Im an activist because I cannot imagine not being one. It may seem scary to be one but its a matter of taking a position and aligning oneself to ones beliefs, as best as one can. I will give an example here, in the hope that it can inspire others to do the same. A week before Thaipusam, I was alerted to a commotion right outside my house. On stepping out, I saw two policemen checking the papers of two Indian men on a motorcycle. The guy riding pillion was carrying grass cutting tools so I knew they were grass cutters. Both looked glum because they knew they would probably have to hand over some of their hard-earned money to the policemen. Apa hal, encik? I asked the younger and bigger one of the two policemen, who smiled and proceeded to explain to me that they were doing a routine check because there had been an attempted robbery two weeks earlier in the area which left a robber shot dead (this is true). I then told the policemen that these two men were not robbers as they were grass-cutters as they had done jobs for me (not true, but I had no doubt they were bona fide grass cutters). The policeman then repeated it was a necessary check and it was OK, I should just not worry and go on my way. Instead, I dug my heels in, engaging the policeman on how the police needed to go after the real criminals instead of wasting time to question people who were just looking to earn a small livelihood. This conversation went on for at least 15 minutes with neither side giving way. Finally, I mentioned that I wrote a blog (not true) and that I appreciated being able to talk to him because I could write about it on my blog as people needed to know how hard-working the police were in looking after their neighbourhood. This proved to be turning point because the policeman suddenly became nicer. He snapped his notebook shut, declared that everything seemed in order and nodded for the two Indian men – both by now beaming – to go. What I learned from this incident was this: the Universe does not call on us to shed our blood, perform great sacrifices or acts of bravery but to stand our ground whenever we see acts of injustice and unfairness take place. Sometimes it just requires us to lend our voice and assert our presence to do this. It may take a bit of our precious time, but we can make a big difference. And we should also remember this: perpetrators of wrongdoing cannot stand being exposed and shamed. That day, I did what I did because I felt affronted that this attempted act of extortion was taking place right in front of my gate – basically, I decided it was not acceptable. I would do it again in a flash.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 04:48:58 +0000
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