The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 03 Jul 2011 04:47 PM PDT JULY 4 — Whenever I flush the toilet at home, my cat, often seen lazing on the floor would spring to her feet and run for her life. It's obvious that the sudden sound of rushing water petrifies her tremendously. Sometimes, out of strange habit, I find myself warning her that I will be flushing the toilet in false hope that she would not get agitated. I used to think that once she gets accustomed to the noise, she would get over her unreasonable fear. I've had her for more than two years and each time I flush the toilet, it still has the same effect on her, with or without my warning. It then dawns on me that my cat will continue to have this fear simply because she is unable to comprehend what is happening. There's nothing I can do about it for how does one explain to a cat what a flushing mechanism is? Life is full of fears. We fear for our safety, we fear for our future, we fear humiliation and we fear death but what we probably fear the most is what we don't know, just like my cat. In the past weeks, the government has been carrying out a campaign to instill fear in the rakyat. We have been warned that if we participate in the Bersih campaign, we will be committing a crime and as result of that, our freedom will be taken away. It is quite understandable that every reasonable person will be frightened by this knowledge. If the most fearsome thing in this world is indeed ignorance, why are we then still afraid despite knowing the consequences of our actions? Many people have asked me whether I am afraid. The simple truth is, yes I am but not so much of what will happen in the next couple of days, but of what will become of our beloved country if we continue to allow the government to intimidate us. Knowing what might happen to my security and freedom is only half as scary as not knowing the fate of our country and the future of young Malaysians. Great religions and nations teach us to stand up for the truth. Our government teaches us otherwise. When a government becomes the main agent provocateur of fear and at the same time warns its people that they will be guilty for provoking fear and instability, something is fundamentally wrong. So far, the real culprit for instilling fear and provocation seems to be coming from the government, not those who choose to wear yellow T-shirts, blow bubbles into the air, carry yellow balloons and walk peacefully on their streets on July 9. The colour yellow does not provoke, but public threats of arrest and detention do. A few days ago, I confessed to a friend that what's happening in Malaysia stresses me more than what I had experienced in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Cambodia. He was surprised and wanted to know why. My answer to him, "Because this is not supposed to happen here. You expect it to happen in those countries but not here." What most people don't seem to understand is how fundamentally tragic and wrong it is to be ruled by a government that imposes arbitrary laws that go against the core principles of human rights and to add salt to the wound, resist the call by its people for free and fair election. I've seen it in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Cambodia and sadly, Malaysia seems to have hopped on the bandwagon. Some friends have argued with me that Malaysia is far better off than these countries. I was asked to evaluate our economy and told that I should come to the conclusion that we are better off. I'm reminded that we're blessed for having a government that promotes economic growth and I should just be grateful. It would be a persuasive argument but for the nagging question that if a man provides for his family, does it entitle him to do whatever he wants with them? Are they saying that if their father has looked after their welfare, then surely they should be able to forgive him for raping their sister? These days when I walk on the street, I look over my shoulders, not for snatch thieves but for the police. When an innocent citizen feels threatened by the very people they depend on for protection, something is wrong. When an anxious child who is afraid of the dark is being