CONFLICT AND COMPROMISE AS A WAY

The current flow of governance or management in the country seems a far cry from the steadier or less tumultuous days before March 2008. It cannot be said because there is a change in the person who flicks the whip or the henchmen. They are identically the same but there is perceptibly a huge change and slowdown.

What ails? What is the malady? A breeze of uncertainty, discontent or dejection seems to hover in the air. Probably it is non-contagious but surely the whiffs seem to pervade the wide corners of the country and if not arrested quickly it could build up into a large cloud and may darken the countryside.

This is my perception or put it in a mild way “as I see it” the cliché often used by writers. The catastrophe that hit the neighboring countries recently and continuing to toll the death statistics are alarming and scary. Whatever warning it is meant to be, no one takes heed.

The exploiting or exploding world oil prices now rattle most countries with prices of all goods jumping higher and higher. Food shortage also hits the headline. Redirection is slow and almost non-moving though in Malaysia we hear of replanting and agricultural inclination made by the relevant ministry. Take heed.

Conflicts of personalities rear its ugly heads and continuing unabated. The Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and Dr Mahathir Mohamad are embroiled over issues which suddenly encapsulate many commentators noticeable in the print and electronic media. All manner of homo-sapiens have joined in the bandwagon addressing the issues as if they are righteous and all knowing. Comments and brickbats keep growing especially in the blogs compounded by its hysterical expansion because seemingly influencing the electorates recently. Schisms between other leaders and directions added to the fry. Some words have become sacrosanct less they infuriates the multiracial identity. ‘Ketuanan’ gets corrected. Live television screening of parliament sittings in the name of improvement saw actions galore too. Very recently fishermen in Johore get the freedom to roam the waters close to Pulau Batuan Tengah and Terumbu Karang Selatan but significantly Malaysia lost Pulau Batu Puteh. These and many more in the words of Shakespeare picked from the literature which we were inundated with before “when sorrows come, they come not in single spies but in battalions” Hamlet, 4.5, 78-9. Aren't these food for thoughts?

The complexity and intensity need immediate and profound review and accomplishment.

I am also taken up by such comparison to personalities as ‘one is a case of commission while the other is omission’ and other direct hits or judgments. It appears that unlike archeologists, historians, researchers or PhD students who dwell into their cases with reverence, patience, diligence over a stipulated period and the right tools while considering all points of view and registering their biases if any of the primary sources or of their own, before reaching any decision, compromise or opinion, present day commentators freely diagnose their personal opinion based on merits known to themselves only and guided by sources with much untested facts as any and over an immediate time span .

In all earnest Malaysian who cares for peace, stability and the practiced equilibrium need fast tracking to curtail all disorders and leadership struggle. Let’s hope whatever conflicts big or small see its compromises. More so when we read the message below.

Sunday 25 May 2008
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As I signed off this piece, I am appalled to read the breaking news as on the mast head of Yahoo which I quote

“ …… convinced the planet’s oil supply is dwindling and the world’s economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving into homesteads, learning to live of their land, conserving fuel and in some cases stocking up guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn’t prepare” Associated Press Writer Sat May 24, 2008.