In "A Tale of Two Cities", Charles Dickens wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us..."
And that is almost where we are today in Malaysia.
Are we a nation that we can be proud of? A populace united in mission, vision and motivation? I think not. On one hand we claim to have achieved much success bestowing accolades upon ourselves as we preen our feathers in false pride; on the other hand, many lament the deplorable state of affairs in society - be it in society, politics, economics or even simple mathematics of dollars and cents.
And do we care?
Many would shrug their shoulders nonchalantly and brush off such mundane questions with a cold "It does not affect me directly" stance and a "Why would my response matter?" reaction.
Fact is, the truth always hurts.
Today, as you read this, you could be THAT Malaysian living in political apathy whereby you have stopped or avoided visiting websites such as Malaysia Today, Malaysiakini etc. because you think that it is saner and safer to remain ambivalent and ignorant. At one point, I did. I was so overwhelmed by the madness happening in the political arena but lately, I have garnered enough courage to face reality squarely.
The Setting
And what do we see before us?
1.The rejection of common good in favor of personal benefit
While we can proclaim that we have reached a commendable state of development for an Asian country (that is a fallacy by itself if we were to make relative comparisons to other Asian countries), I believe that some subtle and pervasive policies that were implemented to divide and rule under the guise of nation-building efforts have transformed us into soulless citizens who seem to have lost our identity, humanity and ability to think rationally. To cope, many listen to the wrong leaders and they readily reject those who do not fit into their frames of reference.
What has happened is that a culture of indifference has sprouted, defining insiders as those who share similar beliefs or myths and outsiders as those who don't. Have we then become more rational or irrational in our perspective and behavior? There are those who go about living 'normally' and are completely clueless about the goings-on in this land as long as their bread and butter is secure, as long as they can draw their monthly salaries, their children have schools to attend and the family has a home to call their own. Wait a minute!!! Look around!!! What about collective good? Reaction - So what. This does not bother or affect me....Let them perish as long as my turf is ok! Let us not fall into this abyss of indifference.
2. Malaysians, we are living in critical times indeed!
Let's admit it bravely even though it hurts! While many were floating on air over the March 2008 victory, current developments have shown us that decisions and actions made by both sides may destroy the future of our nation as one clamours over another in an insane bid to reach the top, may I add, at OUR expense!!!
3. What do Malaysians face today?
* rising rates of unemployment
* rising health care costs
* increased feelings of insecurity about our economic and personal futures.
* a leadership which many cannot trust
* a government which favors a particular group/individuals who bow to puppet-makers
* a loss in the credibility or transparency of certain institutions
* a loss in confidence in the Opposition
* scandal after scandal, murder after murder, debacle after debacle (the list is endless)
* indifference to the media (or so they claim to be) that fails to highlight real issues that we face in our country but support the propaganda of the status quo and worse still, diverts our attention with ridiculous celebrity gossip, sensational and catastrophic stories which make front page news, and the almost absolute death of investigative reporting to fulfil their watchdog role in society
* etc.
The Players
To reduce the cognitive dissonance plaguing our simple minds, we move about in our daily routine with indifference and boredom while those who are more enlightened react with anger or despair.
But tell me, dear reader.
Are you really so indifferent that you cannot feel distressed at what is going on in our country? Our indifference may mask anxiety and discomfort which we prefer to ignore.
I am not joking. For some of us, it may be so difficult to face our negative feelings of rage, outrage, hopelessness and powerlessness that we prefer to suppress our grief by ambivalent attitudes, nonchalance and apathy!!!
Within ourselves, we shut down our critical thinking faculties on political issues for it is too painful to indulge ourselves and then we may step up efforts to focus on our own personal lives, in a brave bid to convince ourselves that we are insignificant, unimportant and as such, cannot make a difference to our beloved nation. With that, we busy ourselves with tight schedules to the extent that we can hardly breathe as we plod through work, family, friends and occasionally, relaxing diversions which may provide temporary relief to alleviate our ever-increasing anxiety.
The Most Reasonable Reaction
Dear Malaysians, let us truly wake up from our slumber of indifference to care enough about ourselves, our families and friends and our future. The time has come to do open heart surgery to open our hearts wide enough in order that we may care and feel even for people whom we do not know in this land that we call our own because WE ARE MALAYSIANS!!
So where do we go from here?
a) Get in touch with our inner being to realize and to express our feelings about the Malaysian political reality.
b) Completely reject subliminal messages and rationalizations that were professionally designed to desensitize us to honorable values, paralyze us to be blind to reality and to rob us of the ability to feel rationally with sensitivity.
c) For activists and political parties, you have to reinvent yourselves and your organization with new internal messages that will not hit a brick wall of resistance by saliently stating the difficult obstacles in our paths without making excuses for ourselves but pragmatic enough to guide us as to how to go about with remedial measures.
d) Each of us has our own cross to carry and we must be honest with ourselves to know that our apolitical stand could possibly be due to boredom, despair or anger. Reality check! Did you know that all around the world, there are millions of people who feel the same way but they will, in their own small way, lobby, vote, keep informed, be engaged in political action or support it with their prayers and contributions and that, dear Malaysian, is what makes the difference in this season of indifference!!!
Yup. We are disenchanted with what's happening before us. It leaves a bad taste in our mouth but heck! Does it mean that we become politically disengaged????
N. O.
Let us be single-minded and patriotic enough to transform our despair into hope, our anger into action even if we have to fight battles to overcome obstacles in our path.
Let's face each other eyeball to eyeball. Malaysia is a democratic government. BUT, a democracy cannot be called one unless the voices of all or most of its citizens are heard. Hello!!!! As Malaysian citizens, each of us has a responsibility to become involved in the political workings of our country. Let us do our part to ensure that all our friends and family members vote or have registered as a voter and will vote for when we don't, we are foolishly and passively supporting the status quo which MUST GO!!!!
Apart from that, we need to band together with others to form activist groups which contact our ADUNs and MPs and the media to make a stand for what we believe in and what we want for this land which we love so much!
Look.
If we become armchair critics, NOTHING WILL CHANGE!!! Get it? What will happen is our ADUNs and MPs will NOT feel the heat and mediocrity may set in as can already be seen in some cases. Some may grow, not in achievements for the constituency which elected them, but in other uninspiring ways which could be used as evidence by the enemy to undermine the confidence that people have in these elected persons. What a tragedy!
The Road Ahead
Malaysians, let us not despair or be disappointed or apolitical, skeptical, apathetic, indifferent, ambivalent or ignorant. Let's arise and make a stand now! The time has come for us to be pro-active. Do something today, not for me, not for yourself, but for the collective good of ALL Malaysians in order to create a political climate that is favorable for economic, political and social growth so that other areas such as in health care, transportation, family services, the environment, security and a host of other considerations that matter to all of us will develop in a positive manner. Ultimately, it is up to us to move in the right direction so that we can shape a more viable future for our nation!!!
Make a stand now for what is true, honest, right, of value, of importance not just to yourself or your immediate family, but one that is for MALAYSIA!!!
Please - no more ambivalence. After all, we are MALAYSIANS!!!
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
by narrow domestic walls;
Where the words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms toward perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening
thought and action -
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father,
Let my country awake.
from the Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore
Bengali poet and political activist, Nobel Prize winner 1913
