Talk is cheap

And what I mean is that while we talk about struggle and sacrifice in the interest of seeing change, very few are prepared to compromise and sacrifice for the sake of this change. Hence all this talk of struggle, sacrifice and change is mere idle talk that is going to lead to nowhere.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Kalau takut pada risiko, usah bicara tentang perjuangan.

Kalau takut dipukul ombak, jangan berumah di tepi pantai.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

There is a reason why Muslims fast for 30 days during the month of Ramadhan. It is to teach, train and condition yourself to endure pain and suffering, resist temptation and lust, and to enter into a mental state of tolerance and patience. Many Muslims who seldom pray or do not pray at all would still fast. You rejoice when the month of Ramadhan arrives and you gladly deny your body its desires. In short, you abstain from worldly needs and distractions.

Muslims also have to pray five times a day. And to be able to pray five times a day on a very rigid schedule means you must also have discipline. You must also live with inconvenience because no matter whether you are travelling on a journey or locked in a meeting you must always find the time to pray, even when it is not really convenient to do so. Even if you are sick in bed you will wake up to pray and then go back to sleep.

Hence facing and tolerating inconvenience is a daily routine for you and you endure it not with a sigh of regret but with a willing heart and joy. You look forward to your prayers, as you do your fasting.

Humans have needs and urges. Humans have passion and emotion. Humans suffer thirst and hunger. Humans suffer vanity, ego, anger, lust, fear, envy, greed, jealousy, and much more. But all these need to be suppressed. There are only two things you are allowed to feel: patience and tolerance. Everything else need to be set aside.

Considering that these are the objectives and ideals of fasting and praying five times a day, those who comply to these tenets or rituals should have been taught, trained and conditioned to become marvellous human beings. If by the time you are, say, 30, and you have been praying five times a day and fasting for 30 days every year since you were in standard one, you would have been programmed to smile under duress and under any provocative situation.

This, however, does not appear to be so. In spite of all that training, Muslims still have a very short fuse and will fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. They will become very violent and will easily resort to physical action when rubbed the wrong way, however mild that provocation may be. Muslims give the impression that they are a time bomb just waiting to explode.

This is the greatest contradiction you will find in Muslims. Their lips would constantly utter words such asberjaung (struggle), korban (sacrifice), sabar (patience cum tolerance), etc. But it is only lip service. It is not something in their hearts. It makes you wonder whether their prayers and fasting have done any good. Would they have been better off smoking marijuana and doing meditation? At least those who do would preach love, tolerance and peace although they may not believe in Allah or Prophet Muhammad.

The ‘turn the other cheek’ doctrine is nonexistent for most Muslims. They do not even practice the concept of ‘an eye for an eye’. It is more like ‘your whole head for an eye’ dogma.

Hence we are seeing the violent reaction all over the world at what Muslims perceive as an insult to Prophet Muhammad. The irony of this whole thing is that those who are punished are not really the culprits. We punish other people for something someone else did. If an Indonesian robs us in Bangsar we bomb Jakarta although that particular Indonesian who robbed us may be living in Petaling Jaya.

Malays/Muslims are not the only ones who demonstrate hypocrisy, though. Chinese, Indians, natives of East Malaysia, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, etc., are also the same. They talk about struggle and sacrifice. But struggle and sacrifice are what they expect others to do. They themselves would not do all this.

They understand that struggle and sacrifice work hand-in-glove. One can’t exist without the other. But are they prepared to endure one for the sake of the other? Very few Malaysians would although they accuse others of violating this basic principle of the cause.

Okay, we want change. We want to see the end of Barisan Nasional rule. We want to see a new government. And we want Pakatan Rakyat to be that new government.

I can buy that. I have no problems with that. I am prepared to struggle for that. I am even prepared to sacrifice for that. But are you? Are you people who are screaming and shouting about change prepared to also struggle and sacrifice to see this change happen? Or do you want others to do the struggling and sacrificing so that you can be spared this inconvenience?

Actually, the majority of you are all talk. Mere hot air. Very few of you are prepared to struggle and sacrifice. You talk about struggle and sacrifice, no doubt. But you talk about it in the context of what you expect others to do, not what you are prepared to do.

And most of you will deny this. And you will get very angry if I were to suggest this. You are noble and sincere and how dare I accuse you otherwise? But most of you are actually a load of bullshit. And to make matters worse you do not even realise you are a load of bullshit.

So you are noble and sincere, are you? You are prepared to struggle and sacrifice, are you? You want to see change, do you? Well, let’s see.

Are the Malays prepared to drop the Islamic State and Hudud agenda in favour of a Secular State for the sake of change if that is the only way to kick out Barisan Nasional and replace it with Pakatan Rakyat?

Are the non-Malays prepared to embrace the Islamic State and Hudud agenda for the sake of change if that is the only way to kick out Barisan Nasional and replace it with Pakatan Rakyat?

Are the Chinese prepared to drop their Chinese school and mother-tongue education agenda in favour of national schools for the sake of change if that is the only way to kick out Barisan Nasional and replace it with Pakatan Rakyat?

Are the Indians prepared to drop their Hindu agenda for the sake of change if that is the only way to kick out Barisan Nasional and replace it with Pakatan Rakyat?

Are the East Malaysians prepared to drop the 18/20-Point Agreements and accept federalisation for the sake of change if that is the only way to kick out Barisan Nasional and replace it with Pakatan Rakyat?

Are the Malays prepared to drop the New Economic Policy in favour of meritocracy for the sake of change if that is the only way to kick out Barisan Nasional and replace it with Pakatan Rakyat?

Are the non-Malays prepared to embrace the New Economic Policy for the sake of change if that is the only way to kick out Barisan Nasional and replace it with Pakatan Rakyat?

Are the Malays prepared to drop the Monarchy in favour of a Republic for the sake of change if that is the only way to kick out Barisan Nasional and replace it with Pakatan Rakyat?

Are the Malays prepared to accept a woman or non-Malay Prime Minister for the sake of change if that is the only way to kick out Barisan Nasional and replace it with Pakatan Rakyat?

Rest assured the above are but a few examples. My list can go on and on if you wish to include the rights of gays, conversion of Muslims to other religions, Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia, English as the language of the Federation, and so much more. But I trust even these few examples demonstrate what I mean.

And what I mean is that while we talk about struggle and sacrifice in the interest of seeing change, very few are prepared to compromise and sacrifice for the sake of this change. Hence all this talk of struggle, sacrifice and change is mere idle talk that is going to lead to nowhere.

And you got the bloody cheek to scream at me for not being true to the cause and for refusing to join the fight for change? How can you expect me to join a group that comprise of a whole bunch of hypocrites?