It's Gradual, Of Course

RPK has this piece about frogs.

Now RPK hasn't suddenly gone and developed a fondness for amphibians.

And it's not about the political turncoats who calmly defect to another political party upon being offered something more "lucrative".


Oh no, not this time.

This time, it's about the common Malaysian. And the gradual erosion of our rights, which we never notice, simply because it's so .... gradual.

An old folks tale has it that if you put a frog in a pan of cold water and raise the temperature ever so slowly, the gradual warming will make the frog settle down comfortably - until it eventually cooks to death.

Which is pretty much what's happening to us Malaysians, who seem blissfully oblivious to the significance of politics in our lives, and the necessity in placing an active role in it.

To be fair, quite a few other bloggers have brought up the average Malaysian's apathetic attitude towards politics. Zewt spins us a story about a man who thought that as long as he had money, he'd never suffer the consequences of a poor administration.

Parents tell their children that if they studied hard and got good results, they would get a scholarship to pursue their choice of career.

But that only works out when you have good governance and a fair administration that is transparent and is not corrupt or does not discriminate.

So yet again, top scorers discover that PSD scholarships are not guaranteed. Even if they deserve it.

But then, they only have their parents to blame. For they thought that minding their own business and shunning politics was a wise course of action.