AUGUST 16 — Malaysia, where things are going awry every moment these days, will be plunged into a deeper state of mass depression on Friday when the remains of 16 people who died after MH17 with 298 passengers and crew on board was blasted out of the sky return home.
It seems cruel that one nation has to live with twin airline disasters involving MH370 and MH17 that claimed the lives of 537 people in a span of 131 days.
It seems unfair, especially this year, that Malaysia has been dealt a heart-wrenching challenge to live. The operative word is undeniably “live”.
Malaysia turns 57, nine days after she pauses next Friday for a national day of mourning for victims of MH17 which was downed in eastern Ukraine on July 17.
Depressed as we are, we shall say “I am Malaysian” and restore whole-hearted love for everything Malaysia.
Mourning 43 of our own who embraced the Jalur Gemilang as they fell in love with Malaysia would be an opportune time for reconcilation.
If only we could take the avalanche of love, compassion and care from the past into our daily lives today and demonstrate extraordinary fortitude, Malaysia will be out of this unrelenting grief.
Realise that Malaysia today is in the depths of despair with self-indulgent acts, intolerance, political narrow-mindedness and chauvinism that exceed innocence and love.
Realise that despite the troubled moods, there is no place for selfishness that could result in self-termination of Malaysia.
I am not indulging in partisan sniping, rather harping on the notion that our country has more of life ahead, more of a chance to work things out.
We must have enough grit to fight back against our own demons. Unless someone thinks such a fight could never be won.
Take the tenacity of a brave housewife I know. Lina Tan Shwee Lee wakes up each day thankful and blessed to be alive. She’s bipolar.
Her life since childhood was either sprinkled with brilliant sparkles or in the darkest of times wrapped in muck.
Lina, 40, suffers from a mental condition marked by alternating periods of elation and depression. She has five children and had hardly any friends when her husband fled due to her mood swings.
But unlike certain politicians who are prisoners of their own flawed brains, Lina despite being in the swamps of sadness most times, holds that God has a purpose for us. “If you have air in your lungs today, you are not mistake,” she says.
That would automatically exclude those power-hungry politicians and hypocritical bureaucrats whose suffering from anxiety disorder is meant to be. They are a mistake. And I am not just talking Selangor.
So, won’t we all be devastated when Malaysia succumbs to depression, decades after having seemed corralled her demons, gaining independence and coming to terms with adulthood?
Do we want the Malaysian turbo engine thrust in reverse after travelling at a relentless pace?
While we are all in a bizarre way one minute fine and the next no longer attached to reality, don’t we all want Malaysia to be what it was — chirpy, happy, warm, sensible and caring?
Don’t we all want to escape from the shackles of hurt and anger?
What we live with is a challenge that seems at times just about insurmountable, but we must however live.
Clearly, the disappearance of Malaysia’s exhilarating glee makes this planet a poorer place.
So, do something amazingly Robin Williams, the speed-surfer of infectious energy, and light up Malaysia. We could perhaps start doing that from August 22 when we mourn together.
Good Morning Malaysia!
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
