We Lack Courage

I had lunch yesterday with a good friend who was lamenting to me how the "stupid" Thais had ruined her opportunity for a business trip to Bangkok.

Like every other Malaysian, politics don't feature prominently in her list of priorities. Complaining about injustices certainly rank very highly.

That indeed, is the trademark of the average Malaysian - to expect someone else to fix national issues because "nothing can be done" and "peace is paramount" - evidently, even over justice.


So I found myself actually admiring the Thais for their courage and passion to take to the streets and fight for what they believed in.

I wonder what it is about the Thais that make them so different from the Malaysians. We share the same border, and consequently, the same sea. In fact, I suspect we also share the same genetics, for the most part.

And yet, the Thais have more courage to hold their ground and refuse to be bullied.

Meanwhile, we cower away at the merest suggestion of unrest. We laud 'peace' and 'harmony' as our greatest traits, as if we possess no other.

In failing to stand up for our rights, we wonder why some of us are treated like second-class citizens.

Haris Ibrahim poses some very painfully direct questions at those of us who have stood around and done nothing.

The sad question is, did our forefathers cross oceans and seas to come to this land, give so much of themselves to build the early infrastructure and lay the foundation for a budding economy, only to have their progeny treated as second class citizens in that same land?

In our silence and grin-and-bear-it attitude, we make a mockery of their efforts and dreams.