monkey see monkey do

Recent events have made me rethink my position on certain things, namely, politics. Well, that, and people talking some sense into me. See, all my life, this has been my stance on local politics: apathetic. It's not that I don't care about it at all, oh I know as much about, say, the V.K. Lingam video or UMNO's latest electioneering shenanigans as the next person. I care very much about what happens in my country. I just don't do very much about it. I bitch and moan about the sorry state of affairs in this country but I don't vote, I don't take part in activism of any kind. I'm a passivist, if you will. What can I say? I am, after all, a 100% product of the Malaysian Education System. Apathy is what we do best!

In all seriousness though, this is what got me thinking: as you might (or should, actually, shame on you if you don't! Oh and I HAVE come across people who still don't know about this, how can anyone be so ignorant of the affairs going on in their own country? But I digress) know, the Bersih Rally was held recently, calling for electoral reform and basically demanding (not unreasonably) clean and fair elections. It was supposed to be a peaceful and non-violent rally, but of course the government spin doctors touted it as an "anti-government protest". Really, how obtuse do you think we are? Anyway, as usual, I didn't take part in the rally, although I believed in its cause. I justify these things, like not voting, by convincing myself that I really wouldn't have made any difference by going. After all, 1 person not showing up to a rally of 100,000 people wouldn't even be statistically significant, would it? Just like how 1 person not voting wouldn't actually have any substantial impact on the final tally of votes.

Then it hit me: it's not just about making a difference. It's about staying true to your principles. It was simple, actually. In the Bersih Rally case, did I believe in what it stood for and what it was calling for? Yes. Do I want our elections to be clean and fair? Yes. So why the hell wasn't I there rallying with the masses? How long am I going to let other people fight my battles for me? How could I, in good conscience, sit idly by and not stand up for what I believe in? I came to the realization that, although it probably wouldn't matter much whether I turned up for the rally or not, it should matter to me. I'm ending this post with Martin Niemoller's oft-quoted poem about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power, which I think is appropriate (disclaimer: I'm not saying I'm a German intellectual, nor am I calling anyone Nazis, nope, not at all):

First they came for the Socialists, and I didn’t speak up,

because I wasn’t a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn’t speak up,

because I wasn’t a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up,

because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left

to speak up for me.