Where did we go wrong?
While working towards a more progressive society we should be wary of creating extremists along the way.
Fa Abdul, Free Malaysia Today
“I wish the FRU beat the shit out of the Bersih participants, especially the Chinese,” I heard a friend say last Saturday.
I was dumbstruck when I heard him say those words. I was upset, frustrated and angry. I mean how could anyone with a sane mind wish harm upon others who are merely voicing their dissatisfaction?
“Do you support corruption?” I asked him.
“No,” he answered.
“So why are you against those protesting corruption?” I continued.
“I’m not. I am against those who are putting up a fake fight. This is their propaganda to take over the country,” he insisted.
“Whose propaganda?” I knew what he meant but needed to hear it from him.
“The Chinese.”
I went silent for a while as I carefully picked my next question, “Are you pro-Umno?”
“I am not. But I am anti-DAP.”
This man whose words I can’t seem to fathom is my childhood friend whom I thought I knew everything about. But lately, I realise he has changed. His thoughts and views, which once were aligned with mine, no longer are. He had somehow developed into an extremist.
But why? I knew I had to uncover bits and pieces of the puzzle to understand what made him utter such words.
This is a guy who once could not care less about politics. Living under his shell, minding his own business, he struggled through high school and university. He wasn’t less intelligent than others. He just struggled to fit in.
While he was fighting being brainwashed in BTN, Anwar Ibrahim was sent to prison and PR was born. He found something to believe in and began supporting the Opposition against the establishment.
He became a big supporter of PAS, a keen reader of Harakah and a regular commentator. Living in a Chinese area, he voted for DAP since the day he reached his voting age. He wanted a change in the administration of our country beyond anything else. Believing nepotism and cronyism to be rooted deeply in the government, he despised UMNO and the BN coalition.
I remember him sharing stories about how the Opposition parties were dedicated to assisting the people. I remember the late night debates and discussions we had about Malaysian politics where I was a fence sitter and he was in support of the Opposition.
At one point, it was him I depended upon for information on scandals, mishandling of funds and abuse of power of the leaders. He was my Wikipedia. He endlessly sent out links of PR exposing scandal after scandal of the ones in power. Such enthusiasm I saw in him!
He soon completed his degree and joined his first company – a Chinese-owned company. Feeling indebted after being appointed over other Chinese candidates, he worked his butt off. But as time went by, he realised he was just being used – his Bumi status was used to penetrate GLC’s. On top of that, the company never treated him with repect. Corporate meetings would sometimes be handled in their mother tongue and every Raya Eve he was forced to work late till midnight. To make matters worse, he found out that he was being paid a lower salary compared to others.
Thinking back now I remember how frustrated he was about being treated the way he was.
Soon, the next general election was around the corner and the Opposition came into power in the state he was living in. Still a strong supporter of PR, he chose to work for the state government. Holding an important role in one of the departments for a few years, he got to see a lot of things behind the scenes.
“I once despised Umno and BN but now working for a state government controlled by the Opposition, I see them equally indifferent,” he broke his silence after a while.
“You don’t have to support anyone, you know? Be a fence sitter like me,” I urged him.
He laughed, “Have you read the comments to your ‘fence-sitting’ articles? Whatever you say, the non-Malays always twist it and use it to attack Islam and Malays. How long do they expect us to remain calm?”
“But that’s not the voice of the majority. I believe there are many sensible non-Malays out there,” I had to disagree with his notion.
“You mean like the ones who joined Bersih? Like those who stepped on Hadi Awang’s poster? If Bersih is about getting rid of Najib, why insult Hadi? I will tell you why – because PAS broke off from PR in order to stand up for hudud. In other words Bersih is a tool used by Chinese for anti-Islam purposes,” he lamented.
I was speechless.
