A FAMOUS GROUSE
SCI-fi fans who have been watching Star Trek: Discovery on Netflix may or may not have noticed the striking resemblance between Voq, a troublesome Klingon warrior, and Faith Muthambi, the public service and administration minister.
The Trekkies among us will be aware that these extraterrestrials, characterised by prideful ruthlessness and brutality, have been given a significant makeover in this latest reboot of the franchise.
The Klingons are now more swarthy, although Voq is pale green, possibly for dramatic purposes. The forehead ridges are now more pronounced and, more alarmingly, they seem to have two extra nostrils. These are located inside a flaring outer pair.
Once again they are the sworn foes of the Starfleet. When the series first aired, in 1966, the Klingons were depicted as a martial society and reflected analogies with both the Nazi and communist tyrannies.
Later, after the fall of the Soviet Union, relations with the Klingons improved, and their militaristic traits were refined with a code of honour, much like that of 17th century samurai. For a while, they even became a close ally of humanity.