Once upon a time, there was a country by the name of Hopperland. Ruled by many other insect species other than their own for centuries, they finally gained independence from the Beetles in 1957.

Hopperland is a very multi-insectural country but is dominated by 3 major insects, namely the Grasshoppers, Ants, and the Bees.

The Ants generally worked hard in Hopperland, constantly toiling and striving to build up their nests and suppliers for the winter. Stingy by nature, the ants tend to store and hide food (the deeper underground the better), and are always weary of rainy days. To them, it’s not how much food you find that makes you well to do, it’s how much you save.

The Bees, on the other hand, are also hardworking creatures. Being placed in plantations during the Beetle days, the bees have taught themselves well on how to cultivate crop and prosper in agriculture. Bees generally have the uncanny ability to sting, buzz and spin; and as education became more accessible, their descendants have over the years evolved with a number of them becoming Doctor Bees and Lawyer Bees today.

The Grasshoppers, are humble and peaceful insects. They are easily contented with life, and their forefathers have taught them how to be thankful to God for every thing that happens in their lives. But to them, however, the Ants and the Bees were a bunch of funny creatures who do not know how to enjoy life but know only how to work, work, and work. The grasshoppers, on the other hand, felt that life should be enjoyed to the fullest, and decided to sing and play guitar outside their homes, spend all their money on hopperbike modifications and rempit, throughout the summer time.

Seeing the economic gap between the species, when the Beetles agreed to grant independence to Hopperland, they formed a committee by the name of R-Commission where they drafted out a constitution with provisions that states that the Grasshoppers are the indigenous species of the land, and therefore enjoy a special position in the society of Hopperland (Article 153), granting the King Hopper the special power to establish quotas for entry into civil service, public education and scholarships.

The scope of Article 153, however, is limited by Article 136, which requires that civil servants be treated impartially regardless of species. Clause 5 of article 153 specifically reaffirms article 136 of the constitution in Hopperland which states that All insects of whatever species in the same grade in the service of Hopperland shall, subject to the terms and conditions of their employment, be treated impartially.

The R-Commission also states that the provisions would be temporary in nature and be reviewed in 15 years, and that a report should be presented to the Parliament of Hopperland to determine either to retain, reduce any quota or to discontinue it entirely.

Eventually winter arrived. Seeing the ants and bees living comfortably well, warm and well fed, the shivering grasshoppers felt intimidated and questioned in Parliament why the ants and bees should be warm and well fed while majority of them were cold and starving.

Emphasizing on Article 153 and ignoring Article 136 of the constitution, the Grasshoppers called for press conferences and displayed photos and videos of the many grasshoppers shivering and suffering in the cold weather and another set of photos and videos depicting the ants and bees comfortable at home with abundance of food. The majority of the Hopperland MP’s were stunned by the sharp contrast in lifestyle. How could these grasshoppers be allowed to suffer even when they have the special position in society? Something must be done.

So over the course of a few decades, the Hopperland government, majority of them grasshoppers, implemented a string of policies to limit the ants’ and the bees’ economic strengths known as the Never Ending Policy (NEP).

Quota systems were set up to allow more grasshoppers (even with poorer results) to enter public universities and gain preference in government scholarships.

The same system applies to Hopperland government contracts, which requires all main contractor colonies to be owned by indigenous insects. Instead of handling the projects on their own, the grasshopper colonies awarded with the contracts will in turn make a substantial cut, and hire the ants and bees to get the job done without virtually doing anything. This system is so widely practiced throughout Hopperland that a term for such colonies has been coined for it, known as the Alibaba Colonies.

Foreign Insect Investment firms wanting to set up colonies in Hopperland must grant 30% equity to the grasshoppers. The aim was to increase the share of the grasshoppers in the economy, which was actually a good thing, provided if they join the operation of the business and contribute their energy for the betterment of Hopperland. Unfortunately, many of the grasshoppers sold their shares back to the ants and bees, making a handsome sum of food, and went on to celebrate their “success” by building better homes, buying better hoppermobiles, and going overseas for holidays without considering that they no longer have income and their food may deplete one day.

Even with the implementation of the NEP, it became clear later after 53 years of Hopperland independence that a majority of the grasshoppers still did not enjoy the benefits that this policy was supposed to bring, with many grasshoppers still struggling for their lives in winter back in the villages while only a selected few, mostly right and left-hand insects of the politicians of the ruling government, amassed great wealth. The ants and bees had to work even harder to survive and thrive, but they seem to have no choice. The social gap in Hopperland became wider instead of narrower, with the middle class insects more steeply divided; the poor getting poorer, and the rich getting richer.

These strings of policies and practices doesn’t stop at the economic level. They decided to get involved with social aspects of the other Hopperland insects.

Shouts of Grasshopper Superiority began to be heard in around Hopperland and their official religion, Hoplam, was not to be challenged. Demands that the word “God” in grasshopper language should be reserved for only the grasshoppers. It is also law in Hopperland that if an insect has been converted to Hoplam, there is no turning back or if not, they will be condemned to hell. News of confiscation of the bodies of dead ants and bees who have converted into Hoplam many years ago but practiced other religions when they died surfaced into the mainstream media. When asked, the Hoplam authorities insist that their bodies need to be confiscated because they needed to be buried the Hoplam way in order to secure a place for them in heaven.

News of Non-hoplam couples being detained and arrested in public areas by the Hoplam authorities for holding hands also surfaced. A female grasshopper was also recently sentenced to canning for being caught drinking alcohol, attracting international insect-rights group pressures. The sentence was later commuted into community service after much hoo-hahs.

Losing significant rights, freedom and ground in Hopperland, many well to do ants and bees have migrated overseas, sending their descendants abroad for education in the hope that they will prosper better than their parents in Hopperland. From March 2008 to August 2009 alone, a total number of 304,358 Hopperland citizens, including some elite grasshopper themselves, left the country for better prospects in their lives.

The issues mentioned above were just the tip of iceberg. Is Hopperland going to thrive with all these issues and many more in place? Are they able to compete globally with other countries and insects with the brain drain?

Whether this story’s ending will end in “Happily Ever After” or not will greatly depend on all the insects in Hopperland today, whether they are sensitive enough to observe and to judge after analyzing the issues that have arisen over the years, and whether they are bold enough to exercise their rights in the form of votes in the upcoming General Elections to participate in the change.

It’s time to unite for common cause. It’s time to progress.

We shall see, Hopperland, we shall see.