The Year of Obliviousness
If there was a word that kept popping out at me this entire year, it was 'obliviousness'. It just felt to me that so many people spent 2011 being completely oblivious to what was happening around them. Whether it was Middle Eastern dictators who refused to understand why their people were taking to the streets, to Wall Street bankers who kept awarding themselves humongous bonuses even after their banks had gone bankrupt and people had lost their homes, to the politicians who refused to connect all the many floods and other extreme weather to climate change, so many people at the pinnacles of power remained oblivious to changes going on in the world.
In the Arab countries, people went out onto the streets not because they are a bunch of thugs wanting to destabilise the government. They went out because after years and years of repression, they simply got fed up and wanted to say that they want the same things as other human beings around the world - freedom to speak, to have choices, to have a say on what happens to their countries. Why did they 'suddenly' want this? Because they saw that it is possible for other people to have that freedom without their country going to the dogs. In any case, their countries, with so much poverty and unemployment, were already going to the dogs under their leaders. So what was there to lose? For a great summary about the many myths about the Arab Spring, read this by Prof Juan Cole.
Yes,the revolutions remain incomplete and imperfect. The leaders coming in may not be the nicest people on earth but hey, that's what you get with democracy. What the Arab rakyat most cannot stand is corruption so any alternative to that is welcome. If the new lot also proves corrupt and incompetent, then they should know that they'll also face the same protests.
The Arab protests perhaps could be said to have inspired other protests, most ! notably the Occupy movement. The Occupy movement started from people's anger at how the US banks, indeed the whole economic system, have favoured the rich 1% while the other 99% have had to suffer the consequences. When people have lost jobs and their homes, it's hard to read about bankers and other corporate tycoons living it up on huge salaries and bonuses, spending money on all sorts of designer goods and toys. It's the sheer obliviousness of the small number of the wealthy, just like the corrupt Arab dictators, to the fact that people will resent such ostentation insensitively pushed in their faces.
It is also obliviousness that fueled the growth of these Occupy movements. You might be able to count people on the streets but you can't count how widespread the idea behind it is, nor can you control what happens to it. So if you try and dismiss these few people, or worse, try to disperse them with violent means, then you ignite a spark which allows the idea to spread. How can you talk about democracy in the US, say, when the police are teargassing their own citizens in the same way that the Syrian government is? OK, the Syrians are using real bullets but still, what sense of obliviousness is it that let mayors and police chiefs allow their cops to teargas, and in one infamous case, pepperspray students full in the face, and then expect things to peacefully die down? People are no longer ants meant to be sprayed away, nowadays they get larger and bite back.
Which brings me back to the obliviousness in our own country. I wonder why we act as if the rest of the world have nothing to do with us, and yet still want to stand tall in the world? One example of an oblivious statement this year: the MCA guy who said that we should not give overseas Malaysians the right to vote because they don't know the true picture of what is happening back home. Hello, what planet are you on? Have you heard of the internet, or even relatives who can talk on the phone to their famil! ies over seas?
Of course, the prime example of sheer blindness is the government's response to Bersih by refusing to see it as anything but a 'ploy' by opposition parties to supposedly overthrow the government. I never saw a worse example of bad public relations ever. While there may have been political parties involved in Bersih, the government failed to recognise that there were also many ordinary Malaysians who were watching it all happening and deciding for themselves what they thought of it. And every government misstep became major recruitment ads for Bersih. Ban t-shirts? Join Bersih. Badmouth Ambiga and make ridiculous accusations about her? Join Bersih. Arrest six people, including a popular MP, under Emergency Ordinance? Join Bersih.
If I were the PM, I would have gone down to the street that day on July 9, stood between the FRU and the rallygoers and seen the many Aunties and Uncles and young people who were there, and decided, right, these are not thugs and there has to be a better way to deal with this. That was the moment when leadership should have overwhelmed politics.
There is no denying of course that Bersih had an effect, with the Parliamentary Select Committee being formed and some changes being made. In the end, the Election Commission agreed to using indelible ink. Honestly, did we really have to go through all that rigmarole just to get that? It just goes to show that when there's a will, there's a way. Now we just need the will to implement all the other recommendations. I have a particular bee in my bonnet about the overseas voting. Every few years I see my husband and maid trudge off to the Indonesian embassy to vote in their elect! ions. Ge e, if that country that we constantly look down on can do it, why can't we?
