By: Natalie Shobana Ambrose
theSun, Malaysia (pg
11)
September 24th, 2012
It’s been
used many times to teach a valuable lesson. Someone holds up a big blank piece
of paper and asks the crowd: "What do you see?"
"A white
sheet of paper," they say. Then a big dot is drawn on it.
"Now,
what do you see?"
"A black
dot!" they shout back.
It's true
isn't it? What most of us would see is the black dot and not the big white
surrounding the dot. It's an automatic human response for us to see the
imperfections and stains instead of the good, especially when it is in someone
else, even more so when the person is a perceived threat.
History is a
telltale to this behaviour. During the pre-Middle East uprising, everyone was
quite happy to mingle with the Mubaraks, Gadhafis, Salehs and Bashar al-Assads
of the desert. Famous artists performed at their parties, presidents made good
friends, royalty socialised with them, even the head of prestigious education
establishments schmoozed and accepted money from these men.
And just like
that, as the turmoil began, what do you know? The very same people who bragged
close proximity are hurriedly distancing themselves and even disregarding state
sovereignty. That big black dot mutates into many more dots that keep growing
and growing and growing.
In politics,
one can go from being a close friend to a dangerous foe in a split second.
We've seen this happen multiple times on home ground. Strike before they strike
you, and we will be safe. That seems to be the modus operandi strategy that our
politicians are taking, in light of impending elections.
Though
instead of tomahawks, grenades, guns, drones, bombs and weapons of mass
destruction, our politicians have taken to simple mudslinging. A more civilised
method of annihilating the perceived threat – those with opposing views, belief
systems and some that just challenge the 'norm'.
In politics,
I suppose mudslinging is part and parcel of office life. But Malaysians are
getting hit in the crossfire instead of real issues being addressed.
We all know
if you throw mud on a white wall, the mud won't stick but it will definitely
stain. It's very easy to throw mud, but it takes effort to clear the damaging
stains. So why not discredit a politician by any means if they are a perceived
threat? It's a strategy that works after all, especially in a country with a
growing Pharisee Complex.
The sad thing
is we claim to be a democracy, not a guided democracy as we used to be, but a
straight unadulterated democracy. So how come our politicians didn't get the
memo? A democracy is only a democracy when there are options, when there is
more than one capable party, when voting allows for leadership to be challenged
instead of all powers belonging solely to one party. It also helps to know in
advance when campaigning will start and when the elections are – that is what a
democracy is.
We need to
adopt and increase the mentality of 'I love my country more' and stand up for
the injustices, not just in the political sphere but in the social sphere.
Get involved
in influencing the many draft laws and blueprints, speak up against guidelines
that advocates discrimination such as the one on how to be a good lady boss or
that v-neck t-shirts and buff bodies are not allowed freely in this country. We
may think we are living in peace but each time a baby is dumped or thrown, each
time racial and religious sensitivities are played, each time corruption wins,
we move further away from peace and justice.
World Peace
Day was celebrated last Friday, where the world called for a ceasefire on every
level to make peace for one day. One day may not seem like a big deal but in
war torn countries where aid workers are allowed to enter without fear of
attack, it means life to many. Did Malaysia stop mudslinging on that one day
and look beyond all our innate discrimination to say 'I love my country more
and I want peace'?
Natalie knows that the majority vote does not equal the truth, though it's always nice to win!
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