Whither Culture of Knowledge in this Land of the Blur?

I am concerned and I am worried. I only hope that my concern and worry is misplaced. I feel that we have become a society that is adept at contradictory behavior in many aspects of our life. What is worrisome is that it seems to have become a National trait.

We often hear that we want to inculcate the culture of knowledge among young people. We even hear that we want our society to be knowledge prone. DO we really mean it when we say that?

DO we really want to have a culture of knowledge in our society? Frankly, I do not think so. Like so many things in our Land of the Blur, we have mastered the art of stating slogans and nice sounding phrases that we do not understand. We are only saying such things to please each others ears; to feel that we are “not too bad ourselves”. Hmmm….

Culture of knowledge? Really now???? For our society to evolve into a society which has a culture of knowledge, a few things must happen first.

Firstly, we must allow each to think and to think loudly. Which means, you must be patient with what I have to say and you should think about what I have to say. After listening, you are supposed to evaluate what had said as objectively as possible and then comment, commend or criticize. Will you allow me to say my piece or have you already been brainwashed into what is sensitive and what is not, what is heavy and what is light, what can be openly discussed and what can only be said privately, etc. I too should say it as well as I possible can with no other intention than to share or to put forward a view which I think may help society or me or you.

Secondly, does our society encourage thinking or must we always follow the leader regardless of how mediocre he is? Can you not see what is happening in our society? Politicians have the microphone and the paper coverage all the time. They are allowed to yak, yak all the time. For example, remember when Pak Lah was PM, he was the best this and the best that. He had all the ideas. For the life of me I cannot figure out how thinking can even retire! In the field of religion, only the AUTHORISED person is allowed to speak. It is as if authority and ability to think go hand in glove! If that was so, then I figure Hitler, Mussolini and Firquan were great thinkers too since they had authority!

Great thoughts do not come from a person simply because the Government projects the person. No. Great thoughts come from the passion for thinking and intention. It is something you cannot avoid. You try to shut off and you cannot. It is as if it is not your doing. Do we allow this? No. Seriously, look around you in our Land of the Blur – who are the opinion shapers? DO you think these people can be catalyst for culture of knowledge?

Thirdly, have we learnt that it is perfectly okay to have someone say something that we disagree with? I think our society has not learnt that we are not on earth for everyone to be like a product from the production like looking EXACTLY the same. It does not have to be that way and it cannot be that way. Different people will have different views. It is cool so there is no need to get heated up. The main thing is we discuss respectfully and cordially.

Fourthly, for a culture of knowledge to come about, example by leadership will help. If you can get leaders who do not read beyond the local newspapers it is bad example. Worse if you get leaders who shout and dramatize into the microphone instead of speaking intelligibly whenever they purportedly make a speech, we are fast turning into a society of clowns. Not motivating at all. Do not get me wrong. I enjoy comedy. I watch funny movies. However, when I hear politicians use emotions and childish drama and choose popular phrases when they make a speech, it really makes me squirm. I keep thinking. “wow he really thinks I am dumb enough to fall for that trick”. But I look around and see many clap! Welcome to the Land of the Blur!

Fifthly, for culture of knowledge to evolve, we should not be using the law, position and power to make I”thinking” a monopoly of a select few in society. Don’t you think that is a common trait in our society? I actually rasa malu when I hear some person in power talk in public because dia ada jalan. Luckily, the Creator took remedial steps by giving mankind the internet. Padan muka…monopoly also gone. But they never learn and we keep allowing them to dominate the real space. They plan and the Creator plans and of course the Creator’s plan is better. With the internet, fools are exposed for what they are despite their power and position.

Hello…read history. What do you think happened to real thinkers and reformers in their lifetime? You think most of them were awarded titles and honorific in their lifetime? Socrates was murdered by the elite and bangsawan of his society. Remember Galileo? So many examples to give. So many. Sometimes you must be prepared to be oppressed or murdered for thinking. To some, a thinking person is considered dangerous! Alaaahaii........


Let me ask you a question – which is more “powerful and stronger” – water or steel?

Oops sorry, I am asking you to think.

PEACE !