Da King's New Clothes

This just came in my mailbox...

Ahmad: Once upon a time there was a movie king, who became very famous for playing the champion of the oppressed in his movies. He was so famous, that as a matter of fact he could even be more popular than the present Queen (president). The movie king had many great images (in the original story it was clothes) which made him very appealing to the crowd. For those who worked in the movie industry he was a god worthy of outmost respect, for the masses he was the ultimate Action Idol, and for the politicians he was fresh meat.

Meanwhile two politicians (In the original story they were tailors, and our tailors are no less than Sotto and Angarra), who were loyal to a deposed King (that would be Erap), have tried so hard to topple the queen's administration in order to restore the honor of thier deposed master, and be part of the ruling of the entire kingdom. But because the Queen was so powerful, all of their attempt failed. One day the two politicians were talking.

Politician 1: hey! election is fast apporaching this will be our chance to steal the ruling of this kingdom from the queen. We will be able to free our master and as a reward he will grant us power over his people.

Politican 2: Yes! but the queen's machinery is so powerful, we ourselves must present a candidate who can match up with her influence. But where will we find such candidate.

Politician 1: Wait let me think..... Oh wait! The best friend of our master is very famous isn't he? people around this kingdom worship him as a hero! I know let us ask him to run for Kingship. With our machinery combined with his popularity we will be able to steal this Kingdom!

Politician 2: What? does he know anything about ruling a country? What makes you think he will say yes to us? The people have tried to convince him time and time again, but didn't he always refuse to run? What if he would sense that we are only asking him to run out of our own interest and not of the people? What if the people will realize that he might not be fit to rule this country!

Politician 1: The people are merely his supporters not freinds. I know he will not say no to a freind and our master will surely ask of him to run. He will not sense of our own interest, because he will need us to help him with his campaign. As for the people? what do they know? We will just present some of our clowns to entertain them and we're set. Look at it this way, he can not run the country, so again, if he becomes king, he will be needing us to tell him what to do. It will be as if we are already ruling this kingdom ourselves.

Politician 2: Yes! that sounds logical. Ok. Let's ask him then.


And so they went to see the movie king, and asked him if he wanted to rule this kingdom. But the movie king said he was no politician, he loved his image and he wants to keep it. But the politicians said that they will simply make him a new image, an image of a real life champion. But this did not convince the movie king. The politicians however were smarter, they seeked the helped of their fellow politicians and NGO's to convince the movie king. They showed them a proposal that would discuss the would be qualifications of the movie king to run. However the proposal was empty, and none of them present the acutal qualifications of the movie king. But because they had their own interests and plans, they said that "Yes! he is definitley qualified"! Then the
politicians went to the people, but because the people knew nothng about ruling a kingdom, they were easily decieved by the politicians. When the movie king knew how many people were convinced that he should have this new image as a real life hero.... and because he could not say no to friends.... he finally agreed.

Then fianlly came the campaign period, and the two politicians dictated him of what he would say or what he would not say to protect his image (At this point you probably know that the image/clothes is really absent)............

Ahmad: Ok, I'll end the story here. In the actual fairy tale a child told the emperor that he was not actualy wearing anything! Who would be that brave someone who will walk up to the movie king and tell him that the image his trying to project is bogus? Will this twisted version of the Emperor's new clothes will have a happy ending? What do you think?

Katie: I've been doing just that since September last year, sweetie. :)