While the Greek government faced
intense pressures from Germany and some of the other European countries to
accept more and more austerity that will clearly be rejected by most Greeks,
the Greeks appeared to have come up with an interesting way to deal with it –
To not have a government! Is that possible??!! Apparently, it is possible in
a democratic nation.
According to Floyd Norris, the Chief
financial correspondent of the New York Times and The International Herald
Tribune, the elections in Greece held on May 6th, 2012 “seemed to
draw an impasse over the formation of a government”. The two traditional
parties got fewer than a third of the votes between them, which may be fitting
considering that they were responsible for Greece’s current predicament. Nearly
all the rest went to parties that opposed the austerity deal but also despise
each other.
So what happens if no winner is
formed? Well, if no coalition government can be formed, a caretaker
administration would be formed – with no mandate to do anything- and new
elections called; with no assurance that a second or third election would
settle anything.
As I was flipping through the New
Straits Times of the 27th of May 2012, I came across an article that
made me realize something. People are still oblivious towards race and religion
and what’s more, they have a preconceived idea that a person who practices a
certain religion would have a far superior knowledge on the religion than that
of a person who doesn’t. Religion, as many think, can’t be immaculately
conceived in one’s mind!
When the oldest opposition party
leader of Malaysia Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Mat stated that only a Muslim can and
should be the prime minister of Malaysia, I honestly felt perplexed by his
ignorance. Granted that Islam is a predominant religion in Malaysia as it is
practiced by many in Malaysia, it must not be used to determine the political
scene of a nation. It somewhat spells out that non-muslims are insensitive
towards the Muslim faith.
While I was in college I had the
privilege of learning on world religions from the late Dr. Renuka, a born Hindu
(Brahmin) who had an endless reservoir of knowledge when it came to any
religion. As a matter of fact, she inspired me to learn up more on religions.
And during my studies with her, she had made me understand that religion was
something that drew a pattern of the rights and wrongs that helped guide people
through life. When a person knows, without the need of reference, of the rights
and wrongs of life, then he is beyond religion.
Malaysia is still young in many ways.
But that should not be reason for its ignorance. Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was
quoted saying “Malaysia has first world infrastructure but third world
mentality”. The validity of that statement can be seen to resonate in the
actions of the many that seem to be taking the front pages of our Malaysian
newspapers. To change such mentality, one must find ways to look beyond
religion and race and understand that human beings act the same way, it is only
the cultures that make them vary. Religion is just an add-on to a person’s
life. It should function as a point of reference and nothing more. When one
lets religion dictate one’s life, he becomes a slave to the religion with God
as nothing but a tyrant. Heaven is on earth. Not finding it now and hoping to
find it after death is what I call PROCRASTINATING. So go find it, if not you,
for GOD’s sake!
Many, at this point, might look at
this article as nothing but another petty rant of a youth. The generation that
wants to be heard… Also many might be confused as to why there is not link
between the ideas in the article. Well, is there a naturally existing order in
the universe or is there order because we gave it? The Greek scenario can
happen in Malaysia because of the politicians themselves – ruling and non-ruling
party alike.
If religion and race are going to be
taking centre stage, Malaysia will soon face social problems caused by
political parties, with the possibility of riots happening all over again (and
please know the difference between a RIOT, PROTEST and RALLY). As a nation
participating in the current global economic scene, we, as Malaysians, can’t
afford for such mishaps. Malaysians are becoming aware that we can either vote
for, vote against, or just not vote, whichever is the lesser of evils. Talking
about religion and race which stirs up mud in the social pool would certainly
not be welcomed by the general masses in the near future. So start working on
ideas on uplifting the country and work towards common goals that would benefit
MALAYSIANS (no matter what their ethnicity may be). Don’t know where to start?
Well, get rid of the race and religion columns from official forms…
By,
Ashveen Chakravarthy Sekaran
2nd June 2012
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