The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Conversation with a volunteer firefighter Posted: 13 Jan 2013 03:59 PM PST JAN 14 — "How do you look a grieving father in the eyes and say 'you can't go in my truck and see your burnt dead child without my chief saying it's okay'," he asked me, "all the while imagining that you're him and that it's your child in that truck?" Words left me. My fellow online gamer (I call him Raz) is an oilfield worker in Northern Alberta, Canada, and is also a volunteer firefighter. We had been talking (chatting, rather) about in-game things before the conversation drifted slowly to our lives outside of it. Then somewhere during the conversation Raz started talking about the first dead burnt kid he encountered on duty six months ago. "Seeing stuff like that messes you up, or at least it did to me. Felt like something was ripped from you, then someone stepped on it." If we hadn't had that conversation, I wouldn't have thought that Raz was dealing with such trauma. Whenever I caught him online he was always polite and interesting to talk to, just another guy having fun in an online game to relax after a long day, like the rest of us. Finding out that he had this gnawing at him from the inside was a big surprise. Later on I thought that perhaps it shouldn't have been such a big surprise. We all go through our days with our problems and issues and pain, and we don't show them to most people we meet and talk to. Our deepest personal issues are private, maybe only shared with our spouses or families or a small, select group of close buddies. To our other friends and colleagues we may appear happy, content, perhaps tired from the usual rigors of working but otherwise normal. And with the complexity of our own mental and emotional states within, it's easy to forget sometimes that every single person we meet is also doing the same thing. They have their own depression and tears hidden from public view. When we look at people smiling and cheerfully talking, it's easy to forget that they might not feel that same cheer inside. Our energies go to thinking about ourselves, our worries, our work, solving our problems, and we don't have any left for others. In the end, it never occurs to us that they might have issues kept inside at all. We don't ask if they're okay, because it never occurs to us that there is any need to ask. Our friends seem fine, so they must be fine, otherwise they would tell us, won't they? When we see strangers on the street, we have even less consideration, and eventually we subconsciously dehumanise them into faceless aspects of the environment we live in. We forget that even strangers too are people with people problems and issues weighing down on them every waking moment. Eventually, as that bit of considerateness for others fades away, we often don't notice when our actions offend other people, put them at risk, or even outright harm them. Perhaps at a subconscious level we have some awareness of what we're doing, but we dismiss it before it surfaces to our consciousness, because we no longer put much weight on their emotional and physical well-being in comparison to ours. It's an increasingly cynical world we live in. Maybe we said harsh things at work today, and we never knew that our colleague cried that night because of it. Maybe we cut a queue, and then stone-facedly stared right ahead ignoring the muttering old woman behind us who had spent three hours standing on a bad leg. "Putting aside the emotional anguish that we have to deal with, while we're messing ourselves up with the horrors of duty, we have stupid jerks driving recklessly trying to kill the rest of us on the street just to get to Wal-Mart before it closes," added Raz to the list. "The least you could do when you see emergency vehicles is slow down and give way, because it might be me driving a fire truck through your neighbourhood and every second counts." Just being a little bit considerate can go a long way for other people, and sometimes we never know just how far our little acts of thoughtfulness can go, or how big they mean. "Whenever I see an ambulance pass by I say a little prayer for whoever they're rushing to," I replied, "because for all I know it could be a friend." "Or heaven forbid a family member. I once got called out to my own truck upside down in a ditch, with the wife and kids in it." That shocked me. "That must've scared