COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER 27 August 2014
Are Malaysians willing to stand together as Malaysians, or do we adopt a ‘tidak apa’ attitude as long as we are not affected by circumstances around us? – Reuters pic, August 27, 2014.Are Malaysians willing to stand together as Malaysians, or do we adopt a ‘tidak apa’ attitude as long as we are not affected by circumstances around us? – Reuters pic, August 27, 2014.Every morning, Malaysians awaken to a call: which side am I on?
Do we speak up for the poor, the marginalised, the bullied, the oppressed, the homeless? Or do we just shrug our shoulders and count our blessings that we are not with the disadvantaged?
Are we troubled when the law and the Constitution is treated as an inconvenience, something to be trampled on by the powerful? Or do we happily pretend that as long as we are not directly impacted, a cavalier approach to the law and principles set out by the Constitution is not on our list of concerns?
Do we discard our sloth and apathy when we hear or read about individuals or groups being punished for what is right and for standing up for a better Malaysia?
Or do we offer empty commiserations and pass off their hardship and punishment as hazards of their vocation, then continue wolfing down the nasi lemak?
Are we able to see beyond race, religion and politics and just call an injustice what it is – an injustice?
Or do we allow fellow Malaysians to suffer, to be treated poorly, to be threatened with jail-time, to have families deprived of their sole breadwinners just because they don’t share the same colour, religion or political affiliation as we do?
These are difficult days for Malaysia and Malaysians. Beneath the veneer of normalcy lies a host of problems. We are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but are full of dead men’s bones inside.
Things can only change if Malaysians move out of comfort zones and react to the question each of us is asked every morning when we wake up: which side am I on? – August 27, 2014.