I believe bell hooks said that.

I’ve been reflecting quite a bit over the past few weeks, especially given that I’ve been nursing a bad back and shoulder (probably stress related), and I’ve been reminded of some earlier lessons in life.

I was elected president of the Methodist Boys’ School Old Boys Association last month. (The website has not been updated at the time of this posting.)

Since then, I’ve observed many instances of so-called leaders shirking responsibility and not doing the right thing by the members. And yet, they can hypocritically position themselves as being altruistic and charitable in their pursuits.

I’ve also been actively participating in an e-group of former students where certain issues arose, and things get moralistic and philosophical. It’s intriguing to see how divisive some seemingly simple topics could be.

For example, considering that this association has female members (it’s an all boys school but they were in Form Six), some people mooted the idea of changing the name of the association to ‘MBS Alumni Association’. Although most of us agree with Shakespeare’s point about the rose smelling just as sweet and all, there are still many who fight strenuously to maintain the name that is not gender sensitive.

Well, some discussions are even more interesting, but there’s too much to recount. Oh, the other interesting thing is that the participants of the group include people as young as sixteen to people as old as sixty. And, yes, women do participate.

In any case, I guess what I want to say is something that Gandhi has said eloquently. Allow me to quote the great man:

“Be the change that you want to see in the world.”

Although I’m not that happy with the way our politicians are doing things, including “opposition” politicians, I am encouraged by what I see in my old school, especially the scouts troop (note the new blog roll entry).

Back to the personal-political thingy. Sometimes in life, we think we are doing the right thing by not rocking the boat or by being strict with our children, however this often has greater but more subtle effects on the society at large.

Lessons in life, and changes in society, don’t come in linear form and neatly packaged boxes. Everything is linked to everything else. Do we really look at the big picture whenever we decide to do the “right thing”?

Far too often, we just react as if a doctor just tapped our knees.

“Oh, this book is controversial, ban it.”

“Oh, that’s too sensitive, don’t talk about it.” (Speaking of which, the authorities tried to sweep one under the carpet.)

“Oh, she’s leaving the religion, rehabilitate her.”

It’s not as simple as that. A good example of a bad case of public policy is the attempted ban on alcohol in the U.S. in the days of Al Capone. What happened? It made Capone very rich and powerful, that’s what.

I don’t condone drinking to deal with stress or till we’re inebriated, but I wouldn’t say the solution to the drinking problem is banning it. We must understand why people turn to drinks, and deal with that. Is it because they are so stressed out and they don’t see an alternative form of satisfactory recreation? Is it because the economic system does not even give the man on the street the freedom to fulfill his family’s basic needs, much less self-actualise?

Every little thing we do, including what food we eat, what cars we drive, what associations to support, what we teach our little ones, what we hide from our little ones, what parties we vote, are all political decisions. It’s a policy decision on our own lives.

It’s time to think beyond the norm, and be part of the solution for Malaysia.