the living daylight out of you." "I was there by the time I got my firefighter call-out because my wife called me first, but if the wife was hurt and couldn't use a phone I would have gone out there as a firefighter and only then found out it was my own family in danger," he says. "It still haunts me. Every time my phone goes off I cringe, you have no idea." I don't, and I didn't want to imagine it. I asked how he pushes on, doing what he does, despite the toll it's taking on him inside. "I keep doing it because it's the right thing to do. I don't need the money, I have piles of it," he answered. "What keeps my head up are things like saving that little girl trick-or-treating from being run over by a truck last Halloween. I don't know if I saved her life but for sure I saved her from getting hurt." To me, it's moot. "I doubt her parents would see the difference." I admire Raz for doing his bit for his community, but on the other hand we can't all be volunteer firefighters. We are limited by our environment, and we have enough on our plate dealing with our own lives. It's not realistic to expect to help every single person we encounter with their problems. But we can still do our bit in our own small ways. Always, we can find little ways to be considerate to other people. Even a smile can lift up someone down in the emotional gutters. Extra care in our choice of words can spare some hurt feelings, and it doesn't take much to slow down as you drive towards a puddle to avoid splashing a pedestrian walker. Every day we say thanks for small favours, little things that light up an otherwise bad spot we're in. It's important to keep in mind that those small favours we are thankful for are not all by accident. We can make those small favours happen, just by barely taking the effort to be a little bit more considerate about the people around us. Sometimes, all we can do is listen and offer sympathy and understanding, inadequate as they are, cheering our friends on as they wrestle with their big bad monsters, telling them that "hey, you're not alone in this world, maybe I can't help you with your problem but I'm here and you have my ear." And sometimes, even that's enough. It was enough for Raz. "Thanks for listening, it helps me a lot. I'm in a small town and there aren't a lot of options for working these kinda problems out," he told me. "Everyone on here has helped me a lot by just listening." * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Posted: 13 Jan 2013 03:19 PM PST 14 JAN — Saya menggunakan laman rangkaian sosial Facebook bukan untuk berbual-bual kosong (chatting) atau berkebun secara maya di Farmville. Sebaliknya untuk membuka ruang dan peluang ke arah mewujudkan suasana yang menggalakkan dialog, interaksi, perbincangan dan perkongsian pandangan berhubung soal-soal berkaitan bahasa, sastera, filem, budaya, agama, politik dan sosial. Rata-rata rakan-rakan pelbagai agama, etnik, kaum, budaya, kepercayaan, latar belakang dan ideologi terlibat sama dalam dialog yang diadakan. Seperti diakui seorang sahabat, Ananth Kumar, dialog antara agama perlu digalakkan sebagai usaha memecah pemikiran kolot dan tembok penghalang perpaduan. Bagaimanapun, apabila saya membuka topik berkaitan "Assalamualaikum" pada 28 Disember 2012, beberapa individu memutuskan untuk mengeluarkan (unfriend) saya daripada senarai rakan. Beberapa lagi individu berbuat demikian — unfriend dan block — selepas saya menulis makalah mengenai topik sama di The Malaysian Insider (31 Disember 2012).  Media alternatif menyiarkan pandangan pelbagai pihak secara objektif. Memanglah menyedihkan kerana kelompok berkenaan yang sebelum ini bersemangat mahu menambah saya sebagai rakan untuk berkongsi idea dan pandangan mengenai pelbagai topik, tiba-tiba memilih untuk tidak terlibat dalam dialog antara agama (interfaith dialogue). Tidak mengapalah; good riddance to bad rubbish. Isu lama yang kini muncul kembali adalah mengenai "larangan" penggunaan kalimah "Allah" oleh orang Tidak Islam. Sejak dahulu, saya sering berkongsi pandangan mengenai isu ini bersama-sama rakan-rakan pelbagai kaum dan agama. Pada pandangan peribadi saya — dan saya bertanggungjawab sepenuhnya terhadap pandangan ini — mana-mana pihak yang mengatakan bahawa orang Tidak Islam tidak berhak menggunakan kalimah "Allah" untuk merujuk kepada "Tuhan" adalah golongan yang mengamalkan cara dakwah yang salah; malah anti-dakwah. Semasa isu