There are other examples of obliviousness in our country. One of the main ones is the habit of being oblivious to the fact that our people are not as dumb as our government thinks it is. Despite our failing education system and our cowed mainstream media, people still manage to rise above the dumbness to learn for themselves what is happening. They can see what are lies, manipulations and injustices. After all, if the Arab people can, why can't we, with our better education and infrastructure? And we can also see when we are being treated like dumb asses.
For instance, there was this bit of news yesterday. All I can say is, if you're fool enough to hand over a cheque for RM1.7million for services not yet rendered, then you're asking for it la. And it's not going to make us more sympathetic, sorry.
I also don't get how oblivious we can be to the fact that the world is watching us. Thus far this year, the rest of the world knows Malaysia as the country that banned line dancing for religious reasons, has a club for women who think they should be whores for their husbands, believes that minorities are overrunning the country, passes a law for peaceful assembly which ostensibly does not allow any assembly, thinks yellow t-shirts are dangerous and that Muslims are being converted by solar-powered electronic Bibles. Are we aiming for the Silliest Country in the World Award? And do we expect to be taken seriously anywhere?
Of course, obliviousness cuts both ways. Our oblivious leaders rely on us being oblivious to what they're up to too. They rely on us accepting uncritically everything they say and do. So when someone says, "This is politically-motivated." or "How would I know what they do?", they expect us to swallow it all and smile benignly at them, poor victims that they are. I despair sometimes when I! see peo ple, especially young people, repeat word for word what is told to them. Most despairingly are the students who say that if they are allowed to participate in politics, they will do badly in their studies. I have to ask, are they straight A students right now? Are they currently embarking on groundbreaking research that they can't take their eyes off their books for even a second, except to make ridiculous statements like that? But then again, when you have lecturers that say this, what can we expect of our students?
I was thinking of doing up a list of Most Oblivious Malaysians in 2011. But I don't think I'll get away with it. Suffice to say, that there are far too many public figures who are oblivious to the fact that, to the rest of us, they are greedy, arrogant, corrupt, stupid and have no business being where they are. And to the fact that we the public are totally sick of all the posturings and pontificatings that they assume we want and need.
The rest of the world is waking up to the fact that in order to survive, you simply have to have your ear to the ground, to genuinely and humbly listen and to give people what they want. It is no use saying that people don't know what they want; sometimes they have to be given what they think they need in order for them to learn. That might mean hardship sometimes. But it has to be their choice, not yours.
It's not easy being non-oblivious. Sometimes it means sleepless nights. But in the longterm, maybe long after we're gone, it'll be worth it.
Wish you all a 2012 that's alert and aware.
In the Arab countries, people went out onto the streets not because they are a bunch of thugs wanting to destabilise the government. They went out because after years and years of repression, they simply got fed up and wanted to say that they want the same things as other human beings around the world - freedom to speak, to have choices, to have a say on what happens to their countries. Why did they 'suddenly' want this? Because they saw that it is possible for other people to have that freedom without their country going to the dogs. In any case, their countries, with so much poverty and unemployment, were already going to the dogs under their leaders. So what was there to lose? For a great summary about the many myths about the Arab Spring, read this by Prof Juan Cole.
Yes,the revolutions remain incomplete and imperfect. The leaders coming in may not be the nicest people on earth but hey, that's what you get with democracy. What the Arab rakyat most cannot stand is corruption so any alternative to that is welcome. If the new lot also proves corrupt and incompetent, then they should know that they'll also face the same protests.
The Arab protests perhaps could be said to have inspired other protests, most ! notably the Occupy movement. The Occupy movement started from people's anger at how the US banks, indeed the whole economic system, have favoured the rich 1% while the other 99% have had to suffer the consequences. When people have lost jobs and their homes, it's hard to read about bankers and other corporate tycoons living it up on huge salaries and bonuses, spending money on all sorts of designer goods and toys. It's the sheer obliviousness of the small number of the wealthy, just like the corrupt Arab dictators, to the fact that people will resent such ostentation insensitively pushed in their faces.
It is also obliviousness that fueled the growth of these Occupy movements. You might be able to count people on the streets but you can't count how widespread the idea behind it is, nor can you control what happens to it. So if you try and dismiss these few people, or worse, try to disperse them with violent means, then you ignite a spark which allows the idea to spread. How can you talk about democracy in the US, say, when the police are teargassing their own citizens in the same way that the Syrian government is? OK, the Syrians are using real bullets but still, what sense of obliviousness is it that let mayors and police chiefs allow their cops to teargas, and in one infamous case, pepperspray students full in the face, and then expect things to peacefully die down? People are no longer ants meant to be sprayed away, nowadays they get larger and bite back.
