How can I be neutral ….
When I’m hearing words from a BN candidate who’s underlying message is "I can’t speak up for you?" or it’s more like "I won’t speak up for you?"
How can I be neutral …
When the mainstream newspapers spam us with BN propaganda on development which any elected government is responsible to do anyway?
How can I be neutral …
When I’m a trusted source tells me that people are paid money to vote BN?
How can I be neutral …
When advertisements from BN and component parties are splashed all over the newspapers treating us like unthinking citizens, and worse when it feels like implied threats? (I haven’t even mentioned what’s shown on TV yet!)
How can I be neutral …
When I read words like this … "my friends and I are very aware of how this MP and his/her family benefits from government contracts, and how his/her family benefits in so many ways. This really disgusts us. My friends and I have a close knowledge of the family’s riches. This is an UMNO elitist family. This kind of reign needs to be put to an end."
How can I be neutral …
When I hear bullying happening in smaller towns, and Opposition volunteers and even Civil society initiatives are blocked from meeting people?
How can I be neutral …
When I see … unnecessary use of force on a pregnant DAP candidate?
… police disrupting Keadilan Ceramah at Kelana Jaya?
How can I be neutral …
When I see my friends (in my view) are potentially "used" by BN candidates to paint them in a better light than they really are? Or to mute their more non-partisan stance publicly? (Worse is when the initial agenda sounded "non-political" but in this context totally became a campaign)
How can I be neutral …
… ______________________________________ (Fill in the blanks, I don’t want to continue because it’s too draining and disappointing )
How can we be neutral in the light of all that’s going on thus far?
* * *
As a pastor, when couples come with their relationship problems, in normal situations we need to be more neutral to help both parties resolve the matter. That’s an ideal scenario.
But there are times when it is not a "normal-neutral" scenario …
I have heard abused wives sometimes in denial, other times feeling powerless, and often being lied to and disrespected again and again by a husband who has severe denial and problems himself. And before any possible healthy way forward for these individuals is for the abused party to stand up and say "NO! Enough is enough!". The abuse must STOP first, and then Counseling will be meaningful. Before any process of healing involving forgiveness, and reconciliation is truly helpful, we will need to face the painful truth of denial, dysfunction, and abuse. Sweeping it under the carpet with sweet sounding words not only are not helpful, it’s blatantly harmful for both the parties.
Similar to a socio-cultural-political scenario, where many of us would prefer and try to play a non-partisan and be a voice to both those in power governing and those in opposition keeping checks and balances. This is especially true for civil society initiatives from NGOs, and religious bodies like churches.
We may all have differing political views, ideologies, philosophies of life and religious perspectives that inform how we make choices in life. And I suppose in normal circumstances, a healthy respect needs to be there when we engage one another in all sincerity and truthfulness. It’s an ongoing difficult and yet needed process which assumes an environment which allows it to happen.
But this is not the case, and we are no longer in a "normal-neutral" scenario …
To me it’s not even about being partisan, whether it’s pro-opposition or anti-BN .. that’s merely the surface. it’s already beyond that …
It’s about Stopping the downward spiral of an environment of continual denial, dysfunction and abuse which harms and hurts EVERY PERSON who has a heart beating in Malaysia. Many people might not care, there will always be voices who are still apathetic or even escapist … Some are sincerely misinformed and misled ….
it’s emotional (Sure! We are human! Inner energy is needed to stand up against abuse… and these are issues of the heart here!), but it’s also reasonable (Because we are thinking creatures, and we are thinking together keeping a check and balance internally and externally). But more than that it’s moral and spiritual too … because we are people with conscience (at least), for many we have religious beliefs and values which demand us to be accountable.
… and for ALL of us (some for the first time), we need to START Voting not only with the ballots tomorrow (which is not the finishing line by the way but actually the starting line!). We will need to commit to Keep on voting with the way we choose to live and relate with one another in ways that no one can use us, or abuse us politically or in any other way.
