Kangkung. The hottest topic right now in Malaysia it would seem.
And rightfully so after that poorly thought-out statement yesterday by our Prime Minister. Not only has my social media been flooding by the issue, an article on it actually appeared on the BBC Website.
People, that gap of lifestyle between country leaders and the people they govern doesn't happen only in Malaysia. You have to admit that with their position and responsibility, of course they will have different lifestyles compared to the people. A richer, more comfortable one, no doubt. But we cannot go around blaming them for it, nor should we be condemning them for it.
On the other hand, with all the privileges and power, leaders should and must understand the lives of their people before they can properly govern them. This move must be sincere and from the heart, not just pretty words or actions suggested by "advisory teams" as a marketing or image-boosting strategy. It is a leader's responsibility to care about the welfare of their people. This short sentence is not an easy feat - as it is human nature to lose sight of the things that matter most when they are in a comfortable and relatively easy lifestyle. It is oh so easy for their focus to shift towards retaining the power, position and lifestyle they are currently have instead of what they first set out to do - improving the welfare of their people.
Coming back to the issue at hand. Yes, it is a disgrace. Yes, it is unthoughtful of leaders to be issuing such insensitive and insincere statements. Yes, one may say we have the right to be angry and hurt.
Then again, we should not let ourselves be carried away with emotion as well. Stop and think. It is not the actual statement that we should be primarily concerning ourselves with. I see all the posters and statements all over the social media, attacking the Prime Minister and his take on kangkung, such as the one above. I fear that there are some, especially with the increasing presence of the younger generation on the internet and social media, who are easily influenced and do not have the insight to rationalize and understand what is truly going on. From what I see and with all that emotion flying around, it is extremely easy to instil the concept of hate towards the Prime Minister for his insensitive comment and so easy for people to label him as 'stupid' or just to hate him in general. And I am truly saddened by this situation.
"This kangkung obsession is fast becoming a laughing stalk," tweeted comedian Kuah Jenhan. "Lettuce get to the root of the problem. We have mushroom for improvement."
The above is taken from the article on BBC. Albeit the jokes, he's right. It is the root of the problem we should be worrying ourselves about and not the stalk. I really hope for people to think twice before forming a conclusion. Think deeper and see for yourselves what is really going on. What is really the issue at hand? What should we be concerned with? What should change and how?
Also, for those who do understand, I hope you also think twice before spreading emotionally-filled messages out onto the internet or social media. Without knowing, you are influencing others. You may argue that there is nothing wrong with expressing yourself. Freedom of speech and all - true and I agree. But please, do be aware of the audience of your 'venting site' - you may be an unaware and unwilling associate of the group of people spreading hate just for the sake of it.
My hopes for everyone reading this does not only apply to this kangkung issue, but also to everything else on social media. I've always felt that most of us are not aware how influential we can be on the internet - especially when we group together.
Just realised how I've rattled on - not my original intention but feels really good to get things off my mind. =)
