Over the last few years I have sent several letters to different mainstream newspapers – none was ever published! While respecting their right to not publish my letters, I honestly believe they were not doing the public any favours by denying them some home truth, however unpalatable to some. Is it not their duty to present the views of all sides, of all shades and colours, as long as they are not total untruth or slanderous?
To make my point, I would like to share with the readers one of the letters that I had sent in to all the mainstream papers but was never published. The letter is now, of course, somewhat outdated and will have to be read against the background of events that were taking place when it was written – at the height of the Tun Mahathir bashing. The following is the main extract of the letter:
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“I’m getting very confused with all the goings-on in the country of late – when elders, and just about every notable political personality or rising aspirant, squabble in public without restraint; when condemnations are heaped on an elder all because he insists on exercising his right. In this case he also happens to be a “very well informed elder” who wants to see (some claim, unreasonably and destructively) something wrong being put right.
Is that not something to be welcomed? Is that not, in fact, the right of all citizens? So why the seeming vendetta?
All these are very confusing to me, not having access to the “inner” thinking. Like many others I can only try to make sense of it all from the street level. I thought I would put my layman observations and views, confused as they are, in a poem to be shared with your readers.
Is that not something to be welcomed? Is that not, in fact, the right of all citizens? So why the seeming vendetta?
All these are very confusing to me, not having access to the “inner” thinking. Like many others I can only try to make sense of it all from the street level. I thought I would put my layman observations and views, confused as they are, in a poem to be shared with your readers.
MY LAYMAN QUANDARY
He had achieved so much – way much more than many had ever thought possible
He made us believe the feats we can do – and gave such confidence to our people
He was tireless and determined when fighting for issues that were of importance
Just as he was uncompromising and fearless in pursuing the interest of our nation
Had he really been all these? I had thought so, like so many others in the millions
When they asked him to remain in the position; chanted his virtues, his brilliance
Yet it would seem he had become so different, spewing venom at every utterance
And drawing such condemnations even from those he had tutored and championed
How could I have been so wrong to believe in him for all the great things he did?
How could he be this irresponsible and outright traitorous as the many have said?
The cheek of him to criticize with such arrogance; what right did he think he had?
He ought to be muzzled, his rights removed, expelled from the team he recently led!
It is hard for me the uninformed and unconnected to fathom all these intelligently
To feel indebted to someone so deeply only to be told he is such knave suddenly
Yet such seems to be the views of the informed, spouted with such fierce emotion
As if competing with one another to come up with the most scathing condemnation
Such strong words and emotion in our culture must come from strong motivation
For we do not lash out with blatant rudeness to elders regardless of the situation
And more so if that someone had our dizzy approval during his impressive tenure
Who had our respect, who toiled and worked endlessly to make the country better
Yet today they say he is bent on attacking and destroying our newly added edifice
Out of sheer jealousy, missing the glory, whatever, since voluntarily leaving office
All not making sense, but the competing gladiators must know what they’re saying
For like Anthony said “…Brutus is a wise man, and so are they all, all wise men”
Yet I worry when too much righteousness is assumed by wise men such as them
When logic and fairness are smothered silent with such intense and fiery emotion
When wanton condemnations are readily made without sober fair considerations
When everything is just black or white and nothing in between, allowing no options
And so I remain in this quandary – to trust these wise men or my modest instinct
Join this feeding frenzy or perhaps use my God-given faculty and for myself think
For I remember a recent poem that might have bearing on this unhappy, sad state
Strongly urging the silent many to start thinking for themselves before it’s too late”
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There you are – that was one of the letters that never got published. Now I ask you, what was so unacceptable in the letter that it deserved to be silenced – the truth?
We, the Rakyat, need to make our voices heard on matters of concern to sometime help the leaders make better decisions and do the right thing. This is a key role of the people. And we should be able to have access to facilities for such communication, and not be shut out simply because what we say differ from the prevailing “popular” views. In any case, such a move will really not stop us from thinking. And surely we do not want to create an unthinking nation in the first place, do we? Or do we?
Shutting out my letters and not letting me share my thoughts seems to say “indeed we do”!
3 comments:
I feel exactly the same as expressed in your poem. I'm sure many are able to fathom the reasons why your letter was not published by the `mainstream' news papers except, perhaps, by some selected few (that we could, again, guess which ones too, I think).
Perhaps, this blogging-channel, is a more appropriate channel for such thoughts (as expressed in your other excellent postings too). It is, perhaps, more appropriate that people who look for serious thought-provoking matters to read do have such to read. I wish, however, that this channel is more easily accessible to more people because for peole like a 64 year old me, coming across such an excellent blog address as this is more by chance (through someone informing me about it). Please continue with your excellent blogging, Sir. I will try to pass on your site to as many more people
Thank you, sir, for the kind words and thank you much more for adding to the pathetically tiny chorus of independent thoughts.
We really need more non-partisan views to make them more ecoherent. As it is, every criticism of the leadership or the government seems to make us less-than-loyal, while every criticism of the opposition seems to make make us government stooge! How insulting - as if we cannot think for ourselves!
i wish we can say what we think without worried and that more will do so. i also appreciate what our previous leaders have done and we must be grateful to them because without them we wont bre where we are today.
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