How did this parliament of baboons

climb to the top

if not for the army of frogs

helping them along the way?

Having sold their souls for bribes,

these selfish frogs

got blind to social injustice

trampling of the masses, regardless

they kept mum and played along

for as long as they were satiated

How did this parliament of baboons

climb to the top

if not for the cluster of spiders

supporting them along the way?

Weaving webs of cronyism and nepotism

over massive control of the economy,

they paid sinful coffee money

to secure contracts

or hijack projects

regardless of expertise or experience

resulting in shoddy work

that put many lives at peril

How did the armies of ants,

the silent majority

allow them to reign the land?

The system of checks and balance

is now in jeopardy

as the baboons in power

show scant integrity

inadequate transparency

unchecked accountability

they create chaos

causing untold damage

to the lives on the ground

Isn’t it about time for the ants

to question themselves

for what they could have done

to negate the baboons

from climbing to the top?

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Cover image sourced from Berita Harian. The copyright of ‘A Parliament of Baboons’ belongs to Laila Hairani Abdullah Sanggura.