Although I was in Johor Bahru, I was worried about those in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and Kuantan.
A hundred of containers containing rare earth concentrate had arrived in Kuantan last Wednesday night and a significant number of them had even arrived at its Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Gebeng.
From 9pm to 10.15pm last Friday, about 200 Kuantan residents staged a candlelight peace petition. Although they were disturbed by a group of motorists, some were undeterred by the threat and insisted to stay overnight.
In addition, a group of people had joined a 300km march led by Himpunan Hijau chairman Wong Tack. Enduring cold rains and hot sun, the group walked for more than 10 days from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur to say "No" to the Lynas rare-earth plant believed to endanger residents' health.
In the morning of November 25, about 10,000 people had gathered at the Dataran PJ for the Dong Zong rally meant to protest against the National Education Blueprint (NEB) preliminary report, and make a petition requesting the government to fairly and reasonably treat vernacular schools and mother-tongue education, and guarantee them some space to develop and survive.
It was a beautiful, and extraordinary Sunday.
On this day, many people were concerned about the environment and Chinese education. They gathered to make their persistent demands.
Endless rallies in recent years have either been supported or opposed by the people. Those who oppose against them see them as chaos while those supporting them see the hope of change.
Different stands with different considerations will result in different views and interpretations. It is not surprising as it is a manifestation of democracy.
Democracy allows you to support government's policies and respect your opposition when you do not agree with some government policies. Obedience or rebellion is actually a social lifestyle. Everyone has their own reasons to support or oppose and thus, we should not sigh, be surprised or simply see obedience as ignorance and enslavement or opposition as anti-nation behaviours.
A modern democratic society must be a society that attaches importance to personal thinking while respecting personal questioning and protest. Although it might sometimes inevitably reduce social cohesion, it is an inevitable price and process of democracy and development.
Since system and policies are created and made by human, human can then change systems and amend policies. It is a basic human right. However, it does not mean that we can blindly support or oppose to everything. Instead, the rationalities of obedience and opposition should be debated to make the truth clearer.
Obviously, there are still room for us to learn along the progress of democracy. The path will never be a straight line, but rather circuitous. No matter what choices you make, please bear in mind that you should always maintain a critical stand and adhere to independent thinking. Most importantly, everything you do is meant for a better tomorrow!
-Sin Chew Daily
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