told that monsters will come after them when the light is turned off, something is wrong. If you still don't know how to differentiate who the real coward and culprit is in this situation we're facing today, then shame on you for refusing to believe and see the truth. You're not a cat and you should know better. For close to half a century, we have been living in fear. I've seen that fear in my parents and friends. I've experienced how we have conditioned ourselves to lower our voices when we talk about "sensitive" issues. I've seen how people disguise themselves as someone they're not simply because they believe it is safer to live a lie than to face the truth. The only credit the government can ever claim is that they've run a pretty successful campaign, thanks to us. We've come to a crossroad where we either rise above our fear or allow it to perpetuate for generations to come. Plato once said, "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." We have been living this real tragedy for far too long. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 03 Jul 2011 04:34 PM PDT 4 Julai — Tiba-tiba sahaja Rakyat Jelata mengalami trauma apabila menyebut perkataan "******" atau memikirkan ****** atau melihat sebarang objek ******. Malah, saya juga secara penuh sedar mengelakkan penggunaan perkataan "******" pada artikel ini kerana tidak mahu portal berita tempat saya menulis ini menerima padah akibat penggunaan perkataan "******" dalam penerbitannya. Semasa mengendalikan acara "Baca Novel Siri Penyiasatan Jiro Akagawa" anjuran One Nusantara sempena Pesta Buku Negeri Selangor di Pusat Konvensyen Shah Alam (SACC) pada 28 Jun 2011, saya memakai kemeja-T warna ****** bertulis "Nancy Drew: Girl Detective" pemberian pemilik syarikat penerbitan itu tahun lalu. Saya perhatikan bahawa semakin ramai Rakyat Jelata berminat memakai pakaian warna ****** sejak kemeja-T tertentu diharamkan pemerintah. Malah, saya percaya bahawa walaupun pada suatu masa dahulu, pakaian warna ****** hanya dikhaskan bagi golongan diraja, keadaan sudah amat berbeza sekarang. Tidak harus ada diskriminasi warna. Namun, menyedari "kuasa" yang ada di tangan pemerintah, tidaklah menghairankan apabila ramai Rakyat Jelata mengalami trauma apabila memikirkan, melihat, membayangkan atau menyebut sebarang perkara berkaitan ******. Saya juga pada 29 Jun menyatakan pada ruangan status Facebook bahawa saya "takut pula mahu membaca buku cerpen 'Namaku Epal ******' karya Roslan Jomel di tempat awam! Haruskah saya guna pembalut warna biru pekat untuk menyembunyikan warna ****** terang buku itu?"
Yaya Daie mengemukakan kemungkinan "kalau polis nampak, dia akan koyak kulit buku dan letak dalam lokap" serta bertanya "budak sakit demam ****** bagaimana?" Roslan pula segera mengemas kini status pada Facebook dengan kenyataan: "Alamak, nasib baik Uthaya Sankar SB mengingatkan aku satu perkara. Err . . . tajuk buku cerpen aku, 'Namaku Epal ******'. Seluruh kulit luar buku tu berwarna ******. Err . . . habislah aku lepas ni." Semua ini mungkin kedengaran lucu dan melampau. Malah, mungkin dianggap sengaja mempersenda dan mengkritik pemerintah. Bagi saya, tidak begitu. Semua ini adalah gambaran kebimbangan yang amat berasas apabila pemakaian kemeja-T ****** dianggap menyokong Himpunan Bersih 2.0. Pada 29 Jun, Menteri Dalam Negeri dilaporkan berkata, kemeja-T yang menyokong Himpunan Bersih 2.0 diharamkan kerana ia ada kaitan dengan perhimpunan haram pada suatu tarikh yang tidak dapat saya nyatakan di sini kerana saya mungkin dianggap berkempen menggalakkan orang ramai berkumpul di Masjid Kampung Baru, SOGO dan Bangunan DBKL pada jam 2:00 petang tarikh berkenaan. Ketua Polis Negara dilaporkan mengesahkan bahawa bukan hanya mereka yang menjual, membeli atau memakai kemeja-T ****** tertera mesej "Bersih 2.0" ditahan. Sebaliknya kasut, kereta, bas dan apa sahaja barangan yang digunakan untuk menggalakkan orang berhimpun dianggap menghasut dan diharamkan. Maka, kebimbangan Rakyat Jelata terhadap segala benda dan perkara ****** adalah amat berasas. Apatah lagi di sebuah negara di mana segalanya adalah mungkin. Saya menulis pada ruangan status Facebook pada 29 Jun: "Wahai! Berwaspadalah anak-anak ayam berbulu warna ****** yang bakal menetas pada 9 Julai 2011! Hidup kalian mungkin tidak lama." Hafifi Ariff bersikap sedikit positif apabila mengatakan bahawa "anak ayam albino lebih selamat" manakala Saravanan M. Sinapan bimbang, "Jangan-jangan anak ayam ini menjadi mangsa keadaan". Saya turut mengingatkan: "Wahai! Janganlah anda berotak ******. Nanti polis tangkap masuk lokap!" Pasti sahaja kata-kata saya ini bernada positif, menginsafkan dan disukai pemerintah. Reaksi yang diterima daripada rakan-rakan membuktikan daya kreativiti, imaginasi, inovasi dan kematangan mereka menangani tekanan apabila melihat objek ******. Apabila saya nyatakan "Wahai! Tolong rajin berus gigi tiga kali sehari. Gigi ****** juga mungkin diharamkan tidak lama lagi" maka Adge Rulz yang berada di Stadium Melawati pada waktu ini mencatatkan bahawa Mat Sabu turut menyebut perkara sama. Bluesyworms Jazzyworms bimbang kemungkinan "pisang pun tak boleh dijual lagi, maskot DiGi pun bakal kena tangkap". Pada pagi 30 Jun, saya meminta rakan-rakan menyenaraikan objek-objek warna ****** di rumah mereka. Antaranya adalah pelekat Post-It, penutup cecair pencuci jenama Dynamo, kotak teh Lipton, pek mi Maggi, pen penanda (highlighter), mangga, mi kuning, telur goreng, kereta warna ******, Yellow Pages, serbuk kunyit jenama Adabi, dinding, rambutan, botol air Herbalife, kad ATM Maybank, minyak hitam jenama Shell, jersi Brasil dan petrol RON95. Saya percaya senarai ini bakal menjadi lebih panjang. Ia menjadi petanda dan penanda bagaimana Rakyat Jelata menyembunyikan ketakutan dan kebimbangan dengan cara berjenaka serta berfikir secara kreatif untuk mengubati luka di hati. Tonton sahaja filem-filem klasik Charlie Chaplin untuk menyedari hakikat ini. Walaupun pandangan yang dikemukakan mungkin dianggap lucu dan terkeluar topik, jangan pandang ringan "kemampuan" polis yang sentiasa akur pada arahan pemerintah. Berwaspadalah jika anda berhajat menghidangkan nasi ****** sempena majlis khas sepanjang minggu ini. Jangan mengaku anda berasal dari Air ****** di Perak atau Ayer ****** mahu pun Ayer ****** Selatan di Negeri Sembilan. Juga mana-mana tempat atau jalan/lorong yang ada "******" pada namanya. Anda mungkin disangka menyebarkan kempen Himpunan Bersih 2.0 secara senyap. Tolong jangan hantar SMS atau e-mel kepada kenalan dari Sabah meminta mereka membawa Seraya ****** Kudat. Sebaliknya, gunakan nama saintifik "Shorea kudatensis" demi kesejahteraan diri dan anak-cucu. Puan Tan Lee Wah selaku Guru Besar SK Convent Infant Jesus di Melaka wajar memikirkan untuk menukar sementara nama kelas ****** kepada nama lain. Kelas Hijau dan Jingga boleh kekal. Bagi SMK Padungan (dahulu dikenali SMK Lumba Kuda) di Sarawak pula, wajar mengekalkan nama-nama rumah sukan sebagai Kerengga, Zebra, Tezi dan Semberani; tanpa menyebut Merah, ******, Biru dan Hijau. Pemain dan penyokong pasukan bola sepak Kedah FA juga mungkin berdepan masalah kerana pasukan itu turut dikenali dengan nama Kenari dan Hijau-******. Begitu juga pasukan Selangor FA kerana lagu rasminya adalah "Merah ****** Keberanian". Akhirnya, bayangkan perasaan gemuruh yang perlu dirasai apabila kita sama-sama menyanyikan lagu "Jalur Gemilang" yang diperkenalkan pada tahun 2000. Rangkap awal lirik yang ditulis Pak Ngah adalah begini: Merah membara semangat waja Putihmu bersih budi pekerti ****** berdaulat payung negara Biru perpaduan kami semua Maaf! Dalam ketelitian memastikan saya tidak menulis perkataan "******" pada artikel ini, saya terlupa untuk memadam perkataan "bersih" pada petikan lirik lagu di atas. * Uthaya Sankar SB tertanya-tanya jika ada pihak yang memulakan kempen "KOTOR: Gabungan Pilihan Raya Tidak BERSIH dan Tidak ADIL" kerana pasti ramai yang akan tampil menyokongnya. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. 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Catatan itu mendapat reaksi spontan daripada sejumlah rakan-rakan yang berkongsi pandangan yang kreatif dan inovatif. Bintang D'hati risau kerana "lari bajet kena beli pembalut pulak" manakala Irwan Abu Bakar mencadangkan supaya "minta DBP tampal sahaja kat kulit tu dengan warna lain".| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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