Category: society at large

Mid-Point Reflection of the Year

2020 has been a roller-coaster so far. I remember back in January, when a group of us were sitting around enjoying our scrumptious meal, we briefly discussed the Covid situation in Wuhan. How terrible it must have been to be on a lockdown and not get to celebrate Chinese New Year with family and friends. We lamented and pitied, as if it were a tragedy happening to other people; as if we would never have to worry about the same affliction affecting us. How wrong were we! Who would have thought? In hindsight, we should’ve known better, seeing that we were all doctors on the table.

It’s almost embarrassing looking back and seeing all the memes that were circulating around, poking fun at how people were excessively cautious and concerned about Covid. I too, was guilty for partaking in the meme jokes at that time. But then things took a drastic turn, and before we knew it we were were all caught off guard. The tardiness in response has cost this country tremendously. One had to ask, how did we get here? How are we so not ready for this? But most of all, what will it take for us to recover?

Just when I thought things couldn’t have been worse, news about George Floyd being murdered by a police surfaced, and the police brutality towards protesters were even more atrocious. How could they?! I couldn’t understand how any human being had the capacity to hurt another being just like that, but I guess that’s the definition of brutality. I want to know, how are they able to sleep at night for doing such heinous acts? How do they tell their kids that “daddy went to work today and my job was to hurt other people without any provocation”, even though their profession is supposed to do the opposite? How do they reconcile with that discordance? Do they even care? Do they really think what they’re doing is right? Do they feel that their acts are justified because they’re merely following orders (if that at all)? I want to know if there’s another side of things from their perspective. Alas, my imagination fails me, no matter how hard I try- I can’t imagine how such acts could warrant a justification. It makes me really sad that even though we, as a human race, have made huge strides in many aspects, fundamental things like ensuring certain people’s human rights and basic access to healthcare for that matter, are still stuck in the past, making no progress at all.

It is the year Twenty Twenty. Pandemic has claimed so many lives, and in some ways there is a component of helplessness because we couldn’t tell who it will infect, and who will perish from it. There is a random factor to it. On the contrary, the inequalities that the African American people are facing is something we can do something about. There’s no randomness it it. We have a broken justice system, and inequality is real. We can use our voice, our actions to push for a change. This is unacceptable. Black lives matter too.

Humans are forgetful beings. If there’s anything we learn from history, it’s that sometimes we don’t learn from it at all. We need to remind ourselves that change doesn’t happen overnight, and that every human lives matter, regardless of race. We need to remind ourselves tragedies like that happen every day, lest we get comfortable and move on, forgetting about that day’s events, just like how so many lives were taken and forgotten. When the protesters get tired and the news dies down in a few weeks, we still have work to do. We have to continue to fight for justice. There are a lot we can do to change things; keeping silent is not one of them.

As I sit here in my living room, I can hear protests on the streets. While I chose not to go out and join the protest, I will do my part to stand with them. I will read more and educate myself, I will donate to some of the funds to help them, and I will continue to engage in conversations surrounding these discussions.

Spiralling Chaos

Posted by a friend on Instagram, thought it’s worth sharing here. #repost (Thanks friend!)
Credit goes to the author, whose name I can’t see clearly, but is the lady in the picture. 

To save you from squinting your eyes, I’m retyping the passage here:

When I was about 15 I got pretty overexcited when, through my combination of school subject choices, I came across the concept of duende. 

It’s a Spanish word with no English translation that could be loosely explained as as expression of the feeling we all have that life is both incredibly heavy and feather-light at the same time. 

While my intense teenage attachment to duende as a concept has faded, there is something about discovering the word that sticks with me. 

Whenever I think of it, I’m reminded that language governs thought. The lack of the word duende in English doesn’t just connote a cultural reluctance to discuss the feeling it represents. Instead, the fact it’s missing from our vocabulary actually prevents us from conceptualising the idea fully – without the word, we can only communicate a pale imitation of what it describes. 

And now, as I try to find something useful to do about the parlous state of the world’s most powerful – the unstable and dangerous Trump, and our Government’s pandering to him – I run into a sort of similar problem with language. 

