Colonized still, our sorry minds are...
Technorati tags: Commentary, Colonized Minds, The Malaysian Insider, Farah Fahmy, Yoda
Post title reflects what Yoda would probably have commented, had the fictitious sage read this piece.
It's another excellent write-up by Farah Fahmy, whose previous opinion pieces on The Malaysian Insider have been great reads.
Farah makes an astute observation: "To me, a colonised mind is one that cannot tell the difference between a gathering of citizens intent on change through peaceful means, and a gathering of groups intent on malice and mayhem."
PM Najib was more spot on than he probably wanted to be when he said that there's a risk of the Malaysian minds being re-colonized. What the PM doesn't want to admit is who is it exactly that's the colonizer in this case.
As it is, day in day out the media reports intently on another attempt at re-colon-izing our mind, but that's a totally different story.
In any case, do give Farah's opinion piece a read in full... it'll be well worth your effort.
Colonised minds
I happen to agree with him that there is indeed a threat of the colonisation of the mind, but perhaps not in the way he thinks.
I personally was not affected by the London riots, but my local area, Clapham Junction, was one of the areas of London that was badly affected. For days after I felt very angry every time I walked past boarded-up shops on my way to my local train station.
A friend of mine asked if such things could happen in Malaysia. Of course not, I said, because our authorities would get the water cannons and tear gas out at the first sign of trouble.
From the Malaysian side I heard and read a lot of comments about how such trouble hasn’t taken place in our country because “God still loves Malaysia”, or “see what happens when you have too much freedom.” Even our political leaders have weighed in with comments like “this is why we don’t allow demonstrations.”
As someone who has been to rallies and demonstrations, and witnessed teenage boys smashing up the windows of one of my local shops, I can categorically tell you that riots and demonstrations are two different things.
Yes, some demonstrations descend into violence and riots, but that is the price a democratic society has to pay sometimes. There may have been riots or disturbances in the former Communist countries and some in America during the Vietnam War, but would you rather live in the USSR, or the US?
To me, a colonised mind is one that cannot tell the difference between a gathering of citizens intent on change through peaceful means, and a gathering of groups intent on malice and mayhem.
