The ONLY Merdekakan Malaysia Run (1st): Things That Matter To Us Malaysians (and it’s not teh tarik.)
Human beings never think it is their responsibility to govern the country because “… that’s what we’re paying the government to do, ma”.
By Lisa Ng
From time to time, I check into The Malaysian Insider and LoyarBurok (yyeeaahh!) to catch up on what’s happening on the forefront of governance.
Then I read articles on Perkasa, MCA and Malay unity/disunity, PKR defections and internal revolts, etc.
This is quickly followed by me leaving my seat, going out to the balcony, and seething over what I’ve just read.
My husband tells me I’m in too deep. I’m paranoid. Life is still good and we should look at the positive side of things sometimes.
My answer to that is, that’s how things go from “ok” to “bad”. We live in this bubble thinking things will continue to be good without realising that it takes all of us to work at maintaining what’s good.
But no, human beings never think it is their responsibility to govern the country because “… that’s what we’re paying the government to do, ma”.
We never realise that we’re paying them to do a good job, because we never look at ourselves as the Boss. And by this token, we never realise it’s part of our responsibility to HELP the government govern.
Anyway, after reading about the state of affairs, I always find myself wracking my brains, thinking about what I can write, to share with those who harbour the same indignance about where this country is going, and also with those who aren’t fully aware.
There’s usually the frequent temptation to jump off that same balcony against this backdrop of dark hopelessness. But then, things happen that make me question whether all of this matters. And whether I’d just be wasting my life diving into an Aedes-infested drain.
Things like, well, a friend getting dengue fever twice in a few short months.
Like another friend’s 2 year old getting a pretty severe bout of H1N1 a week after yet another friend had recovered from the illness.
Like the security guards at our apartment who are paid peanuts, who get the nuts late and in their embarrassment – yet need for survival – come up borrowing a bit of cash for lunch.
Things that I decide, yes, matters.
Nuts and Malay rights
Sure, it’s ethically wrong for the guards to ask the residents for money. But I sure am not going to report them. These people are trying to make a living by putting their own safety on the line for a bunch of middle-class people living in high-rises. I don’t understand how they can be paid peanuts and the nuts cannot be delivered on time.
If my nuts arrived late and I’m supposed to defend the lives of others, I would probably fall asleep on the job from malnutrition. Or I’d just shoot off my gun and then say that the robbers were too fast for my food-deprived body. I supposed this might explain why our police force doesn’t seem very motivated to do their jobs properly either although they may try.
Does it matter that the police – just like security guards – are paid adequately so that should I get robbed, I would get a proper investigation and commitment to catch the culprit? I think it matters. Our safety is at stake here. So is our children’s safety.
My husband’s uncle is a dance lecturer at ASWARA. He tells us that his students – MALAYS (for the benefit of some quarters who get hypertension just opening their mouth to defend Malay rights) – can’t even afford to pay some of their tuition fees. Their parents are farmers or small traders who barely earn a household income of RM450-500 per month.
Does it matter that there’s so much clamouring for Malay rights when it looks like no amount of clamouring will help those who really need it?
It jolly well matters.
It also matters that some people can say the NEP was a success. If it helped just 50% of the 60% who form the majority of the population, is it still considered a success?
However, the popular opinion is that much less has benefited from it. Sabah and Sarawak alone are evidence that not many Bumiputera received Bumiputera aid. Unless of course, they’re not considered “real” Bumiputera by the same quarters.
(Let’s hope the NEM does a better job. But seeing as it segues into the 10MP, some oppositional forces in the two different plans might lead us back to square one.)
