Today for the first time I will be attending the Bersih Rally. Although I have written about it in the past and have commented on the social conditions of the country in my blog, today I will be finally walking the talk. As I was heading back from work yesterday, amidst all the excitement and buildup surrounding the rally today, I started to reflect and think about why I would want to go for the rally.
It’s not to say that I think the rally is bad or anything like that. But I asked myself that fundamental question – what is it to me? Why should I even bother?
It’s one thing to write about what should be done to save the country but it’s a whole other thing to actually give up your precious weekend to go demonstrate for a cause you don’t really feel with all your heart and soul. I say this not because I don’t love the country, but… well I am happy on my own without much support from the country in the first place. I pay my taxes regularly and as such, I enjoy the benefits the country offers. As for politics and other stuff? They don’t matter to me, so why bother? My living standards are not compromised by the government. I can choose to live an ignorant life and be contended.
And that’s when I began to think that perhaps its not about me. Perhaps this rally is for those around me, those who want a better future for their country, those whose lives are being impacted by the regime of this country, those who have no voice and are crippled, be it physically, mentally or emotionally. This rally is for those political prisoners who have sacrified much of their lives and reputation so that others may enjoy the fruits of democracy and a freer society one day. This rally are for those parents who have children who are being neglected and impacted by the policies made the incompetent government.
This rally is for them. And it’s people like me who need to go. And indirectly, perhaps by giving myself up for a cause which I may not truly believe (can a rally really change a government??) I may come to learn and appreciate something else which I may not now understand but I hope to one day.
Malaysia, this rally is for you.