The verbs that describe the actions within our reach – organise, protest, resist – they’re tainted. I’m not sure how it happened, but in my mind those words have come to be associated with privileged people complaining en masse because they don’t understand others’ realities, rather than with legitimate community movements. 

The fact that these words have been twisted like this seems to impede my ability to work out how we can best express our collective disgust at the actions of the people who now purport to lead us. 

But whether we reclaim these particular words or assign others to do their job, we need to find a way to stand together and say this is not ok; to say that collectively we will step in to prevent people being hurt by small men with big power. 

Language certainly governs thinking, but in this case we need to make sure its limitations don’t prevent necessary actions. 


These days we keep waking up to ridiculousness, every day more so than the previous day. It’s like watching some really bad reality-TV show, except it’s not — this is our f-ing reality.  The more I read, the less I want to write, the more I want to retreat. But running away, shutting the world out, isn’t going to change anything. Although only tangentially related to what the passage is about, reading it reminds me that we all have a duty, a responsibility to speak up and participate in the current affairs, no matter where we are or what we do. Because the alternative – to just stand back as a by-stander, watching things unfold, or perhaps trusting that other people will step up and fight for what is right – is unacceptable. Now more so than ever. 
Whatever it is that you care about, go do something about it. Un-spiral the spiralling chaos. Or make it harder for it to keep spiralling. Make your voice heard. 
Peace.

News vs. Facts

If a tree fell with a thud, but no one heard it, 
has it really fallen? 
If words of truth were written but no one read it,
are they still legit? 
If one was loved by another but he/she alone was utterly blind to it,
has it really happened? Does it still count?

Humans. Most of the time we seek evidence, trust only our senses and what we can concretely grasp, especially when it’s in our favour or when it’s convenient to us. When it’s not, or when it’s too complicated/overwhelming, we either a) choose to believe whatever we were taught when we were little (fall back to the primitive model instilled in us in our early years), b) jump to the next most convenient explanation (even if it’s absurd), or c) simply walk away and ignore the problem.

Sure, these choices are tempting- they’re easy solutions. They don’t require much thinking.  Believing what we were told when we were kids is probably the easiest, most convenient, and natural thing to do- because it felt ‘right’- when ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ were as clear as ‘black’ and ‘white’ as a child. It gives us and easy way out.  But that’s why we educate ourselves. We go to school not just to get a piece of paper that helps us secure a job, but to learn to think for ourselves. To think through the information we’re fed, to parse out the right and wrong (subject to individual moral codes, but that’s a different matter altogether), the truth from lies.

These days though, it’s increasingly hard to do so. A large part of it is because of the technology that is a double-edged sword- it provides us an abundance of information all just a few clicks away,  but it doesn’t separate truths from un-truths/lies/propaganda. There’s hardly any information police or regulatory body that fact-check everything, because it’s just an impossible task. The onus then is on us to do the hard work ourselves, to check the sources, to analyze what we’ve read and make up our mind about it. Yet too often we fall into complacency and just reinforce what we already believed in by reading the opinions of those whose ideas align with ours, which makes it easy to skip the thinking part and just drink in what we’ve been fed. The danger of overly accessible information is like the sexy, seductive mistress who keeps flirting with you, completely intoxicating, irresistible, and- costly.

Too much has been said and written on the election results, and I don’t think my two-cents on the postmortem of the event is worth mentioning. Everybody has an opinion, everyone has something to say. Most of them are unhelpful, and are noise. I’m more interested in how things move forward from now on, especially on the healthcare front and the environmental issues / climate change. One example- Standing Rock’s fight on the Dakota Access Pipeline is something worth keeping close tabs on, and take action if feasible. Whatever it is, I think it’s high time we all start caring about something and work to protect what’s important to us and to those we care. Because if we don’t, we might find ourselves losing it sooner than we realize. If there’s a lesson to learn from recent events, it’s to take nothing for granted. Nothing.

