Wednesday, May 14, 2008

On Malaise

Kurang Ajar by Usman Awang

Sebuah perkataan yang paling ditakuti
Untuk bangsa kita yang pemalu.
Sekarang kata ini kuajarkan pada anakku;
Kau harus menjadi manusia kurang ajar
Untuk tidak mewarisi malu ayahmu.
Lihat petani-petani yang kurang ajar
Memiliki tanah dengan caranya
Sebelumnya mereka tak punya apa
Kerana ajaran malu dari bangsanya.
Suatu bangsa tidak menjadi besar
Tanpa memiliki sifat kurang ajar.

I begin this posting by my long-admired poem by Usman Awang which I think describes sufficiently well some of Malays characteristics. We have long been taught by generations to observe manners and courtesies in daily life. While it is definitive to demonstrate the Eastern values that we carry, sometimes we got carried forward by unduly conducting the same manner in place where we are demanded to be firm and uncompromising. As the last two sentences reveal, the nation will not develop should we stick to be ‘shy’ to demand the rightful things which are ours. In today’s context, striving to top the chart in education, social class and economic well-being of an individual ought not to carry above characteristics to circumvent any obstruction in nation (Malay) development.



Malays are funny people. Sometimes they are ‘shy’ (I find it quite hard to translate the word ‘malu’ into the right context) to do the rightful things but are completely oblivious engaging in immoral activities. They are ‘shy’ when asked to speak up their mind but not when raising voice arguing the necessaries. They are ‘shy’ to challenge the superior but not when criticizing the subordinates. They are ‘shy’ to change what is not right in a holistic systems but not when changes bring individual interests. Worse, they are ‘shy’ to admit they can stand alone but not when provoked for being gullible and start defending his stand. A father is not ‘shy’ to tell the child to abstain from smoking but he himself smokes. Funny eh! I do not know if I can say that Malays are lack of wisdom and perhaps should learn from other nations. Hang on, while Malays are malaise, how can they want to learn from others?! When Mahathir said that loyalty should no longer be the values of Malays, I whole-heartedly agree with him for being loyal means we are trapped to explore further to develop more.

Excuses or finding reasons to move forward have long been the platform that we stand on. We keep on asking what if so and so occur and what is going to happen to me. On a more sarcastic note, we are scared to face the challenge ahead and always find reasons to support our stands to adopt stay back and look attitude. We are still not aware that success comes with risk, it does not come by just waiting for it. We should discard the what-if attitude and step ahead to be at par with other nations.

Undeniably, it can be observed that some Malays are not longer the Malays 50 years ago. But, are we competent enough to ensure the rest of the ‘left-behind Malays’ and our future generations are capable to cope with the changes and challenges in todays’ demanding world? Or should we just discard the ‘left-behind Malays’ (since the malaise attitude is too resistant to change) and move forward (quicker and faster without them) to develop our own new Malay nation? Should we be loyal to our old Malays?

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