Stop Talking. Start Doing. [w/VIDEOS]

A provocative collection of videoclips from the Lead India campaign and some suggestions on how we can do our part as citizens to make democracy take root in Malaysia.

Today I received an email from the LoyarBurok Group that shared a video made by The Times of India. It speaks about a campaign launched in 2007 to spark awareness of the people of India to stop procrastinating for change.

Watch this.

I was totally captivated, inspired especially by the “India Poised Anthem” recited by Amitabh Bachchan. I went on to see a few videos by public figures of India on the LEAD INDIA campaign.

Watch this also.

And this.

And this again. This time, in your mind, change all the mentions of “India” to “Malaysia”.

Makes quite a pretty sense huh?

I found a beautiful and stark similarity between India back in 2007 (that was when the videos were made) and Malaysia now, which needs to be addressed immediately :-

Malaysians NATO-ed Too Much.

We talk about men being thrown off buildings and the cause of death still being a mystery, about people dying in the custody of the police, about men being shagged by men and sworn by the Holy Qur’an to prove their claim. We whine about the inefficiencies and the many bureaucracies of the government, the corruptions these officials condone and practice, the leakages in governmental buildings and the quality of the public transport system. We complain about injustices, inequality among races and gender, the education system, the extremism of guardians of religion and its principles, nonsensical government spendings and propaganda spinnings by the politicians.

But what have we, as citizens of Malaysia, done so far?

We talked so much about our grievances on Twitter and Facebook, giving remarks like – This should be That, and That should be This. He should do This and She should have said That. We probably have heard the phrases “Could be”, “Would be” and “Should be“, too much for our own appetite.

But No Action. Talk Only.

It is high time we learn from the Indians through the videos shared in this post, reflect upon it, and start influencing our friends around us to instigate a nationwide paradigm shift :-

To Stop Talking, and Start Doing.

Now please watch this.

We can all be like that small school boy in the video. A nobody, with a small figure. But if we start doing something now, more will join the bandwagon, the bigger guys will follow, and our little efforts will eventually propagate into a powerful force for change.

The doing doesn’t mean you need to fast for 21 days like Gandhi, or perform self-immolation on rooftops, but it could all start, for example :-

• With one simple cast of a vote at the ballot boxes.
• With us being tolerant and understanding towards our friends’ livelihood, cultures and traditions.
• With us accepting one another unconditionally without having the need to complain about their prayer volumes or to demand the removal of religious symbols in places of worship.
• With us being kind and loving to humanity and all that is around us.
• With us being moderate towards issues that could easily spark controversy or resort to political manipulation.

And with You, conveying this message to everyone, like what I’m doing, Now.

Jonathan is an inquisitive, community-driven Malaysian passionate about current affairs, who never fears to be vocal and supportive of the right causes in society. An engineer by profession, he loves music, travelling, fun and adventure, and finds immense joy and fulfillment in meeting new people from all walks of life. An ardent believer in moderation, he pursues balance in everything he says and touches. Follow his blog, The World According To Me and his tweets @jonathanfun.