Natalie Shobana Ambrose (23 October, 2008- theSun)
WHAC-A-Mole is my favourite carnival game. A game of great skill and precision – where you use a mallet and try to bop the moles on the head as they pop up. As a kid, I don’t think I ever got very far in the game because, to even lift the Fred Flintstone-like hammer was heavy enough, let alone hit any of the moles. But I still loved the game.
What I noticed though was that the longer you play the game, the harder you end up hitting the moles ... But they just keep popping right back up and make horrible taunting sounds.
My Whac-A-Mole goal was not to study strategy or analyse mole pop-up sequences. It was really about silencing them. With each hit, one hopes that you’ve nailed it. But another mole pops up, squeals … and this goes on, and on and on. All I wanted to do is to get rid of them and I wouldn’t stop till my time was up. I wonder what the creators were thinking when they invented this mindless game. Human nature, perhaps?
If something is annoying me, hit it. If someone is making a noise I dislike, silence it. Quite like an annoying mosquito. The automatic reaction would be to kill it, eventhough you might end up slapping yourself instead!
It reminds me a lot about ideas and movements. No matter how good an idea is, there is always opposition to it. No matter how good a movement is, there will be a segment that disapproves. As far as history goes, there have been many movements against injustices of all kinds and each has faced antagonism and often aggression and oppression. Basically someone "whac-ing" it to a pulp.
Oppression has been a catalyst for many movements. Silencing the movement only makes people more creative in their fight to be heard for change. No matter how many times we try and "whac" a movement down, it is bound to re-badge, re-invent and be stronger than before.
As we look at times past, an interesting point to remember is that there were quite a few movements and people who made history and changed many lives across the world, not just in their country. Faced with persecution, life imprisonment and even the threat of death, these people chose to persevere; sacrificing their lives to change the plight of others, for the betterment of their country ... And in the end, they succeeded in making a difference.
I do not remember the name of the bus driver who insisted Rosa Parks give up her seat to a white passenger. But the world remembers Rosa Parks and how she helped end segregation by her "disobedience". I don’t remember all those who imprisoned Gandhi – or, even the name of his assassin – but the Mahatma’s teachings will be remembered and practised for all time. Aung San Suu Kyi’s sacrifices for her country will be remembered forever in Myanmar’s history, but the junta’s? Likewise, I have no clue who kept Nelson Mandela in prison all those years but, even in Malaysia, we agreed that apartheid was unconscionable and didn’t allow Malaysians to travel to South Africa, until recently. Mandela’s cries for justice were heard everywhere – even in our own country.
These are people who had the courage to say "Enough!", stood up, spoke up, cared enough to make a difference and became heroes around the world. Perhaps oppression fuelled their will to fight and forced them to persevere in their beliefs and cause. What a slap in the face to their critics and oppressors!
If we could only learn from the mistakes of others, and stop using a hammer to kill a mosquito, we might avoid cutting our noses to spite our face. We should recognise and acknowledge our heroes instead of silencing them.
Natalie echoes US Senator Margaret Chase Smith’s statement "Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk".
Comment: letters@thesundaily.com.
