LOOKING AT THE SILVER LININGS IN 2020

A year of crises has afforded opportunities for radical changes in the country

FEELINGS were generally mixed when the clock struck midnight nine and a half months ago to usher in the New Year. With the turn of the decade marking the endpoint of the speech-turned-generational idea, it served to highlight how far we had come as a country, yet at the same time, how far we had fallen short of meeting the Vision 2020 aspirations set nearly 30 years ago.

And this is not even taking into account how in the almost 260 days of 2020, the country has gone through a pandemic which included various iterations of the Movement Control Order (MCO), political uncertainty and changes in the government at both federal and state levels.

Then, more political uncertainty, a recession followed by soaring levels of unemployment, places of worship closing their doors, hate speech tinged with xenophobia targeting vulnerable communities, the demonisation of liberals and going from having no water to having too much water in the span of days... among others.

From this standpoint, it is easy to be poignant about the way the year has turned out so far.

The case to be pessimistic for the year 2020 is persuasive, but there are reasons to remain optimistic.

Through all that had happened since the beginning of the year, the people had shown tremendous resilience.

Regardless of the little murmurs of displeasure, the people had sacrificed free movement to flatten the curve of Covid-19 transmission and obliged when requested to wear a face mask to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Further to this, when assistance from the authorities was lagging due to bureaucracy, the people started #KitaJagaKita and various other measures to lend a helping hand to those in need.

During the earlier days and weeks of the first iteration of the MCO, anecdotally, it was not uncommon for people, perfect strangers, to greet and check on each other while out for essential purposes.

Some might say that these are the bare minimums and not much to be proud of, but it must be remembered that some in the vaunted developed countries have failed at this.

Rather than believing modernday charlatans, Malaysians have trusted the scientific evidence and subject-matter expertise of our institutions — especially the Health Ministry. Even the media, oftentimes the convenient scapegoat for society’s maladies, had undertaken their duty relatively well to not give a platform to those with questionable medical credentials.

As for the politics, where Machiavellianism is seen as being“realistic” (but in actual fact cynical), it has had a breath of fresh air during the Sabah state election.

Eschewing the allure of narrow racial and religious politicking that has long haunted politics on the peninsula, at least one main contender to govern the Land Below the Wind has made inclusivity its main campaign message.

Meanwhile, long-standing issues concerning representation — especially that of women and the youth — are at the forefront of public debate, now that the respective political candidates have been confirmed.

These are, by most measures, a few silver linings to 2020’s dark cloud. Some might say that this optimism is misplaced, or worse still, label me as naive.

Admittedly, the year has been anything but smooth sailing so far, but pessimism will only breed lowered expectations and a disengagement from the process.

These are, by all measures, a negative.

So this Malaysia Day, regardless of how we might have fared in establishing a united, tolerant, progressive, caring, mature, democratic and economically competitive society with equitable distribution of wealth... here we are, warts and all, 57 years since the birth of this country we call home.

With most crises offering opportunities for radical change, the question then is, what next?

... pessimism will only breed lowered expectations and a disengagement from the process.