MAY 25 — As I begin to pen down my thoughts, I am sending prayers to every Malaysian who is in any way affected by the string of events occurring today. Since 2020, many of us had lost our jobs, received pay cuts, had to take up multiple jobs to make ends meet, lost our homes, our loved ones and our hope to carry on.
Definitely not an ideal time to live in and the frustrations felt by everyone is mutual if I can say that. All the announcements on TV seem to disappoint, our authorities seem to communicate uncertainty more than they do glad tidings, headlines may shift every minute and then confusion starts pouring in and we see never ending rants flooding the social media. Who is to be blamed at this point?
My fellow Malaysians, we are all overwhelmed and we have every right to feel so, but I hope we stay firm in faith and hold on to the idea that every party is somehow struggling. The future of our country does not merely depend on the government. We too need to play our roles as responsible citizens. It is a two way street; citizens will be lost without a transparent, fair and firm administration. A government on the other hand cannot function without responsible and supportive citizens.
For a start, as citizens of Malaysia, maybe we can learn to depart from just sitting behind the keyboards and start adhering to rules outlined by the authorities. Maybe when we understand the process and end goal, we would be more responsible at processing information and expressing thoughts. The last thing we need now is to bring more confusion to the already cloudy positions.
Let’s travel a little further now. The Palestine – Israel situation is not new but more than ever, people around the globe are doubling up efforts to help the helpless party. I am proud as a Malaysian to see how united we have come forth regardless of skin colour and belief, in the name of humanity. Good words come in from every corner of universe praising the Malaysian government and Malaysians especially on our courageous and chivalrous ways assisting the Palestinians. We witness Malaysians having a moment of awe for our government on all efforts done to help our family there. This is an exemplary situation; we are capable of reaching to this stage. A stage where we can coexist with respect. A stage where the government affirm its stance and the citizens stand proudly with the government in support of a decision. We can and we should apply the same to our internal affairs. I hope we are aware that there is so much fixing to do here in our own country, whilst we care for our neighbours..jpg)
Yes we need voices to make a change for change is vital, but change can also happen when we agree to disagree with respect and adopt constructive methods. How we choose to voice out opinions and the selection of words used show how we are as a person and a nation. “Jangan kerana nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga”. This is a rather difficult time we are living in thus I really hope that the government is fully aware of our difficulties and learns to cut us some slack. I urge the authorities to be transparent in their dealings and treat every layer of citizen with fairness. By all means enforce all you need as there is nothing more important than enforcement in times of national crisis but please apply the same across the citizen and nation. I believe there is nothing more valuable to the government than the trust of citizens. If trust is being ripped away, what purpose does the government serve? If such is the scenario, Malaysia will produce more keyboard warriors as social media is more dependable to spur change. We want change to happen naturally, not by any influence of threat and benefit.
With all that is happening around us, please remember that nobody is perfect. You make mistake, I make mistake and everyone makes mistakes. But if we must correct someone or initiate change, please do it with kindness. That person we loathe is somebody’s father. That person we loathe is somebody’s wife. That person we loathe is somebody’s children. Pause for a second and put ourselves in their shoes. We are so quick to judge but if situation is reversed, will we still be? Again, we are actually capable of being the sensible person that we are. I hope we all find peace in this difficult time and appreciate all the lessons taught. If you ask me, there is no better time to learn about compassion, cleanliness, discipline and what it means to care for each other.
I am praying for a kinder, more progressive and constructive Malaysians. Let us all do our part to ensure that we secure a promising future, not one that is bleak. We are more than just netizens, we are the citizen of Malaysia. Peace.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
