It’s not about your stand but which direction you are moving

Hence, as I said, this is not about your stand but which direction you are moving. Followers will ask you about your stand. Leaders will ask you about which direction you are moving. And the fact that many ask me about what my stand is rather than in which direction I am moving shows that most are followers and not leaders. And leaders are too busy moving to waste their time explaining to followers the difference between taking a stand and moving.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

People have asked me about where I stand. That is a very old-fashioned way of thinking. You should no longer be asking me about my stand. This is not about where I stand but about in which direction I am moving.

Standing is unproductive. You go nowhere if you merely stand. You have to move. Only by moving will you get to where you want to go. Furthermore, if you merely stand while others are moving that would mean you are moving backwards.

It is not that you are literally moving backwards. You are actually not moving at all. But since others are moving while you are standing still, that would mean you are moving backwards in a figure of speech sort of way.

Hence don’t worry about my stand. It is which direction I am moving that matters. And I know in which direction I am moving although it may not be too clear to you.

Other than the direction you are moving, the speed at which you move also counts. Some people stay behind. Others just follow the herd and move with the crowd. Then there are those who move ahead of all the others.

If you trail behind then you are lagging behind all the others. You become a spectator of history. If you move with the herd then most likely you are moving in the same direction and at the same speed as the others. This is the normal tendency when you move with the herd. Others dictate the direction and speed, not you. You merely become part of history. However, if you are moving ahead of the others, then you determine the speed and direction. In short, you become the trendsetter. You make history.

Trendsetters are normally the leaders. They set the pace and direction. Those who move with the herd have no mind of their own. They just follow what others do. And, of course, those who trail behind are people with no future. They do not even follow the herd. They play safe. They will go in only when it is proven safe and most likely there would be nothing left for them.

People who ask you where you stand would usually be people without any pioneering spirit. They stick to what is familiar to them. And when they see you moving in a direction that is alien to them, they will ask you where you stand.

They ask you this because they cannot understand that you are not standing but are moving. But because they are standing and you are not -- you are moving -- they confuse this as you taking a different stand from them. They do not realise that you are not standing at all but are moving. Hence your move is interpreted as a different stand to theirs.

People live in comfort zones. And comfort zones are those that you know and are familiar with. Moving out of this comfort zones is, well, uncomforting, for these types of people. They prefer to stand still and remain in their perceived comfort zone. So when you move they regard this as taking a different stand to theirs. It does not click that moving does not translate to taking a different stand.

A stand is what you begin with. It is where you start. Let us take religion as one example. Every human being has a stand when it comes to religion. You start with two possible stands. One would be you have a religion. The other would be you have no religion.

If you have no religion then there are, again, two possible stands. One would be you do not believe in God. Then your stand would be you are an Atheist. The other would be you do believe in God (or at least in some sort of higher power). Then your stand would be you are an Agnostic.

If you do have a religion then there would be many possible stands. For Malays this would be broken down into two stands. One, you believe in Islam and are a Muslim. Two, you do not believe in Islam. That means you are not a Muslim but are a Jew, Christian, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, etc. (there are numerous choices).

These are all stands. That is what you start with. But then, stands alone are not enough.

Let me give you another example:

Say, your stand is you do believe in God. And, say, your stand is you do have a religion. Then, say, your stand is you believe in Islam. So where do you go from there? You cannot just stand still. You need to move in a certain direction.

If you do not move and instead just stand still then you will be a Muslim in name only. You will not be a practicing Muslim or a learned Muslim. You are a Muslim who just stands still.

Hence, while your stand is clear -- you are a Muslim who believes in God -- you need to move in a certain direction and at a certain speed to define your Islam. You not only learn and try to understand what your religion represents but you also learn and try to understand how you and your religion can fit in to society so that you and your religion become compatible and relevant to this day and age.

If you do not do this then you and your religious beliefs would be left behind. You take a stand and you just stand there. But the world is moving in a certain direction and at a certain speed. How do you are your religion keep up? Better still, how do you and your religion chart the direction and set the pace so that it is ahead of everything? That is the stuff that pioneers are made of.

It is the same with politics. You take a stand and your stand is you are either pro-government or pro-opposition. But that, again, is just the start. Thereafter you need to move. You need to decide on the direction and the pace that you move. You either just follow the others or you try to move ahead of the others.

Pioneers will never follow the herd. They chart new territories. And because of this those with herd mentality will imagine that you are actually taking a different stand to theirs. They can’t comprehend that this is not about stands. You are not standing. You are moving.

Hence, as I said, this is not about your stand but which direction you are moving. Followers will ask you about your stand. Leaders will ask you about which direction you are moving. And the fact that many ask me about what my stand is rather than in which direction I am moving shows that most are followers and not leaders. And leaders are too busy moving to waste their time explaining to followers the difference between taking a stand and moving.

You can enlighten enlightened people. You cannot enlighten people who do not see the light. Hence it is a waste of time trying to explain to people who take a stand but do not move that taking a stand is moving backwards when others are moving but you only take a stand.