AUGUST 31 ― So much for my break from commenting on current affairs. It annoyed me so much that PAS filed a police report against satirical awards, when there are far bigger things the police need to worry about.

PAS is apparently incensed at the “rude insult” Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria received to the point it felt a police report needed to be lodged.

If I were to be arrested and charged for the many rude insults I made in my lifetime, I am sure I would never leave jail. I make no excuse for my potty mouth and penchant towards mockery, and I really see no reason why anyone else needs one.

The point of humour, satire or otherwise, goes past entertainment. What is the funniest is, invariably, the truest sentiment. Like a spoonful of sugar helps when swallowing medicine, sometimes even the bitterest of truths can be taken better when delivered with a laugh.

Whether it’s a political party or the government itself, this penchant of trying to arrest or shut people up for making insults, offending or hurting someone’s feelings is ridiculous.

Today is our annual Merdeka celebration and still we are not free to be open with our thoughts and grouses, our grumblings and dissatisfaction, even when couched in satire.

Much as it pains me, I must make a comparison with how “insults” are handled in the US of A.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand up while the US national anthem was playing, in protest against police brutality against black people and people of colour.

His action got a lot of derision, anger and accusations of him lacking patriotism. Could you imagine if the equivalent happened in Malaysia? If some minority person decided not to stand during Negaraku to protest something or other? That person would likely get arrested and charged with various real and imagined offences.

What made me smile though was reading a response from US army veteran Jim Wright to Kaepernick’s protest.

Instead of outrightly condemning Kaepernick’s actions or calling him various names, Wright showed restraint, empathy and a great deal of compassion.

Wright said that respect, even respect for a country, was something earned.

You might force this man into the illusion of respect. You might. Would you be satisfied then? Would that make you happy? Would that make you respect your nation, the one which forced a man into the illusion of respect, a nation of little clockwork patriots all pretending satisfaction and respect? Is that what you want? If THAT’s what matters to you, the illusion of respect, then you’re not talking about freedom or liberty. You’re not talking about the United States of America. Instead you’re talking about every dictatorship from the Nazis to North Korea where people are lined up and MADE to salute with the muzzle of a gun pressed to the back of their necks.”

In his rather long (but absolutely worth reading) missive, Wright went on to say that the national anthem meant different things to people and he believed that freedom, and liberty also allowed for the right to believe differently.

“A true veteran might not agree with Colin Kaepernick, but a true veteran would fight to the death to protect his right to say what he believes,” he wrote.

He ended by challenging those who didn’t like what Kaepernick had to say to “prove him wrong, be the nation he can respect. It’s really just that simple.”

I wish that it would really be that simple in Malaysia to be able to be honest and forthright about the things that matter, without constantly being coddled and avoid anything and everything deemed too sensitive.

We need to talk. We need also to listen. We must start striving towards finally being “merdeka” enough to do both.

Happy Independence Day, Malaysia. It’s hard sometimes loving you but I always will.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.