initial greetings and introduction, they were invited to take their seats opposite the monk. When he learned of the purpose of the prince's visit, the monk said, 'First, I must point out that His Majesty has missed the wood for the trees. The focus on prescreening the princess' suitors makes His Majesty lose sight of the overall picture. There are more pressing issues waiting to be addressed such as the widening wealth gap, social inequality, rising living costs, stagnant wages, acute housing problems, immigration issues, youth problems and so on. Failure to address the pressing issues will have an adverse impact on the country in the long run. To the majority of the population, their greatest dream is to pass the day happily and wake up next day without worry.
Secondly, the problems should have been nipped in the bud by negotiation long ago when they were still manageable. It seems that His Majesty has underestimated the resolution of his opponents. In their final life and death struggle, they have let the genie out of the bottle in the form of students. The protests could not simply be wished away now, especially when the students have taken over the protest movement. As the protests drag on, more factions join in and the situation becomes more complex. There are now more differences in opinions and less opportunity for resolution and compromise. There will be anarchy and disaster if every protester considers himself as the leader of the civil disobedience movement.
Thirdly, prolonged unrest will weaken the country, particularly in the face of external aggression by the marauding dwarf pirates and other invaders. The country has made tremendous economic progress in the last decade. Other countries are playing catch-up in the economic race, and we can't let any unrest impede the country's progress. Since the last decade, the country has taken great pains to build up a good image and reputation domestically and internationally, so it would be a great pity if it were to be tarnished by any reckless action overnight. In addition, the country is planning to send its first man to the moon by flying him there with a giant kite. We can't let the social disturbance distract the country from its higher goals. His Majesty should seek a peaceful settlement as soon as possible so that the country could be propelled to greater heights.
