My dear friend Raj shared a
heartwarming video on how innocence is blind when it comes to human diversity.
Similarly, another friend posted another video which was actually a true story
of how a good Samaritan helped an impoverished family to eventually lead a
better life. Why was this particular story endearing? Well both the Samaritan
and the beneficiary are of different races. So what? After all this is
Malaysia, where we have always been proud of multi-racial and multi ethnicity
as the fundamental fabric of our society.
Alas all may not be as it seems. Racial
tensions, religious bigotry and political divide have slowly penetrated into
the psyche of the various communities. With social media abound and with wider
footprint, even the slightest of murmur picks up an instant storm. The powers
that be (the new political entity, Coalition of Hope) are not only laden with
establishing their own style of governance but have to also deal with this
socio political upheaval that is threatening to disenfranchise itself.
Man have always been afraid of
the Bogeyman. The Bogeyman is a universal figure that has appeared in folklore all
around the world, with a single agenda, that is to frighten children to
submission. Since it is an imagined character, the appearance and depth of fear
of the bogeyman is as far as the child can imagine.
In a chaotic sociopolitical
landscape, the bogeyman can manifest in multitude of forms, society regresses
to their own cocooned world to seek psychological comfort from this character.
To the believer the bogeyman is real, to the fence sitters perhaps they don’t
want to take any chances, and to the sceptics they prefer to stay silent. The consequences, the noise of the believer
becomes louder and drowns sensibility, which eventually translates into
mainstream credence. And that’s when a plural society starts to show cracks,
which if not addressed with immediacy, could harm the paramountcy of a nation.
Witnessing the video, one friend
quipped, “how I wish more Malaysians would be like the Samaritan in the heart
rending incident,”, I would dare say to him that all Malaysians are like that.
We have always been a peace loving and caring society. Race and religion never
mattered to us especially when it comes to human empathy. But somehow along the
way, the bogeyman had hijacked our mindset by filling it with fear and
suspicion.
Freddy Krueger is playing out his
mischief in our dreams. If only Malaysians wake up from this slumber the
bogeyman would vanish, and we could restore who we were in the first place
........... MALAYSIANS. As long as the bogeyman resides in our psyche in
whatever form, we will remain divided.
Compatriots from my era may know
this song by heart, "Malaysia Berjaya", a patriotic song composed by
Mustapha Hussain, just after the
Indonesian confrontation which ended in 1966. Then the bogeyman was Indonesia,
the fear was real to many, but this song brought hope, confidence and the
spirit of unity that bonded Malaysians for years to come.
Revisiting this song is like
revisiting my school days .......
Malaysia kita sudah berjaya
Aman makmur bahagia
Malaysia abadi selamanya
Berjaya dan berjaya
Berbagai kaum sudah berikrar
Menuju cita-cita
Satu bangsa satu negara
Malaysia berjaya
Dari Perlis sampailah ke Sabah
Kita sudah merdeka
Negara makmur rakyat mewah
Kita sudah berjaya
Dengan semboyan kita berjaya
Menuju di angkasa
Satu bangsa satu negara
Malaysia berjaya
English Translation:
Our Malaysia has succeed
Peaceful and radiant
Malaysia forever shall you live
and achieve more success!
The people have pledged
to strive for the aspiration
Of one people, one language
Successful Malaysia!
From Perlis to Sabah
We are now free
A prosperous nation, with affluent people
We have succeed!
With the bugle we sound our success
Shooting for the stars
One people, one nation
Successful Malaysia!
Those were the times when we as
school children roamed free without total inhibition, without pride or
prejudice. Race and religion did not matter in our bonding, it was all about
Malaysia, one PEOPLE AND ONE NATION.
Alas this spirit seems to somehow
wean, and eventually was overtaken by new sociopolitical direction that
promoted divisive agenda as opposed to the wishes of the founding fathers of
this great nation.
We have to get rid the fear of
the bogeyman, for this imagined fear has done enough damage to the nation and
its people.
So let’s join arms in arms, together
drive the mischievous bogeyman out of our psyche and embrace acceptance and
forge ahead to build a greater future.
To all ALL MUSLIMS, today is the
first day of the fasting month, Best Wishes to everyone for a meaningful
beginning.
Let’s celebrate compassion and
brotherhood.
Let's bring back the GLORY DAYS.
Ravi Varmman
Subang Jaya
1145
06052019
