NOVEMBER 16 — I do not know if it has ever bugged you but it has bugged me for years from the time I was a teen.

Life as we know it has plenty of challenges. However politely or positively you may want to describe life, the blunt fact is this: it is not that easy to live. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It is simply a fact that we have to accept, acknowledge and learn how best to cope. The idea being to try to make sure that we live our life as fully and as happily as we can.

To ensure that we can be happy, it must work out that we need others around us to be as happy as they can, too. Unhappy folks may not allow us to be happy.

Of course, the idea of “happiness” can be complex but I am sure we all can easily agree on what would make us unhappy. For one, we would be unhappy if we did not have a place to stay, or food to eat or clothes to wear. This is the basic need for food, clothing and shelter that economists speak of.

We need a certain amount of personal freedom that does not injure others.

In this so-called technologically developed world, even these basic necessities are not readily available for lots of people on earth. This is a fact that most of us do not want to remember, especially the religionists who have a lot of things to say about faith and God, except the downtrodden.

For most that have them, it cost almost blood, sweat and tears to have it. For many others, it a dream that gets fulfilled once in a while. It is equally easy to forget the existence of the 40 per cent poor in our country who are mostly left to fend for themselves.

It is some sort of a miracle for anyone among them to get out of the vicious circle, especially with the kind of standards that the “system” has set for them.

I don’t think I need to emphasise the point that there are so many unfortunate people out there in the world — babies, children, women and men. They are all human beings and part of families like us. I am sure they, too, do not want to be unhappy.

There is only so much anyone of us can do to make them not so unhappy.

For a mindset that wants to share happiness with others, we may have to start in our own home first. To be able to empathise with any other human being, you must be humanistic.

By that, I mean you must be able to feel and understand that others are as human as we are, with similar fears and hopes. We must understand that if our children and families are important to us, so are theirs to them.

Hence, we cannot have a policy that discriminates based on colour or creed. It is primitive, not divine, and offensive to humanity.

I know many people help out and do whatever they can with the limited resources they have to make the not-so-fortunate ones less unhappy. I salute, love and respect such people. Life cannot be just about us alone.

These are the people who just help out the unfortunate without any need for justification from religion or ethnicity. This is humanism.

While I acknowledge that religion may have its psychological usefulness, and inspirational in the hands of those incapable of sorting out the higher ideals by themselves, it does have a tendency to strengthen the selfishness in some.

Due to vested interests, the practice of some religions in Malaysia today, for example, is becoming almost bereft of spirituality — it has became a tool for tribal identification, source of income and position for some, a tool to control the minds of people and such.

It is a shame that religions that are supposedly from a divine source have been reduced to being completely “undivine” without compassion or mercy for mankind.

How does this kind of religious practice make those not so fortunate less unhappy?

In fact as I grow older, I am beginning to realise that some of those in religious garb and angelic voices are actually cruel satans in disguise. They contribute nothing to the betterment of humankind except spread greater unhappiness, misery and attrition in society. At best, they keep some of the sheep in a constant state of delusionary euphoria, oblivious to the danger that lurks in reality.

I have said this before — the genuine NGOs who are focused in various areas of helping the unfortunate ones in society are more in line with following the ways of the great prophets than the so-called self-appointed religious experts and martyrs.

It is frightening when psychosis has been elevated to a recognised field of knowledge and given a degree, masters or PhD. In a society like this, you have to be psychotic to survive.

We really need to start a discourse on being human, being humanistic and being compassionate. I believe that if we start seeing each other as human beings first, we will be less inclined to make others unhappy.

We will be able to see that in whatever role we are in, whether government service or in the private sector or running a restaurant, there are always opportunities to make others happy. We will find that we will always have the opportunity to assist the less fortunate.

Let us forget these politicians and religionists and their superficial discourses for a while. Some of them are boringly circular, dangerous, apparently illogical and incredibly selfish — you will be able to judge their true self after they lose power or position. Let us, the people, start focusing on us, the people.

* Jahaberdeen is a senior lawyer and founder of Rapera, a movement that encourages thinking and compassionate citizens. He can be reached at rapera.jay@gmail.com.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.