The death of common sense


by Dr. Janet Lee
The Malaysian Insider
February 27, 2014

I am Chinese. My husband is Indian. Both of us are qualified in the medical field and teach at local universities.

Recently, my husband’s contract was not renewed. His speciality is quite rare in the region. He was replaced by a younger person.

Of course, he was disappointed but felt new blood was needed to bring in the latest methods and medicines into the picture.

But here’s where things get very scary: the new person cannot string a sentence in English, in a profession where results have to be transmitted clearly to its end-users.

His former colleagues call at night and he does the work for them on the quiet, minus the fee, so that the patients will have a fighting chance!

You see, dear people in authority, the moral majority in this country are keeping us going. Selfless people who take the humiliation and abuse and to ensure that there is a sense of balance and sanity still operating at critical areas.

One day, my husband entered a lift that was filled with professors of one race from a different department. After moment of silence, someone asked him, in a condescending tone, if he taught English at the University!

Without batting an eyelid, my husband replied: “Quantum Physics!” There was a jaw-dropping silence and an audible “aiyoo” coming from the rear of the lift.

We could not pin this scenario down to a lack of education. All of them were senior members of various faculties. And they were educated.

Instead, we have come to the conclusion that racism is not just institutionalised in Malaysia, but is a given. And that you must expect it as “normal” because it is encouraged from the top.

By purposely not taking action against such incidents, the message is clear: we do not want you here.

Today, as I write this, I am reading that another news portal’s office has been splashed with red paint, and a package with a duck carcass inside was left outside its office.

How can this happen? What is going to happen to those who strive to bring us the truth and the unbiased stories?

But we are powerless. The ballot box has been sabotaged. We do not have any avenues to vent our grouses, frustrations, and broken hopes and dreams.

We look to the next generation. But that is a big task. The young ones have imbibed the toxins of bigotry and racism, and do not know any other way of thinking.

Logic and common sense is as alien as Mongolian lamas and models.

How can we readdress the situation? There cannot be any short-term solution, unless there is a paradigm shift in the composition of those who are in power.

Thanks to web news portals like this, the silent moral majority can give voice to our pains. – February 27, 2014.

  1. #1 by lee tai king (previously dagen) on Friday, 28 February 2014 - 8:59 am

    The solution is simple.

    Just accept this important fact.

    Now repeat after me:

    “I accept and acknowledge that umno is the supreme grand master of the Universe and the GOD of all gods.”

    Now there. All things immediately come into place dont they? How magical. Terima saja and you will surely feel better and happier than before.

    All hail umno.
    ALL HAIL UMNO!

  2. #2 by boh-liao on Friday, 28 February 2014 - 9:38 am

    Next, REPEAT Rukun Negara (latest version) till it becomes your common sense:

    BELIEF IN Perkosa-UmnoB/BN
    LOYALTY TO Perkosa-UmnoB/BN
    SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION defined by Perkosa-UmnoB/BN
    RULES OF LAW of Perkosa-UmnoB/BN
    COURTESY AND MORALITY of Perkosa-UmnoB/BN

    Feeling better now, right?

    O, pendatang, want 2 stay here, accept lah KETUANAN Perkosa-UmnoB/BN

    • #3 by cemerlang on Friday, 28 February 2014 - 9:23 pm

      You have opsyens.
      Opsyen 1 transform your race
      Opsyen 2 transform your religion
      Opsyen 3 transform your self
      Opsyen 4 transform your citizenship

      That piece of news sound good. Search and destroy all pendatangs operating stalls and there are so many in Kuala Lumpur itself. What more to say for other places. So many until you don’t even know who is the real pendatang and who is the real Malaysian

  3. #4 by Bigjoe on Friday, 28 February 2014 - 12:14 pm

    What we can confirm is that IF we do not fight UMNO/BN, then the racist and haters get their way – WE ARE DHIMMI – not citizens but residences in exchange for taxes.

    Whether we are already DHIMMI or not is IRRELEVANT. Its what they want and they get it if we don’t fight. So all the excuses we are not second class is NONSENSE, besides the main point of where we are heading. The CURRENT situation CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO REMAIN..

    The fact of the matter is that based on realities like these that are discussed, the argument we are ALREADY THERE, residence only, not equal citizen is ALREADY true for too many instances. ITS SIMPLY IMMORAL & UNJUST ALREADY.

    Not doing anything about the current state of affairs is SIMPLY WRONG – and why Najib is in the sad state of affairs that he is in..

  4. #5 by Noble House on Saturday, 1 March 2014 - 2:46 am

    Dear Dr,

    The term “quantum physics” is quite a mouthful and may sound like a foreign language to some in this beautiful country of ours. Nevermind the word entered the English language in the 16th century, meaning a discrete amount to refer to something much smaller – a term which scientists used to describe the process of subdividing energy into small, measurable increments associated with physics.

    We will become Master of the Universe to be able to do that but the PISA result in every two years shows that we are still struggling with the subjects of science and mathematics and heading towards beautiful south.

  5. #6 by boh-liao on Saturday, 1 March 2014 - 8:36 am

    Hey, Janet, your experience is NOT unik
    Rakyat KNEW there r many, many ‘Janets’ in dis 1derful land
    Lots n lots of them serve BELOW bosses who would not hv been up there bcos of Perkosa-UmnoB/BN’s policies
    As Perkosa-UmnoB/BN bullies say: TAKE it or LEAVE it

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