I won't be dissing the government anymore. Nor will I start defending them. No. I've realised something very important amidst all the political chaos and conspiracy outbreaks in the country. The Tourism Minister's alleged mismanaging of certain government funds, the attack of the famous "Anonymous" hacker group on several key websites.
I've encountered a lot of anti-government people these days. Pro-government too. And here we go again, in the epic decision of which I must make; side with the protesters or support the administration.
I've jumped the line a few times. I don't know where my loyalties lie. So many lies, twists and turns here and there! Corruption, greed, hatred and no empathy on both sides at all.
Well fuck that. I'm tired. My dad works for the government. My mom is pro-government. My closest friends consider the government rubbish. My best friend wants to migrate overseas so she can leave this dump.
If you're thinking, "this is a waste of my time, this kid doesn't know anything," well keep reading on, asshole.
Some of the haters are quite dumb. Oh blame the government when the sun is too hot! Now really, that's all our faults. Global warming is a burden of the human race, idiot. Yet in a better light, they make sense. RM1.8 mil on a Facebook page? Really? Block some file-sharing websites, even though Tun Dr. M has clearly stated that the Internet will never be censored back when the MSC was first introduced! What the heck is this?!
Now, now, don't be hating the government. Point out their faults, yes. Poke holes into their "peace" theories, yes. But don't sit on your asses and hope a fucking fairygodmother is gonna pop out and whisk every bad thing away. Once you've pointed out what they've done wrong, how about pointing them in the right direction? Say, instead of using that RM1.8 mil to advertise some bullshit campaign on a social media network, use it to clean up poverty? Hand out some loans to deserving but financially-incapable students? Tell them that. If they don't listen, vote them out on their asses in the next general election.
But noooooooooooo. Instead we decided to fight fire with fire. Instead of doing a petition to ask the higher government to check on the Tourism Minister's personal finance, we create a Facebook page, and indirectly created a breeding ground for government haters. 1Malaysia indeed! Gather more fans for the hate page than the tourism page... and then what? Whoop-de-fucking-doo? We have more fans than you? I feel so fucking stupid for liking that page. What the fuck was I thinking? Why am I saying fuck so many times? Because I'm so fucking angry!
Why? Some of those haters, because they believe the country is on the verge of collapse, they want to flee! Run! Desert the country! You complain that the leaders of our country are so corrupted that they forget about their patriotic duties! What about you? Running away to a country you think is better. I ask you, is that patriotic? Isn't that just fucking hypocritical?
Before you retort, wait! OK, you got the cash to run away and study or start a new life in the UK, or Australia or the States. Well... how about the ones who can't run? The ones who can't afford to go overseas? You'd leave them to rot here in Malaysia when you could have stayed, tried to heal our crumbling administration.
"Meh. If they don't get a PTPTN loan or JPA scholarship, it's not my problem. Every man for himself."
Don't hate if you're just gonna run away in the end. Malaysia is stupid, no doubt. So that just makes our job harder. When the old farts pass on the task is up to us. To heal, to repair, to make the system flourish for the next generation. If not we're gonna end up like the current one, and the future generations are gonna spite us, like we're doing on the old farts.
If you're hating my guts right now, whether you're anti or pro gov, I'm sorry. But you have to hear this. There is too much hate in the air. Too much spite. We're throwing durians at each other instead of trying to patch up old wounds. Empathy breeds kindness.
I am a Malaysian. I am not supporting the government or the anti-government groups. I am justifying our actions. And if that's wrong, maybe we should all run and abandon Malaysia to what it is.
Maybe it's just that some of us have given up hope a long long time ago. Doesn't it make you wonder why it's only people of a certain skin colour who want to leave or have left? And because those people are the minority, hoping for a change in administration is just wishful thinking. This isn't exactly relevant to the mismanagement of funds issue though
ReplyDeleteReply to Anonymous; you're right, it isn't relevant. But it is relevant as to how we react to it. Either as wise minded people or idiots who just have too much free time on their hands. And excuse me? "Given up hope a long long long time ago?" This country is just 54 years old, and racial problems only started during the crisis of '69 so that's roughly 42 years of dilemma where we all had our ups and downs. Which brings me back to my point: when everything goes to shit, run away. The ship's fucked up, what the heck, jump ship! It took Malaysia centuries to gain independence. If you were around back then, and tired of all the colonisation shit, you'd probably say "hoping for the Brits to give us independence is just wishful thinking." If everyone sets that paranoia away, the administration could change. You touched one point, though. It is going to be very, very, very, very, very, very, very hard to do that. But if you want to run away...
ReplyDeleteI see your point, Bob. But after having gone through the whole JPA schtick, it's hard to believe that there's anything to stay for. People are being discriminated against by the GOVERNMENT because of their race, because they don't have 'special rights'. Things aren't fair, and people who speak out against them are thrown into jail.
ReplyDeleteThe general air of those in power is 'That's the way things are. Deal with it.' (I think there was an interview somewhere in which Najib actually denied the fact that we're having the whole brain drain thing.) Well, yeah. That IS the way things are. And I guess we all deal with it in our own ways.
People are leaving not simply because they're fed up with the country -- it's because they feel personally victimised, and other countries are offering them better prospects. It is, after all, human nature to look after yourself and your loved ones first. I don't understand where hypocrisy comes in, though. How is leaving the country hypocritical if one never claimed to be patriotic in the first place?
I'm currently in the middle of researching unis, so my comment is more towards education. Sorry 'bout that. But this is just my two cents, in response to yours.
Btw, this isn't me saying "WHEE I'M LEAVING THE COUNTRY SUCKERS". I have no idea where I'll be in ten years, which unis will take me in, what kind of state our country will be in by then. However, I'd probably have had far more dealings with the government than I've had now, and would probably be a lot more disillusioned. JPA was really messed-up, Bob. It messed me and my non-bumiputera friends up as well.
Leaving the country is hypocritical when they claim that the leaders aren't doing a good job at administrating. But, I'm not defending anyone here, just that fact alone.
ReplyDeleteI know, it's hard. I know, I'm Malay, I probably haven't suffered half of what the non-bumiputeras have. But not all bumiputeras can leave the country for better prospects can they? If not for Malays like me, how about your own? The non-bumiputeras who can't leave? If you claim JPA is almost impossible to acquire esp for non-bumiputeras, then how about them? I'm pretty sure most of them want to leave as well, for better prospects.
This is a very sticky subject. Anything anyone says has no absolute pros on its own. There will be cons. But if we're not forgiving of those cons... "collateral damage", eh?
not all NON-bumiputeras* sorry
ReplyDeleteWhich brings me back to my point about self-preservation. It sounds horrible, but yeah. My own future is higher on my list of priorities than that of my country's.
ReplyDeleteI don't think our country's rulers are the shizz, exactly, but I do realise it's a hard job, and they have to navigate around very stormy seas sometimes. Things can be verrry delicate up there, so I do not envy them.
Just thought that I should add that you're may be forgetting the fact that there many bumiputeras out there ie the Orang Asli, East Malaysians, Portuguese Settlers who have also been conveniently sidelined out of their 'constitutional rights'. So why go so far to talk about non-bumis when there is blatant discrimination within the bumiputera community. However, the bigger issue should be that instead of pressing on this damn race issue, the whole race based identification should be scrapped altogether because kan kita ni semua 1Malaysia. And isn't meritocracy part of YAB's masterplan.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note, great post. You should've just become a journalist. Or maybe a hobbyist political analyst