the week that was

This past week has been an interesting week for my hobby. My interest in observing social behavioral patterns has gone on overdrive.
First there was the Tanjung Road or rather in my books, the SONY Ramp closure. The closure came about because of anger and I do not at all blame the party concerned. I would have done exactly that.
The anger was triggered by the selfish act of one party and using influence and money, made use of others. Worst still, people are so easily influenced and do not behave objectively, and this included professionals!
Now it looks like two groups of residents are being made to challenge each other. SAD!
Have we forgotten what ALL RESIDENTS stood united and fought for in March 08 – Good Governance, Competency, Accountability and Transparency. I truly hope and pray that the solution for this issue will come from these fundamentals. It is all about Responsibilities and the Rule of Law: that MUST always be upheld!
To tie this to politics, to warn, to bully to pressure the elected representative is senseless. The same representative who stood on the platform of activism, on issues such as environment, who was the hero when the forests got gazette in now the villain. From hero to villain, in the eyes of the very same people because of an opinion that is not on their side: is this the change we asked for in GE11?
We voted for change and the changes may take time. In the meantime, are we prepared to change ourselves? Or are we still the same old JOE; my Wakil Rakyat is only good if he or she agrees with my view, if oppose than he or she is bad.
No! We must be willing to accept differing views and try to convince others of our views when we differ. Having tried, if we fail, we respect and accept that other person’s views. Instead of being negative, lets learn to encourage more, to learn and search for the positive instead of highlighting the bad.
Moving on from the ramp closure, the week continued with the MBSA Head of COB Dept refusing to accept a JMB that was formed. Again, I get a chance to see human weaknesses coming in to cloud their judgment.
Owners’ rights were thrown out the window because the Head of Dept was egoistic. As a result, he made decisions on baseless facts. The JMB was rejected because “the minutes were submitted by the residents instead of the developer”. Does it make a difference? So when challenged to put it in writing, of course he could not.
Meanwhile, owners are sent running here and there…..
Now when pushed, the Head of Department than puts in writing that there was no list of eligible owners and he could not confirm if the elected committee members are indeed owners. Therefore, another meeting has to be convened, this time by an appointed owner instead of the errant developer. So when the appointed owner informs that there is still no list of eligible owners, the Head of Department says he can get it.
If he can indeed get it, can he not just get it and confirm the elected committee members are eligible: why the need to waste time, money and effort for another AGM? Meanwhile, the owners are deprived of their rights and the errant developer continues to rule and bully!
Another example of human behavioral pattern: where our judgment gets clouded by our weaknesses.
The persistent bully gets away and the honest, quiet and silent Joe suffers.
Malaysia, we must change and we must be willing to stand up against the bully. We must be willing to voice out for the silent. We must be willing to reward the honest and bring to task the bully. We must let common sense rule and not be ruled by greed, selfishness and ego.
I end with a quote from an elected representative; one with guts and principles: “I had to sacrifice privacy, freedom, writing, reading – priceless. Sometimes I think of my easy wonderful life before all this crap.”