By: Natalie Shobana Ambrose
theSun, Malaysia (pg 12)
October 4th, 2012
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/columns/onpointe
There are certain expectations when we buy a
non-budget air ticket – 20kg luggage allowance, toilet facilities, some leg
room, reclining seats, food, entertainment, and oxygen masks to name a few. It's
a privilege we pay for and our expectations of it equates to a sense of
entitlement.
What happens when some of these basic expectations are not met? We
become unhappy bunnies, like I am right now as I write this column on a flight
with legs squished, knees pressing against a fully reclined seat in front of
me, while I angle the lap top to a decent position and having one-year-old
twins and their parents next to me in seats that do not recline. Yes, it's a
full flight, and I can't help but wonder if it's fair to place these young
parents in such seats. To add salt to the wound, it is unfortunate that the
adult family sitting in front of us have chosen to exercise their entitlement
for their utmost comfort. Is this fair?
We all have a sense of entitlement in different areas of our lives
including for the companies we work for to meet certain basic expectations. But
perhaps more accurately, our first experience of this is the sense of
entitlement we have within our families as it's a privilege of being part of a
family. Similarly, I would imagine that as Malaysians we have a sense of
entitlement of being Malaysians. Yet entitlements are not absolute and neither
do they have to be used just because they're available.
As a Malaysian, my sense of entitlement comes from the concept that I am
Malaysian first. I expect to not just be protected but accorded the same
privileges as every Malaysian. This is because the circumstances of my birth or
ethnicity are not of my doing. To paraphrase famed Harvard professor Dr Michael
Sandle, my race is an arbitrary fact and having my life options determined by
this is unjust. Sadly, in Malaysia we have a skewed perception of equality.
This problem arises because generations have been taught to tolerate and
not accept that differences should not divide, but make us an adaptable nation
ready to accommodate the multiculturalism of the world onto our shores. So we
are stuck, stuck because our sense of entitlement has been partnered with an
unwillingness to compromise and accommodate with a non-negotiable expectation
for everyone else to cower to our entitlements. This only creates friction and
just like twigs rubbed together create sparks, chaffed feelings create
disunity, disloyalty and only deepen the wounds of discrimination.
Proponents of affirmative action believe that we need to level the
playing field. I agree, but the focus also needs to be on bringing everyone to
the same starting point – a challenging task made impossible by race-based
affirmative action. So we go in circles, lose talent and create a people who
are limited.
As a Malaysian, my expectations of the government are honesty and
integrity. You may laugh at my naïve words, but honesty in all spheres of
politics is necessary. I also expect for logic to prevail. When tabling a
budget, one needs to know what previous spending was like, hence why the
Auditor-General's Report has to be tabled simultaneously or earlier, but
definitely not weeks after the budget is debated on. How then will the budget
be honestly debated? Even the layman's chequebook has a balancing chit for each
cheque written, acknowledging the importance of knowing what is being spent and
how much is left – how much more necessary is it for a country to do so.
Last year, the A-G's report was delayed and many discrepancies arose.
There was a gaping misuse of funds involving the meat industry and military
spending to name a few. Little has been done about it, but to delay the report
only spells danger and creates suspicion as our spending goes further into the
red zone and the priority of perception over addressing issues has become the
norm.
So as a Malaysian, these are some entitlements I count as basic not just
for me but for every Malaysian – and something I think we all need to exercise
fully to discredit those who continue to exercise a false sense of entitlement.
Natalie is glad that the plane has now landed and she's back on
Malaysian soil. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
