Malaysia, let’s be more human!

Malaysia, let’s be more human!

By Cikgu Surin

Food has always been considered as one of the most exciting element when it comes to our country. Yes, the foods that bring us together despite of our differences – race, religion, belief, etc. All the cosy-never-sleep mamak’s restaurants are never run out of customer and style as well. With their well-programmed waiters who are able to settle up our bills by using their brain’s calculator and speedy mouth. The makcik who sells nasi lemak along the pavement with her beautiful daughter and a bit talkative when it comes to choosing our lauk. The Siamese hawkers preparing nasi goreng pattaya for their customers. With all these scenario in our country, we can still live together in peace. These are the little things that makes Malaysia so unique and interesting. After all, it just the matter of unity.

Recently, we, Malaysian have witnessed a tremendously-historic general election for the first time in our life. Ever. As days passed by, people are expecting something great or big from the current government. Although the government has changed and the country’s highest stakeholders have shifted, sadly - the mentality of the Malaysian still remains the same. We still throw our used tissues while driving, park our car like crazy kids – even kids are better than us, never run out of ‘ideas’ when it comes to commenting a certain issue on Facebook and not forgetting the variety of over-gestured dancing styles. Yes, Malaysia is developing so fast and surely will become one of the richest country in South East Asia. But, the Malaysian are still poor – intellectually, financially, mentally and spiritually poor. We still have lot of families living in poverty. Poverty is a state of deprivation, lacking the usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. We can see some of our children are lack of nutritious food, a very slight opportunity in receiving proper education, people are struggling to earn some money and some might even sleep along the roadside - in the city. After all these emotionally-ripped events, where did we go wrong? What is the actual problem?

If we can launch Tabung Harapan for the government, why can’t we do the same thing when it comes to helping the people in need? Those people have hungry mouths to feed and need place to live in. All hail to the big-hearted people and NGOs (Non-Government Organisations) for their passion, love, care and support in helping those in need. These are the people who are willing to sacrifice their time, family and other commitments in order to do their part in helping the community. The people that would jeopardize their life just to see some smiley faces. We have been watching their faces crinkled in bewilderment gasping for help and relentlessly hoping to survive in this challenging era.

Plus, recently, an organisation have captured our attention in the social media as they were sharing tons of pictures and videos of them – providing help to the poor. The unsung heroes from Madrasah Darus Sunnah (MADS) consists of several young lads with an enormously big heart in doing their part to help the community. It is amazing to see some of our youths can participate and keen to help the community without receiving any funds from the government. This shows that we still can do our part in helping the community without relying totally to the government. It is time for us to change and make a metamorphosis within ourselves for the sake of our country. There are no better time than now because at the end of the day, we realised that – it’s time to give back to the community. John F. Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”  Let’s change our perspective and the way we think regarding the community work. It is time for us to stop politicizing issues and start to prioritize what the country’s most important needs and hence, pump in the evergreen slogan in our veins – Keranamu Malaysia!