Peace,
J

Must Watch: Wisdom for Young People

A friend shared this on social media the other day, and I think it’s worth sharing it here as well. Some words about how to approach life in general, about how to see the world we live in today, a world so full of chaos, fragmented by race, religion, skin color etc.  It’s inspiring and heartwarming to know there are people out there who still believe in meliorism and are actually acting upon their beliefs. I do hope that more people are exposed to people, experiences and words like these which would inspire them to do the same. Especially in Malaysia. If there’s anytime in the history of Malaysia needs people like these the most, it is now. So dear friends, do have spend some 12 minutes to watch this short video, (I promise you it’s worth your time) and then ponder some on it and see how you can use it in your daily lives. 

Climate Change

Good morning. Saw this the other day and really wanted to share. It’s important to know how bad our climate has changed, and realize that we are the major contributors to that. There are things we can do to slow down this process, no matter how tiny or insignificant they may seem. But more on that later, I’m running late! Here’s the vid to share. Do watch it!

It’s about time we start caring, no? Happy Thursday peeps. 

Capture First, Help Can Wait

The other day there was a fire in the hospital, and everyone was asked to evacuate. Medical students were asked to leave as well, as no one wants to be held liable for our lives, so we couldn’t stay back to help evacuate. Fair enough. Despite wanting to do something, we made our way out grudgingly, only to see a large number of people capturing photos of the fire in front of the building. -___- ||| Really? I’m speechless. I know there isn’t much to do to help, but still. There’s a time and place for photographs, and this is not it.

Is it just me, or is this what we’re expected of (and hence perfectly acceptable) these days? Is this what our society has become?

Some Things Never Change

Vote for me, he says
If you don’t, the country will go to the wrong people
There’ll be hudud law
You won’t have the freedom you enjoy now
Economy will decline
Everything will go wrong
If you don’t vote for me
Vote wisely
Vote for Malaysia

And I sit here, wondering
When is he going to tell me
What will happen if I vote for him

Afternoon Rain and Thunder

Have you heard?

The horrifying roar
The patronizing drumrolls
The prelude to the symphony
Warning us of its arrival
Telling us to run
Telling us to hide
Run
Run away from the consequences
Of our actions we 
Commit daily
Unknowingly, or knowingly
Consuming, thrashing, forgetting
Repeat routine the next day

Yes, tell ourselves
It’s not us, it’s certainly not ‘me’
Prolonged winter in New York
Floods in Midwest US and in Malaysia
Earthquakes, hurricanes, and what-have-you’s
Surely you must be mistaken
To think it’s related to civilization

But could it be
That it’s really us
Should we give up some of our luxuries
Maybe we should
Carpool, take a train, recycle, buy less
But dear God it’s so hard
Can I just do it tomorrow?

And so the morrow turns into
Weeks, months, years
Plastic consumption is still sky high
Oil and gas still fueling our economy
Yes, nothing seems to have changed
But outside the sky is in a fury
It’s coming for us, you and I we both know it

Untitled #1

Taking a moment to jot some thoughts.

What has the world come to these days? Bombing one day, shoot-out another, people dropped dead like flies, bad guys doing bad deeds then running away, but the good guys won’t stop chasing, and they will keep at it until someone is down down down. Could be the real bad guys, could be scapegoats. Who knows, who cares. People needed to know that the monsters who did the heinous deed get what they deserved; whether the authority got the right targets is less important. At least that’s what it seemed on the outset…

Meanwhile, no one has the slightest idea about their motives behind such acts. Why? What was the reason they did that? Surely there must be more than just me who wanted to know the reason. Does it matter? I’d like to think it does, because everything is connected.

Over here in this side of the world, People are coming together to fight for a chance for democracy- not masked in subtle threats or treats/money giveaways, but democracy as it should be. Too long has gone by for the People to just sit and accept the status quo in the name of peace. Enough is enough. No one is saying The Other Side is perfect, or so very much better, but at some point one has to realize that the saying of ‘better to go for the known devil than to go for the unknown evil‘ does not make much sense in this context anymore. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, Einstein said. Had I tweak it a little and say ‘insanity is voting for the same party over and over again and hoping they would do things differently’, it would be just as apt.

