Stop Being Sensitive

As a reader of the daily paper, it has become increasingly obvious to me that the government has been building up a fondness towards a particular word. Frequent as keris-wavings and as highlighted as natural disasters, are articles urging and reminding us once again to “be sensitive”.

The government’s intentions are not hard to comprehend: they believe sensitivity will bring unity, understanding and peace. However, it is a well-known fact to the Malaysian walking on the street that although the government’s intentioned situations manifest themselves on the surface, beneath the sun-touched exterior there are hushed murmurs of race, religion and rights in the dark.

To properly address the problem of sensitivity, we first have to know what “sensitivity” means. Based on the government’s usage (and not the Oxford English Dictionary), “sensitive” roughly means “do not talk or question whatever we (the government) are addressing”. An example of this would be:

PM: BE SENSITIVE TOWARDS RACIAL ISSUES.

Since we now know what “sensitive” means, let us translate this message:

PM: DO NOT MENTION OR QUESTION RACIAL ISSUES.

Is it not obvious why Malaysia remains racially segregated after more than a century of inter-racial mixing? It is because the government does not really solve the people’s problems, but instead they hush it. When an individual knows that he could be attacked by a number of sensitivity tools ranging from an organization called JAKIM to a nifty Article 153, he starts to wonder whether it really is a good idea to open his mouth.

Alas, simply avoiding the topic in public is not enough to extinguish the flame in the unsatisfied citizen’s heart. The citizen’s restlessness is consequently communicated to his brethren who share his views. Communication methods may range from hushed talks amongst family to charismatic preachings coming from the mosque several blocks away, but regardless of the method of output the feeling is the same- neither Muthu, Malik nor Ma Li is totally at ease.

In the virtual realm of the popular online game, issues are often solved when flaming scepter meets sharpened axe. However, I like to believe that we Malaysians are more than troll, goblin and dwarf and can settle our daily problems in reality with a more civilized approach by replacing swords with words (and not both at the same time). So you ask: how are we going to bring such hushed issues out into the public? The answer fellow Malaysians is this- insensitivity.

(and not both at the same time)

Being sensitive merely escalates minor issues by adding strong emotion towards accusations that may or may not be true. If I am a slit-eye Chinese and someone calls me sepet, then hey, that is what I am and there is no reason for me to get angry and give him a hard stare (though he may not notice it through my narrow slits). Or if I am a kampong-Malay and someone calls me lazy, then why get upset if the statement is false? Overreacting would simply mean I accepted that his statement is true. Instead, the better response would be to work hard and beat him, proving his accusation wrong. And as clichéd as it may sound, “Nobody is perfect” so either accept your shortcomings or change them, but do not overreact.

Insensitivity is the way to go for Malaysia; it will allow our inner unrest to be released to the public and the public will respond in a civilized and compromising fashion. And hopefully one day, Muthu, Malik and Ma Li will laugh about how Muthu has a higher probability of getting run over at night, how Malik has a slightly more naked genital and how Ma Li can be blindfolded with dental-floss, whilst they yam seng their teh-ais at the nearby mamak shop.

This is an article I wrote for the Taylor's College Yearbook - Winanga-li. It was approved by edboard members as well as the edboard teacher. However, it was eventually rejected by college management. The reason? "The issue is too sensitive."