AUG 14 — As my colleague said, this country is awash in madness.

Zurairi isn’t the only one making sense. Many have spoken words of reason and truth but essentially the message has been the same — a message that we have to rise above the petty things instead of falling prey to this insanity that has become the Malaysian reality.

The message keeps going out. It keeps getting said. But is anyone listening? Does it matter anymore that the same people are saying the same things and yet the same stupid things keep happening?

When and how do we break the cycle?

Some choose not to fight it and remove themselves from the fight by just leaving the country. Some choose to drown in the opium of their choice to drown out misery and madness, a learned helplessness that our leaders sadly encourage.

It would be easier, I know, to just give up writing this column. Focus whatever little skill I have on writing for profit and pen the next bestselling Malay romance novel (the guaranteed route to financial security in this country). Or make a film about pontianaks, also a sure box office smash.

Pontianaks vs Chinese Vampires in Bollywood, the next Malaysian box office sensation. Three demographics in one go. (The sequel will be Pontianaks vs Chinese Vampires in Borneo, for the sake of 1 Malaysia).

But here’s the thing. From the very beginning, there have always been lone voices in the wilderness.

There will always be voices of reason. People brave enough to shout when others whisper.

Like the parable about water and rice crust, where fire won’t remove the latter as surely as time and soaking will, sometimes you just have to keep saying the same thing over and over again. In as many different ways.

You just keep saying what needs to be said. As long as it takes. As much as it hurts.

And in the meantime, to keep you sane, write about pontianaks.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.