When I said "Why a few billions missing don't bother Malaysians", I include myself as part of the Malaysians, and I am saying this with regret and guilt because I am very part of the flawed community.
In the classic case of 1MDB, we have read about how billions have been misappropriated but what did Malaysians do about such thing?
[Of course, I do take heart of some of the rally and protests by students in recent weeks and a greater awareness among my country-mates]
We have read about it, talk about it for a while and then we put it at rest.
Businessmen will say there is no point talking about it. Stability is more important.
Investors will probably tell you the same thing.
Fellow neighbors will talk about it over breakfast or teh tarik but if you realized, at the end of the day, most people eventually accept the fact that it is better for things to be stable.
"Why go for Bersih when it won't make any difference?"
"I will go if it makes a difference"
"This is BolehLand la. Anything can happen."
Here are some of the news reports that actually give reasons on why the man linked with the 1MDB scandal will not be affected by it:
And then we have some of the communities in the country that feel the community well being are more important. They want some donation in the form of rice, water, etc. Just look at the Sarawak election results and ask yourself how significant is the missing billions to the community.
There is nothing wrong in demanding for the well-being of our community being taken care of first, but the bigger problem lies with the acceptance of bribery, corruption and injustice as part of our society in exchange for these "well-being".
Most people don't feel anything about the billions missing because it does not affect their wallet. Most people don't feel anything wrong with corruption because it doesn't hurt them directly. Imagine the businessmen talking about stability if the billions were directly taken from their profit. Try hearing the same thing from investors.
In fact, a lot of people see "benefits" in this culture. Just look at how the "white leg" officers stand to benefit from the traffic offenders especially during the festive seasons you will know how accepting we are as a nation.
Yes, even when I write this, I am not doing anything more than my fellow Malaysians, but perhaps it is time to know deep within that it hurts, to the core of a society.
In the past, Malaysia was compared to countries like Singapore, Japan and South Korea. Today, we are in the league with countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia etc.
Is there something wrong with the country? Yes, there is. But before we even start pointing our fingers to our leaders, we should look within ourselves, because we reflect the community that we have become.
It is sad to see how politicians openly talk about issues such as 1MDB, MO1, and felt nothing wrong with it. It is even more painful to see how people see race as a bigger problem than the corruption as big as billions.
Perhaps the change has to start from within us, so that the next time we look at a Malaysian of a different skin color than us, we will be really looking at another fellow human being, loved by God and unique in his or her own way. Perhaps the next time someone talked about "duit kopi", we could stand up against them even if it means paying the extra RM300.
I think Gandhi said it best when he said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world"
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