Sometimes it escapes me why a certain party can’t get it that what People want is not so much to overthrow the government, but to have a better and more efficient one. If they could just do the right thing instead of disappointing us time after time, all this wouldn’t be happening. Then again, the world is a more cynical and brutal world than I’d like to believe.

To Swab or Not to Swab: Ethics of DNA Sampling

Read this news article a couple of weeks ago about whether it’s constitutional to sample for DNA on those who are arrested without a warrant. Sounds to me like one of those ethical controversy on the usage of technology vs. the notion of privacy.

The summary of the story is this: This guy was arrested for assault charges and his DNA was taken as per state law. The DNA sample was then submitted to federal DNA database to see if there were any matches. Turns out his DNA matched that of a rapist who committed the rape 6 years ago. He was then tried for the rape and sentenced to life in prison.

So. Here’s the question- do you think people should have their DNA sampled during a warrantless arrest just to see if it matches anything in the crime database, or do you think that is violating their privacy? Put it another way, do you think that when someone is arrested for crime A, he/she should only be investigated for that crime only and nothing else, or do you think it’s fair that he/she also be checked against national crime database to see if he/she committed other crimes?

I think it depends where you stand at any given time. Those who are arrested (or who have a high tendency to be arrested) will obviously want the opposite of those who want to be protected by the law and order. That’s obvious enough. But here’s the tricky part: who is to say that you or I will not be arrested one fine day? When that happens, will we still be so willing to provide our DNA in the name of security? You and I know that our DNA is like the ultimate pool of information about us; it can be dangerous if it’s being misused. So then the question becomes privacy vs. security- where is the balance?

There’s a mini-series produced by PBS, a 5-episode series called The Last Enemy (it’s all on YouTube), that revolves precisely on this issue. Very relevant to the era we live in today, maybe even plausible in the near future. Watch it if you have the time. And tell me what you think! 🙂

Snuffed- Part 2

Image source: Google search on suicide. 
Looking back at the blogpost I wrote on suicide last year, maybe I was being too harsh on them. I sounded pissed off at those who committed suicide, and indeed I was. I still am, a little bit, when I think about it. But since then, I’ve learnt to see things from a different light. I tried to reason that maybe there were causes obscure to the judging eyes of the public (yes, I too am guilty of it), maybe they were mentally sick but undiagnosed and they didn’t know how to get help, or that they need to get help. It could be a million other reasons for what happened to them, and it is only fair that I don’t jump to conclusion about them so quickly, so unsparingly.  
And so I put the issue to rest and haven’t really thought about it, until last month. Few weeks ago, there was a suicide case- a 17 or 18 year-old boy from my ex-high school jumped from his apartment building due to “depression and pressure from school”, or so the media alleged. *deep sigh*  It just breaks my heart to see a budding young man who had so much to offer and yet chose to end his life just like that. I don’t know why he did what he did, I don’t think anyone will ever know, but I’d contend that ending one’s life is not a way to solve any problem at all. Sigh. If I were to be philosophical about it, I’d question what the heck happened to the society we live in these days, that caused the seemingly increasing number of people who’d rather choose to end life than to face life’s adversity. In this world of abundance, is there not a single ray of hope for them at all?! 
Alas, being philosophical and asking questions like these will not change a thing. Nor will my initial emotion of anger and contempt. Suicidal intent is a mental problem that should be taken more seriously and should be of concern to you, me and people around us. Perhaps if we all know a little more about it, maybe we could detect symptoms of those feeling depressed and are crying for help. And if we could get them help early enough, we might’ve spared a life, and many more heartaches of those around them. 
Though I realize it’s stupid to presume a depressed person would stumble upon this blog, I still want to say this: to those who are feeling depressed or have thought about suicide, please pause for a moment to think about your family, and the people who love and care about you. Know that if and when you die, you’re just dead and that’s the end of it, but it is they who have to live with the pain and the loss of someone they once loved, for the rest of their lives. Nothing can be worse than that, particularly for your parents. 
That’s all I have to rant about today lol. Peace.