Racial issues are always the crux of our Malaysian culture. We like to talk about our various differences, who earns more money, who wears nicer clothes etc. How did the incident of Private Adam went amok at the beginning of the film turn into something that runs deeper within our nationalistic pride and notion of racial unity?
I like how Amir Muhammad used different people of different RACES to tell the one story of a man who started shooting in Chow Kit one night in October. It translates to the psychological warfare (I understand this phrase now, because I feel cheated. More on this later.) that is being played on us. Why, are we simple minded creatures who should follow like sheep in a herd? Fear remains the strongest factor as to why so many of us prefer to “cari makan” and close the chapter as it was right there. We do not want to interfere with things that we assume we can’t make a difference in.
I wish I understood this all earlier. Watching this documentary made me feel a tad stupider simply because the ignorant idiot in me has been clouded, shrouded, lied to, I feel CHEATED! In reference to my elders, I feel absolutely cheated. Each time I asked why such things happen in our country, they are ignorant as I was. “It’s the Malays who started it! Look, it’s in Kampung Baru! That’s the Malay area!” Why the difference between you and I, when the common ground does not lie with race, but with your nationality.
Why the racial issue will never end, only because we let it consume us from previous events. We are all the same, nothing but the same. We bleed red blood underneath all those different skins we live in. I don’t want to ask for anything more than the truth. It’s gruesome how we are so easily brainwashed by people of a hierarchy that cannot be breached. But after such passion, is it wise to remain defiant in the face of terror that strikes you in the core of your soul? There are resounding voices, encouraging us to go on and to never ever give up without a fight.
Farish Noor put it right, we elected these people for a reason. We wanted them to LEAD us in the right path. The majority elects the minority so that the minority may have the power to govern the country. What is the point, may I ask, if we appoint the repeated mistakes to head our country? To see change, you must make change. Certain parts of the documentary terrified me, the Star publications of those who were arrested was one of them. It scared me because at this time and age, ISA is already thought of as a system that works against the democracy ruling. And to think ISA existed in a time and age where people my age were not even born yet, and here we are, 20 years down the road and it’s still the same thing that’s been happening. Why? Because we let it happen.
It never surprised me that whilst some publications were closed down, while some prominent opposition party members were arrested, the ruling party had hardly anyone who stuck their foot out into the mud. Justice and peace has a long way to go before it finally reaches Malaysia. It hurt quite a bit seeing how some of are affected by it all, whereas the rest of us can’t be bothered. Why are we not bothered about what’s happening in our own country? This is a place I want to call home, I want to call it home and mean it. It’s a sack of empty words and empty promises by the very same people we elect, year in year out. It’s disheartening and lowers our morale in general.
I hope we can change, together.
No comments:
Post a Comment