masterwordsmith-unplugged

There is a malaise that has hit Malaysia. Apa? Tidak apa. (What? Never mind.)

Apathy. That's what it is.

Apathy is an absence of emotion or enthusiasm as seen in how one can be impassive, unemotional or emotionless,indifferent, as demonstrated by an absence of emotional reactions as seen in one's listlessness, languor, lassitude. All in all - a feeling of lack of interest or energy. It is also the trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things to the extent that generally, one portrays numbness, indifference and remains inactive with a total lack of initiative.

I can see it in blogosphere - the pessimism, the gloom amidst the doom. After speaking to quite a number of friends and acquaintances, I realize one thing. Many, including myself, are trying to cope with the nonsensical senseless goings-on in the country by numbing themselves to the situation such as in not reading the news, not visiting various websites and keeping a blind eye or half-opened eye to the rest of the world.

Fine. I am not judging any one here because I am also guilty as charged. In fact, I have been trying to bring some cheer into cyberspace by posting jokes and a serious post here and there and occasionally, when inspired or when the fire within me rises from my belly and rages, I will do a post on current issues.

The point I am trying to make is this.

Malaysians, we have a problem. Correction. We have many problems. To name a few...

1. The Missing 4 million unregistered Voters

According to a recent study (CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REPORT), some four million eligible voters, who can make a major difference in a democracy, have not registered with the Election Commission (EC) and two-thirds of them are aged between 22 and 30.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman described this trend as alarming, while a political scientist said the huge number was disturbing.

Now if you are one of them and you want to see change in Malaysia, do not remain apathetic or apolitical any more.

Register at a nearby centre or ask your ADUN for assistance!!! Your vote WILL make a difference!!!

2. MALAYSIA TODAY under attack

Many of you would be well aware of the fact that Malaysia Today is under attack and you can hear it from the man himself at THIS LINK.

Many people in blogosphere have lamented on how despite the high number of hits that MT gets, it is difficult to garner support per se for a particular course. Take care instance, the book "The Silent Roar" written by RPK. Thousands read his website daily but how many have actually bought that book to show their support and to help our hero to have some form of income or given a free-will donation to the MT team for them to run the site? For that matter, how many actually click on the ads in the MT site knowing that by doing so, MT can earn much-needed income to run their site.

Right now, they do need resources to be able to ward off the onslaught from darth vaders in cyberspace. What are you willing to do about it?

I have heard many comments about how people are ready to send contributions. Good. I am happy they voiced their sentiments. But we have to move it. Do something constructive. Don't just talk. Send the money to help them!!! Write to them and ask them how to send the money. Do it now when they need more resources to keep the site up and running. Don't just take them for granted, visit the site, enjoy the information and then moan and gripe when you could not get into the site.

Do something!!!!

Something constructive!!! No one asked me to write this. I am doing it on my own accord.

And why?

I am but a humble 'retired' lecturer who has a lot of time on my hands. If I can get frustrated getting into that site, can you imagine how the MT team and RPK himself must feel - putting up the site and then seeing it under attack, coping with the damage, getting it up and running and then to surf web sites to update their site, releasing comments and then to start all over again when under attack?

I salute their patience, their persistence, their perseverance and their commitment.

Some who are weak might have faltered and given up in the name of sanity but these guys practically have to work round the clock. And they do so out of their own free will with no monetary reward.

Because of Malaysia.

Because they are not apathetic.

Let's not live up to the NATO acronym - NO ACTION TALK ONLY.

Let's do something...put to death apathy.

Rise up!!

Stand up and be counted. Conserve our energy and direct our energy to positive pursuits.

Make that difference to Malaysia in tangible ways!!!!