INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT LEADS TO COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION

The concept of “empowerment” has become integral to development thought. The term “empowerment” means many things to many people. Concepts of choice, freedom, capacity, participation, autonomy and increased resources, however, are common to virtually all definitions. Consensus can, therefore, be found around the idea of empowerment as a means of improving quality of life and expanding the basis of human wellbeing. In short, empowerment can serve as a mechanism for effecting deep and broad-based social transformation of a community through an individual development.

The process of community transformation can be explored at both the personal and structural levels. At one end of the spectrum, social change is seen as an outcome of the development of individuals, achieved through education, training, access to material resources and the like. According to this view, structural change is assumed to be an automatic result of personal change. Unfortunately, this rarely bears out in practice, as even those who benefit from such resources find themselves participating in oppressive social structures.

Increasing the capacity of individuals and communities to build more just and equitable social structures requires a conception of social development that avoids these extremes. Individual and community transformations are intimately related: the individual’s inner life shapes his or her social environment, and that environment, in turn, exerts a profound influence on one’s community.

Who are the primary actors in the process of social transformation? Experience suggests that two are critically important: the individual and the community.

My eldest brother, G. Solomon Athimoolam had to sacrifice his early childhood to leave his hometown Gadong in Selangor, to acquire his education in Anglo-Chinese School Klang, a mission school, on the premise that by securing an education he can transform the family. This he successfully did.

Sacrifice came in the form of him leaving home to live in a school canteen situated within the school compound. With a meagre income, my parents supported him to pay for his school expenses. He had to run errands for the teachers and clerks in the school to get some additional support financially.

In the early 1960s, he passed his examinations and secured a place in the Days Teaching College (DTC). He became a school teacher after graduating from the college.

Brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces and his own children look up to him as an icon in the field of education. He has retired as a headmaster and resides in Banting now.

In this light, he demonstrated individual development leads to progress and upliftment of all and community at large.

Closely related is the question of who is developed and who is not. Historical processes have created inequalities that must be addressed. But the development framework should be one in which every individual and community is presumed to have room for advancement. In this light, the marginalised are not without capacity, and the privileged are not all-powerful. All have the capacity to develop and all have a responsibility to advance across the board.

Participation in the systems and structures of society is an essential prerequisite for social transformation. Participation must be substantive and creative. It is not enough for people to be mere benevolent of the society, even if they have a voice in certain decisions. They must be far more involved in decision-making processes: identifying problems, devising solutions and approaches, enjoying benefits, and determining criteria for evaluation.

In order to advance the common good, individuals must possess both the capacity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of existing social structures and the freedom to choose between participating in those structures, working to reform them, or endeavoring to build new ones.

We believe that even though our mission is only to transform and not get involved in political and other actions, our very non-involvement lends tacit support to the existing order. There is no escape: either we voice out the imbalance structures of society or we support them in the interest of an individual and the community.

There have been many occasions in history and some exist today, where individuals faced with persecution and oppression, have appeared to be disengaged from society and, thus, to support the status quo. We also believe, however, that even under conditions of the most severe repression, such Individuals may in fact be challenging society and even be transforming it, through their lifestyles.

We should be sensitive and responsive to the needs within the community. We should attempt to be well informed for us in meeting those needs. The mission is to respond to immediate community needs, and press for social transformation.

In this way, development and transformation take place in the lives of individuals, families and communities.