Choosing a better Malaysia

“I have always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that, then, I realised that I am somebody”. – Lily Tomlin

Having attended public schools and universities all my life, volunteering and/or organising events had always been a part of a compulsory KPI for me.

I have to admit that the spirit to volunteer was not ingrained in me, and I used to see making time to organise events in school and university, or being a part of the many events held around KL as ticking the boxes required for a social responsibility which gave weight to scholarship applications or performance index for a CV.

I don’t consider myself an activist, I have always felt that some events are elitist and as a closet introvert – I am not comfortable with crowds and the general public, people whom I don’t know personally.

All that changed after a personal tragedy this year, and as a mark for my venture into the third decade of my life last month, I decided that it’s high time I am more actively involved in what I personally believe in.

With that in mind, I decided that I will always choose a better, more positive Malaysia. I have always been a “butterfly” when it comes to volunteering, never sticking to a particular cause per se. When asked for my affiliation at events, I would answer that I am there as a Malaysian. As recently as last weekend, as a 3M (Malaysian, Malay, Muslim), I volunteered for the event “I Want to Touch a Dog” held last Sunday at Central Park, Bandar Utama.

While the event itself received wide coverage by the media, the positivity displayed by the organisers and volunteers themselves also deserve attention.

While the reason for the event was clearly posted on the event’s Facebook page, a number of fellow Malaysian keyword warriors still took a negative view to it, with many taking a jibe at the event’s name and mocking the event.

Despite all that, police and the Selangor Islamic Council's (Mais) permits were received and with permission from the One Utama management to use the park, the event went on.

What an amazing event it turned out to be. The brainchild of Syed Azmi Alhabshi, who I found out is himself a serial volunteer/event organiser through his #tamakpahala initiative, the event resulted from his own fear of dogs and animals in general.

I don’t claim to speak for all human beings, nor am I a psychiatrist, but in my opinion, people fear things that we do not understand. Out of that fear, we retaliate in the most hurtful way possible, in such cases as not allowing guide dogs in shopping malls or taxis to throwing stones or sticks at dogs because we do not want any contact with them. Worse, the recent incident of strays being poisoned in the Bukit Bintang area.

The seed of that fear is ingrained in most people who are 3Ms simply for the reason that we are not sensitized to dogs, having lived in neighbourhood enclaves with a majority of single ethnic groups, or simply ignoring the dogs owned by our fellow Malaysians in our neighbourhood.

Further, we only learn the theory during Pendidikan Agama Islam of the different types of “najis” which required a ritual of “sertu”, and most of us went through life without having to undergo the practical of such situations.

I myself learnt that “sertu” is defined as the act of cleaning one’s body part which has interacted “najis mughallazah”(in this case the dogs’ saliva or other bodily fluids) by cleansing the body parts once with water mixed with clay, followed by 6 times with clean water; as opposed to the term “samak” I learnt in school.

Syed Azmi took the positive approach, to understand why he has that fear and to try and overcome it; and seeing that it will also help fellow 3Ms, organised the event.
Personally, I am not scared of dogs, but seeing fellow 3Ms who do have that fear overcoming it last Sunday was so uplifting.

A Muslim family, whose wife was in niqab, actually came with a bucket, a plastic bag full of clay, and a gallon of water to perform the sertu ritual after allowing their children to touch and interact with the dogs and the dog owners.

The need for “sertu” and its ritual was explained by Ustaz Mohd Iqbal Parjin and guided by a number of sertu coaches. Everywhere in the park, all you see are people interacting and mingling with each other, a positive takeover of a public park as opposed to the usual Malaysian past-time of being zombies in shopping malls!

The non-Muslims also spent time to listen to Ustaz Iqbal, spent time to understand why some 3Ms have a fear of dogs and learnt about sertu in order to help the Muslims should the need arise in the future.

Most parents told us volunteers that they were there to overcome their own fears, and for their children to learn to not have a fear of dogs, and to have love for all animals in general. A number of kids also played ball with dogs for the first time! The dogs were the biggest winners of the day, though with all the attention and love they received from so many children and adults alike!

My heart was overwhelmed with love and positivity. I know now that there is hope for a better Malaysia, and that there will always be hope. We all just need to choose to take the higher road. – October 23, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.