novel "Interlok: Edisi Murid" (2010) sedang hangat, saya turut dilantik oleh Menteri Pelajaran menganggotai panel bebas yang ditugaskan khas untuk meminda novel itu untuk dijadikan teks Komponen Sastera Dalam Mata Pelajar Bahasa Malaysia (Komsas). Suatu isu timbul apabila perkataan "Tuhan" (dengan "T" huruf besar) dalam naskhah/edisi asal Sasterawan Negara Datuk Abdullah Hussain ditukar sesuka hati oleh editor/penerbit kepada "tuhan" (dengan "t" huruf kecil) pada edisi murid. Alasan yang diberikan oleh beberapa anggota panel adalah bahawa "Tuhan" hanya boleh digunakan apabila merujuk kepada "Tuhan Islam" manakala "Tuhan Bukan Islam" mesti ditulis sebagai "tuhan". Perkara sama — kejahilan, kekhilafan, munafik, syirik — bagaikan sedang berulang. Kalau kita perhatikan, hujah berupa tindakan menegakkan benang basah yang hangat diperkatakan sekarang adalah bahawa "Allah" hanya boleh digunakan bagi "Tuhan Islam" manakala "Tuhan Bukan Islam" perlulah menggunakan nama-nama lain (apa sahaja) selain daripada "Allah". Saya dilahirkan beragama Hindu tetapi pengetahuan saya terhadap agama-agama lain sejak kanak-kanak berada pada tahap yang membanggakan. Cuma, saya sentiasa sedar bahawa Tuhan menciptakan saya sebagai individu kaum India beragama Hindu dan saya tidak akan mengubah ketetapan Pencipta demi mengejar apa-apa "gula-gula" yang ditawarkan mana-mana pihak. Ada Tuhan Islam dan Tuhan Bukan Islam? Apa pun, apabila seseorang mengatakan bahawa hanya "Tuhan Islam" boleh digelar "Allah" manakala "Tuhan Bukan Islam" perlu diberi apa-apa nama lain selain "Allah", maka orang itu sebenarnya bagaikan sudah terpesong daripada ajaran Islam kerana berpendapat dan berpendirian bahawa ada lebih daripada satu Tuhan!  Kitab Injil di negara-negara Arab menggunakan kalimah Allah dalam Bahasa Arab. Malah, usah kita lupa pada hakikat bahawa agama Hindu adalah antara agama yang paling awal berbicara tentang tauhid (keesaan Tuhan), seperti turut diakui Muhammad Fitri Abdullah dari Persatuan Kebajikan dan Pengubatan Islam Malaysia dalam suatu seminar di Shah Alam pada 30 Mei 2009. Penganut agama Sikh berkongsi ucapan "Sat Sri Akaal" serta tidak keberatan menerima ucapan itu daripada orang Bukan Sikh. Guru kesepuluh dalam agama Sikh iaitu Guru Gobind Singh menekankan konsep dan prinsip ini. Dalam Bahasa Punjabi, "sat" bermakna "kebenaran" (truth) dan "Akaal" merujuk kepada Tuhan, iaitu "Pencipta yang tiada mula dan tiada akhir" atau "hakiki". Ucapan "Sat Sri Akaal" membawa makna "Tuhan adalah Kebenaran Hakiki". Dalam kalangan penganut agama Islam, frasa/ucapan yang sering diberikan adalah "Allahu Akhbar" yang membawa makna "Allah Maha Besar" dalam Bahasa Arab. Maka, apabila ada pihak tampil mengatakan bahawa ada "Tuhan Islam" (Allah) dan ada "Tuhan Bukan Islam", maka sangat memeranjatkan bagi saya sebagai seorang penganut agama Hindu yang berpegang teguh pada konsep Tuhan Yang Maha Esa. Malah, sebagai seorang individu yang mendalami agama Islam, Kristian, Sikh, Buddha dan sebagainya sejak usia kanak-kanak, saya berasa hairan, pelik, terkejut dan terkedu apabila ada pihak yang kononnya "pakar agama" tetapi tampil mengeluarkan kenyataan menidakkan keesaan Tuhan. Seorang sahabat lama yang menggunakan nama Abang Long di Facebook berkongsi pengalaman: "Rakan dan sahabat saya yang Bukan Islam, sejak dahulu apabila mereka susah hati, selalu menyebut 'Tuhan Allah banyak baik, kita minta macam-macam daripada Dia'. Adakah saya perlu menegur percakapan mereka?" Shamsinor Zaman mengemukakan pandangan yang berlainan tetapi wajar difikirkan secara serius. Katanya, "isu kalimah Allah tidak sepatutnya dibincangkan oleh pakar agama semata-mata. Ini masalah sosio-budaya dan masalah bahasa. Kenapa tokoh kedua-dua bidang berkenaan diam?" Dalam pada itu, ada pula "pakar agama" yang membuktikan lagi kejahilan dan sikap anti-dakwah dengan menegaskan bahawa sekiranya orang Tidak Islam mahu menggunakan perkataan "Allah" maka mereka wajib memeluk Islam terlebih dahulu. Saya tidak tahu jika wujud manusia yang "kurang cerdik" daripada kelompok manusia seperti itu. Dalam keghairahan kononnya "berdakwah", orang seperti itu mencemarkan kesucian dan keindahan Islam. — Bersambung * Uthaya Sankar SB sedar bahawa mungkin lebih ramai orang akan memanfaatkan butang "unfriend" dan "block" pada Facebook selepas membaca makalah ini. * Ini adalah pandangan peribadi penulis. |
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