Less apathy and more empathy for fellow human beings

If all this while Malaysians have been apathetic towards the plight of people different from them, what has happened in Wang Kelian, Perlis, strengthens that even more.

The mass graves and human trafficking camps discovered in the jungle along the Malaysian-Thai border show massive torture and disregard for human life.

People were caged like animals and treated so inhumanely that they were left to die in horrible conditions, by human traffickers who happened to be people too.

And now with the arrests of two police officers (previously reported as twelve) suspected of being involved, the plot just seems more twisted and perverted.

I know that we have to presume everyone innocent before proven guilty, but if the investigations have a little inkling of validity to them, then I am sad for Malaysia and Malaysians.

Minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim was reported to have mentioned to the press that the police officers involved probably didn’t know about the killings and the torture.

Apparently they were more motivated by monetary gains than anything else, and this is particularly disturbing because they failed to realise the serious implications of their actions.

They failed to realise that these people who were being trafficked were human beings just like themselves, despite being from a different ethnic group.

The apathy it puts on display is similar to what the consumption for news during the Banting boat capsize last year, which involved illegal immigrants from Indonesia, showed as well.

People showed so much interest in the incident before it was discovered that the victims were illegal immigrants from Indonesia. It waned when everyone knew.

It basically said, “Oh, it’s just Indonesians. Let them be then. At least it wasn’t any one of us.” But the fact of the matter is that they are no different from us – they are human beings.

These officers also failed to realise that although they might not have been involved or realised that people were being tortured and killed, they still had a hand in it.

Take for example a paedophile who consumed child pornography online without ever molesting or touching a child himself. What would the implications be?

Sure, he did not indulge in the physical harming of any children, but his actions still meant that children were physically hurt for that pornographic content to be consumed by him.

The only hope that can come out of this tragic incident is that more awareness should have now been created concerning the plight of the Rohingya and also towards human trafficking.

These are serious issues that involve more than just a few people from a different country who need a job and are willing to pay a few extra thousand ringgit to get one.

These are people faced with a bleak future, such that although they know of the terrible risks they have to take, they are willing to do so anyway because that is the only preferable choice they have.

It is also a realisation that the exploiting, kidnapping and extortion of these desperate people needs to be stopped.

So I do hope that the minister is right when he said that although these officers may have initially thought their role was small, they are now probably having difficulty sleeping and having nightmares instead. – May 29, 2015.

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