.jpg)
“I think, therefore I am” Descartes French Philosopher, I Wear Burberry Therefore I am… Prime Minister of Malaysia.
By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright August 2022
A French philosopher Rene Descartes’ declaration, “I think therefore I am” has been commonly interpreted as proof that you exist and if you doubt it, this itself suggests that indeed you do exist.
It’s deep for one not often involved in philosophical discourse. Anyway, it doesn’t matter about the philosophical debate because if you were like Ismail Sabri I doubt you needed to question your own existence.
Ismail Sabri is apparently conscious of what he wears before and after being PM. He is who he says he is. He knows he exists and there is no need to dwell on the subject much longer.
However, he did not seem to think clearly about the reasons why the public questions his choice of shirts lately.
At a recent Barisan Nasional convention in Setia Alam, he said, “People used to like my shirts, but now that I’m the Prime Minister, they count how much it costs.”
Notice that he was aware of the public’s reactions to his colourful batik shirts that he thought they liked. The designs were colourful and indeed attractive enough to grab everyone’s attention but they did not bother about scrutinising the price then.
Besides there was no means for them to Google about the shirts that many speculated were designed by his own son-in-law that was not found on the web.
Also, Ismail neglected to mention that those shirts did not exhibit any brand in particular. In fact, there was no logo for us to Google.
So, it was the logo that distinguishes the shirts that he now wears from the batik outfits he wore then for his daily television appearances during the covid19 pandemic.
The public did not “count” the cost of his batik shirts because there was no reason to!
But when he wore a Burberry which is a foreign brand and their products are easily available for scrutiny on the web the curious public did Google.
Given the current exchange rate of RM5+ to £1 pound Sterling, the ordinary man may easily calculate the cost of owning one himself.
So lament not whether Malaysians cared about your street wear when you were defence minister. Instead, think carefully about why you are being scrutinized by the rakyat now that you are the Prime Minister parading around a foreign brand like a new kid on the block being exceptionally ostentatious about what you put on your back.
We know that you know because like Descartes you exist when you say I wear Burberry therefore I am the PM.
But do take a step back and ponder about what the rakyat who think therefore they exist albeit with so much pain and suffering without the opportunity of cloaking themselves similarly in branded shirts.
Descartes being a philosopher would certainly agonise over this issue for months.
Hopefully, Pak Ma’il too might want to think about this at least until the coming general election because the next brand he chooses might just swing the votes.
Mihar Dias is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.
Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
Newswav is solely an aggregation platform and hosts the content. The views expressed and content above including media (pictures, videos, etc) were provided by the author. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
