"After I posted it on my social media, 20 cops came to my house, kicked a hole through my front door, forced themselves in, handcuffed me, and confiscated all my devices - my laptop, my phone and even my modem and router. They brought me to the police station and locked me up in the police lock-up for one day, where I was questioned and interrogated over the Spotify playlist."

– Fahmi Reza, 2021

COMMENT | Today, activist  Fahmi Reza will be charged in Sessions Court for god knows what, but the reason why he will be charged, the reason for the persecution of this young artist is because he constantly reminds Malaysians that this government is a joke.

Fahmi (above) believes he follows in the tradition of a long line of visual disturbance activists who throughout history have reminded the people that the emperor has no clothes.

When you think about it, the government is so scared of folks like Fahmi that it would spend the manpower and resources to persecute him, while our state and federal coffers are being drained, the environment is going down the crapper because of political and corporate malfeasances, political operatives are causing disunity by slandering various communities, not to mention deaths in custody, human rights violations in migrant communities, the abuse of women and children, rampant gang violence in the heartland, the rise of religious extremism and a host of other issues that the state security apparatus think are low priority.

But when an artist doodles a few pictures that point to the dysfunction of the establishment, they bring out the big guns.

I know folks who have stolen millions who have not had the doors to their homes kicked down and who have not been carted away in handcuffs.

Obviously, Fahmi is such a dangerous fellow that precautions are needed. It was as if, if they had not handcuffed him, they were afraid he might scribble something on a piece of paper and the whole government might come falling down around them.

You have to ask yourself, why is the state so afraid of Fahmi when there are so many other clear and present dangers for the current government? It is simple really. Fascists do not like to be...