Lessons for rakyat’s reps
THE Star’s front page on Dec 18 read: “Nurul Izzah quits party posts”. I am rereading An Autobiography: The Story Of My Experiment With Truth by Mahatma Gandhi. After seeing the newspaper report, I continued with my book and coincidentally came upon the part about a co-worker of Gandhi’s who sounds remarkably like our own Puteri Parti Keadilan.
Writing on his trusted assistant Sonja Schlesin, Gandhi said: “Her sacrifice was great ... Her courage was equal to her sacrifice. She is one of the few women I have been privileged to come across, with a character as clear as crystal and courage that would shame a warrior ...
“She knew neither night nor day in toiling for the cause. She ventured out on errands in the darkness of the night by herself, and angrily scouted any suggestion of an escort.
“I could go on without end writing thus about Miss Schlesin, but I shall conclude this chapter with citing Gokhale’s estimate of her. Gokhale knew every one of my co-workers. He was pleased with many of them ... He gave the first place to Miss Schlesin amongst all the Indian and European co-workers. ‘I have rarely met with the sacrifice, the purity and the fearlessness I have seen in Miss Schlesin,’ said he. ‘Amongst your co-workers, she takes the first place in my estimation.’”
The long and hard struggles for reformation in Malaysian politics hold out the promises of a new era for Malaysia Baru. May the flames of Reformasi burn on and on until Malaysia becomes a mature and developed nation in which there is a place for all Malaysians under the sun and where the government is corruption-free and rakyat-centric.
I urged all our Members of Parliament, State Assembly Representatives, civil servants, NGOs and interested citizens to read about the remarkable life story of Theodore Roosevelt in which he took part in different positions in American government and made great reforms whether he was in the New York state legis- lature that was renowned for its corruption, the police commissioner of New York City, being the assistant secretary of the Navy or for his dynamic leadership as the youngest US President.
His autobiography is a highly readable and enlightening elucidation of his varied experiences at reforms.
Our leaders should take Teddy Roosevelt as an exemplar. Roosevelt once mentioned that he would take a look at the portrait of one of his heroes, Abraham Lincoln, in the White House and wonder what Lincoln would have done in his position when faced with a difficult problem and used that as a guide for decision making.
We should always remind ourselves that we are mere mortals and realise that what profoundly makes our lives meaningful in the end is to have made some positive differences not just for ourselves but also to society and the world at large. I also like President Barrack Obama’s sage words: “Be useful, be kind, be fearless.” TAN EE WAH Mentakab, Pahang