There are a lot of angles as to how you can look at the Bawani and Sharifah Zohra showdown but I think we can all agree that Sharifah Zohra, like Bawani, was also very emotional when she "TRIED" to counter Bawani's arguments about free education. Being a woman of stature, poise, educated and a leader, there are lots of ways Sharifah could have and should have gone against Bawani. But no, she made a rather blind and useless statement when she began comparing the issue raised by Bawani with "Animals have problems too. You think animals don't have problems?"
Here's my take:
Bawani dearest, free education is not yet possible for our country and if it is, then higher taxes will have to be implemented on citizens of Malaysia to cover the cost of free education. Now like you, I wonder sometimes how many is being circulated around this country and also in my faculty (but this is a whole different story but is somehow related). The Government spends billions upon billions of RM on this and that, 1 this and 1 that, hence, why not, spend those billions to cover for education and let students and parents be free of payments, debts and loans so that everyone will live happily ever after? It'd be interesting to sit down and talk to you bout your ideas and your view on what "free education" is. I'm sure you'd have your explanations and your reasons. I assure you, you fight for a good cause here. Getting free education means lessening the burden of every family and making sure that everyone gets to go to school, no matter how poor that person is. Free education means not having to worry about paying anything, or having to go through the trouble of getting a loan or studying your ass off to get a scholarship because heck, education is free. It closes the gap between the people who study their arse off to be excellent and getting what they deserve and those who don't study at all and still end up getting the same privileges as those who try to be successful. Free education to me is not at all a bad idea but the cons are outweighing the pros from my perspective. But then again, I'm sure Bawani, you have your plans. We live in a somewhat democratic, somewhat liberal, somewhat competitive country whose dreams includes to produce student leaders like you who are able to speak out, voice out, and defend your ideas to the best of your abilities and power. Our Malaysia is democratic, in a sense. So, you go fight for what you believe.
Sharifah Zohra dearest, it's never a good idea to cut people off in the midst of their speech. There's this thing called irony whereby for example, you ask people to "listen" but you end up not even wanting to listen and let the person end her speech, and yet you demanded to be listened to. It was also not wise of you, being the woman of your stature who is educated and a leader, a person who I'm sure is being looked up upon, began to compare the issue brought up by Bawani with animals having problems too. Yeah sure cats, dogs, fishes, and even Jaws have their complicated lives and their own problems too but that wasn't exactly what Bawani and audiences wanted to hear but I guess, you've said what you wanted to say. I think you were taken aback and was rather horrified and nervous that Bawani was brave in saying what she wanted to say (or maybe you weren't taken aback and horrified and nervous). I don't really have much to say about you really. It's just that it's quite shameful. I raised my eyebrow when you shook hands and said thank you to Bawani and later on you went on to ask the audiences whether you've shown respect to Bawani or not, which I think is unnecessary. I think you were just trying to garner support because you were too shock with comments made by Bawani and the "listens" were your defensive mechanisms kicking into full gear while your brain shuffled to find great and smart lines but all your brain could come up with was, "animals have problems too." A statement that makes sense if you watch Nat Geo, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, but again, did not suit the context that you were in. And asking Bawani what she's still doing in Malaysia when she could be in other places is rather like a junior high-school debate's first time at debating when Bawani compared Malaysia to other countries. Hey Sharifah, trust me, if most of us could just move to a new country and start anew, Malaysia would lose most of its citizens. Malaysia is building its status as a global player and if it loses its human capital, it will stop building.
The clip of Bawani going against Sharifah Zohra or Sharifah Zohra going against Bawani (whichever perspective you choose to see the video from) shows how different, diverse and a big of a gap there is between people when it comes to views, opinions and beliefs. Some believe that education should be free for all Malaysians and some clap their hands and nod in agreement and cheer whenever they please, and some believe that animals have problems too. There is one common lesson that we can learn from the video: RESPECT. Whatever your status is, whatever your age gap, your education background or your political beliefs are, respect each other. But I guess when it comes to politics, respect is kinda one of the last things to be thought of. I mean, it's sad to see what Malaysia has become. The politicians, from whatever sides they are from, have stoop down so low as to use religion, beliefs, customs and rumors to win the hearts of supporters. They use these "weapons" to make people go against each other and in a country where unity is crucial to sustain peace, harmony, justice, fairness and equality. These politicians are brave in creating saucy headlines and actions that could dangerously steer Malaysia into chaos. I guess, at the end of the day, they want the opposing sides to take the blame of faults and emerge as heroes at the end of the day. I mean, who doesn't want to be a hero right?
Bawani is just one example of the other undergrads who are fighting for their rights to be heard. Twitter, Facebook, and blogs are mediums of which we tell our stories, our views, our opinions and our hopes and dreams. Some go all out by joining parties as they see that is the fastest way to make desired changes, some are joining various NGO's and agencies to promote and fight for "freedom". But whatever it is, we all now must realize that putting our differences in front of us will make us face bigger, and more pressing problems than the animals (sorry, can't help it). If we continue to go against each other, huge rifts will continue to form and the facade that Malaysia has for so long been known; as a united country, will be shattered. On the surface it looks as if Malaysia is alright, now under the surface, things are beginning to crack, little by little.
So what must we do? Campaigns upon campaigns have been launched to promote unity, to promote tolerance and respect amongst each other, despite our differences but these campaigns will do nothing if we do not do something. Rephrasing Michael Jackson's Man In The Mirror, "Change starts from oneself". No use changing the rest of the world if we do not change ourselves. No use wanting others to respect us, if we do not at first, respect them.
p.s: A change is gonna come.
