Friday, December 08, 2006


Burst your bubble.

Assalamualaikum wrh. wbt.

On the flight back, I was accosted by images of the Malaysian ideal -- a place for leisure; for shopping, for dawdling at odd angles in the sun, for eating, for bright sunny days and taking in the delights of the tropical rainforests.

And it scared me.
I was frightened.

Because the Malaysian ideal is becoming less and less Malaysian by the second.

Has it ever struck you that the standard and gauge we use to analyse the world is becoming less Malaysian, and more Western? Now, I'm not trying to segregate different schools of thought here, but it is very striking how much the way we evaluate something is becoming less of our own, and more to the ideals presented to us by the media, which is made up by, in turn, the ideals of a society hiding behind the facade of awe-inspiring glamour (read: Hollywood) -- a society which, in trying to figure out its own culture and ideals, seeks to enrapture others in their own way of thinking.

Just today, in one of the free tabloid dailies that arrive at my doorstep every morning, was a column dedicated to 'the voice of the youth'. Both were diatribes of the most trivial kind: the young woman went on and on about how age is nothing but a number, and the young man indulged in a self-justifying essay (which Mark Tredinnick would scorn for sure, for its lack of substance) about why he was only sticking around, 'shaking leg' in Malaysia, fulfilling his filial duty (towards his parents which he is 'not very fond of'), waiting for a transfer overseas to fall from the sky.

Both were topics that have been exhausted within an inch of their lives. Both were stale, and did not at all interest me. Both were rants of the most selfish kind -- superficial, and unpersuasive.

So tell me, is this the voice of Malaysian youth today?

My lawyer friend and neighbour had a chat with me the other day about the difference between the Australian youth and the Malaysian youth. We both observed that the youth in this country of ours had their opinions and their thoughts beaten into submission.

The Malaysian youth -- which I shall from this point onwards refer to as 'remaja', for want of a shorter phrase -- have evolved into self-centered, hedonistic young adults who can't care less beyond what affects them and transcends generations.

Don't get me wrong. I love my country. Or else, with all the livability of Melbourne, I wouldn't think of coming back home. I love my homeland -- the only country I've grew up in -- so much so that this slacktitude hurts me. It makes me sad. It also gives me a headache when I think about it for too long.

We are the people this country relies on to bring it forward. Instead, we're too concerned with petty relationships, our appearances and having a good time to care much about the state the world is in.

I don't blame the youth of Malaysia. Well, not completely. It's easy to get sucked into a mind-vaping environment. I've only been a week back, and I've gone from channel-surfing with disdain at the utter lack of substance of the shows screened here, to actually getting stuck in front of the idiot box for nearly hours at a time (admittedly, in front of the Disney Channel, which is the only channel whose shows seem to contain any semblance of a message, other than CNN and Al-Jazeera in English, which is simply awesome, man).

The thing I wonder is, isn't the generation before us, i.e. our parents, concerned by our lack of empathy?

Again, I don't fully blame them. They had lived through years of evolution of minds. Maybe they find this lack of action to their liking. Maybe they've decided that the revolutions of the youth have had more than their fair share of say.

Sadly, as a result, the remaja seem to be hurtling into a heads-on collision of self-destruction and disrepair.

Rempits, prostitution, porn, fornication, child-murder, rape. Those are just a few of the tragedies that seem to have become the norm in today's world. And Malaysia is no less prevalent.

I guess my point is that the remaja -- the crux of the future of Malaysia -- have to wake up and burst this little bubble they've enclosed themselves in. We have to realize that we hold the fate of our nation in our hands. We are the ones who will inherit this land, whether we like it or not, and sooner or later, we're going to have to lead and govern it. We're going to shape the way of things to come. For a start, we've got to realize that having original thought is not a crime, despite what others might say.

And while we're at it, let's stop caring so much what other people think, and start thinking more about the benefits, rather than the popularity of our actions.

Let's stop indulging in 'emoting' out thoughts out with rubbish vocab that is all style and little else, and start talking about things that matter -- things that have the potential to make a change in someone's lives. Let's take it a step forward, and match our talk with our actions. Talk is cheap (if done correctly, heck, it can be free!), and in the end, if we don't do as we say, the only people we're fooling are ourselves.

Let's dare to be different. Let's dare to brave through difficult times, just for the sake of what results in the end, even if we won't live to see it. If you believe in the Hereafter, show it with the things you do, and the principles you believe in. If you don't, well, think about what you're going to leave behind for your children. Do you want to let them inherit a shell of an existance?

If you love your country, the way God meant you to, then prove it. Make a change for the better. Think for others, not just for yourself.

Let's quit being full-time optimists and start being full-time activists. And stop acting as if CHANGE is a dirty word.

Because trust me, it's not. In fact, for a monosyllabic, it's actually quite rewarding.

'Rasulullah once mentioned in a hadith, as narrated by Imam Ahmad:
"Islam began foreign, and it will end foreign, so the foreigners (ghurabaa) should rejoice."

When asked by the sahabi, "Who are these foreigners, O Prophet of Allah?"

He explained, "They are those who make right what has been wronged by mankind."'


Thank you for letting this reminder for myself become a reminder to you, as well.

Jazakumullahu khayr.

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this has been a rant by Syazwina Saw at 6:48 pm

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