Let cool heads guide our senses

By Raslan Sharif (The Star)

WE ARE in the midst of very troubling times. The untimely death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock has sparked ugly sentiments, provoked unbridled comments and deepened communal suspicions that can only lead downwards if we do not check ourselves.

If unchecked, what lies at the end can only be something that is of no good to us whatsoever.

Everyone save for the coldest of souls can bring themselves to acknowledge that a young man full of potential and about to embark on the great journey of family life has died under the most dreadful circumstances.

We sympathise with the loss felt by his loved ones as many of us know and have been visited by the stark emptiness that envelops our hearts with the passing of a family member or a close friend.

This is what binds us. The pain from the death of a loved one is as sharp and as unforgiving for one person as it is for another. Underneath the skin we are all flesh, blood and bone.

But there is still within us this uncompromising primal instinct borne of a tribal past when competition for resources and survival of the group necessitated the “other” to be treated with extreme suspicion, if not as the enemy.

It continues to rear its ugly head each time the safety and security of our kith and kin are perceived to be under attack. And it matters little whether the threat is real or imagined.

We dismiss the influence of this demon at our peril, for when we are in the throes of its possession, no quarter is given and no compromise is possible.

Any semblance of understanding, empathy and tolerance is swept away before the onslaught of thoughtlessness, indifference, and prejudice.

And yet, it is not something we can easily discard like a pair of worn out shoes that has seen better days.

This instinct has been honed over millennia and is partly the reason for you and I being here today.

We are more likely than not the descendents of those who fought and lived to tell the tale.

People will continue to react to situations the way their forefathers reacted in the past and this will stay with us for some time yet.

The communally-tinged expressions and counter expressions of outrage and indignation arising from Teoh’s death are not surprising; they are a manifestation of our ancient inheritance.

We have speculation galore on how Teoh died — he was thrown off the building, he jumped off the building, he fell off the building in an incident gone horribly wrong.

For many, many people, the explanation they will entertain will most likely be the one that strikes a chord with their respective tribal affiliations.

Accordingly, the guilt will be placed with the authorities, underworld elements, or Teoh himself.

This is clear enough, whether we care to admit it or not.

Allegations that Teoh’s death was a consequence of actions driven by ethnic prejudice are themselves prejudiced.

We can also see this in the responses towards those allegations. Both sides have been quick on the draw in defending their own and attacking the other.

If there is a need to further bolster arguments, a dragging out of current, recent and past evidence comprising incidences, attitudes and practices that further demonstrate the unreasonableness of the opposite party would undoubtedly commence.

We cannot let this state of affairs continue as we will all be consumed by it. We have to rise above our basest instincts, and this is where leaders on both sides need to step in.

They need to appeal to our sense of decency, justice and fairness.

They need to call for understanding, for calm, for levelheadedness.

They need to show the way, to set an example and to reach out to the other side.

They need to lead so that we can and will follow. This is also a built-in instinct of ours. We are like a herd.

However, over the past week, few of our leaders — political, social, non-governmental and what have you — have demonstrated any signs of sensible leadership.

Instead of appealing to our best senses, most have been pandering to our worst fears.

Instead of cooling things down, they have been stoking the fires.

And instead of building confidence, they have been erecting barriers.

They have behaved just like the rest of us. This abdication of duty and responsibility will only lead us to ruin.

With leaders like these, who needs enemies?

They need to get a grip on themselves before they can get a grip of the situation. And the situation is getting dire.

Over the last several years, we have been struggling heavily to take a step forward, only to eagerly scramble a step or two back each time the going gets rough.

As the Malay saying goes: “Pi mai pi mai tang tu jugak”.

Our leaders should stop worrying about being popular as it is leading us nowhere. They should be more concerned with being right and leading us forward.

> Raslan Sharif is tired of this country being neither really here nor there.