Which brings me back to the obliviousness in our own country. I wonder why we act as if the rest of the world have nothing to do with us, and yet still want to stand tall in the world? One example of an oblivious statement this year: the MCA guy who said that we should not give overseas Malaysians the right to vote because they don't know the true picture of what is happening back home. Hello, what planet are you on? Have you heard of the internet, or even relatives who can talk on the phone to their famil! ies over seas?
Of course, the prime example of sheer blindness is the government's response to Bersih by refusing to see it as anything but a 'ploy' by opposition parties to supposedly overthrow the government. I never saw a worse example of bad public relations ever. While there may have been political parties involved in Bersih, the government failed to recognise that there were also many ordinary Malaysians who were watching it all happening and deciding for themselves what they thought of it. And every government misstep became major recruitment ads for Bersih. Ban t-shirts? Join Bersih. Badmouth Ambiga and make ridiculous accusations about her? Join Bersih. Arrest six people, including a popular MP, under Emergency Ordinance? Join Bersih.
If I were the PM, I would have gone down to the street that day on July 9, stood between the FRU and the rallygoers and seen the many Aunties and Uncles and young people who were there, and decided, right, these are not thugs and there has to be a better way to deal with this. That was the moment when leadership should have overwhelmed politics.
There is no denying of course that Bersih had an effect, with the Parliamentary Select Committee being formed and some changes being made. In the end, the Election Commission agreed to using indelible ink. Honestly, did we really have to go through all that rigmarole just to get that? It just goes to show that when there's a will, there's a way. Now we just need the will to implement all the other recommendations. I have a particular bee in my bonnet about the overseas voting. Every few years I see my husband and maid trudge off to the Indonesian embassy to vote in their elect! ions. Ge e, if that country that we constantly look down on can do it, why can't we?
There are other examples of obliviousness in our country. One of the main ones is the habit of being oblivious to the fact that our people are not as dumb as our government thinks it is. Despite our failing education system and our cowed mainstream media, people still manage to rise above the dumbness to learn for themselves what is happening. They can see what are lies, manipulations and injustices. After all, if the Arab people can, why can't we, with our better education and infrastructure? And we can also see when we are being treated like dumb asses.
For instance, there was this bit of news yesterday. All I can say is, if you're fool enough to hand over a cheque for RM1.7million for services not yet rendered, then you're asking for it la. And it's not going to make us more sympathetic, sorry.
I also don't get how oblivious we can be to the fact that the world is watching us. Thus far this year, the rest of the world knows Malaysia as the country that banned line dancing for religious reasons, has a club for women who think they should be whores for their husbands, believes that minorities are overrunning the country, passes a law for peaceful assembly which ostensibly does not allow any assembly, thinks yellow t-shirts are dangerous and that Muslims are being converted by solar-powered electronic Bibles. Are we aiming for the Silliest Country in the World Award? And do we expect to be taken seriously anywhere?
Of course, obliviousness cuts both ways. Our oblivious leaders rely on us being oblivious to what they're up to too. They rely on us accepting uncritically everything they say and do. So when someone says, "This is politically-motivated." or "How would I know what they do?", they expect us to swallow it all and smile benignly at them, poor victims that they are. I despair sometimes when I! see peo ple, especially young people, repeat word for word what is told to them. Most despairingly are the students who say that if they are allowed to participate in politics, they will do badly in their studies. I have to ask, are they straight A students right now? Are they currently embarking on groundbreaking research that they can't take their eyes off their books for even a second, except to make ridiculous statements like that? But then again, when you have lecturers that say this, what can we expect of our students?
I was thinking of doing up a list of Most Oblivious Malaysians in 2011. But I don't think I'll get away with it. Suffice to say, that there are far too many public figures who are oblivious to the fact that, to the rest of us, they are greedy, arrogant, corrupt, stupid and have no business being where they are. And to the fact that we the public are totally sick of all the posturings and pontificatings that they assume we want and need.
The rest of the world is waking up to the fact that in order to survive, you simply have to have your ear to the ground, to genuinely and humbly listen and to give people what they want. It is no use saying that people don't know what they want; sometimes they have to be given what they think they need in order for them to learn. That might mean hardship sometimes. But it has to be their choice, not yours.
It's not easy being non-oblivious. Sometimes it means sleepless nights. But in the longterm, maybe long after we're gone, it'll be worth it.
Wish you all a 2012 that's alert and aware.
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