To save Malaysia, admit you’re stupid

Erna Mahyuni blogs at ernamahyuni.com when not writing for a living or dabbling in the performing arts. Currently plays too much Dragon Age.

To save Malaysia, admit you’re stupid

May 04, 2011 (Malaysia Insider)

MAY 4 — People are stupid. There, I said it. We are all stupid in some way, to some degree. I am not saying we can’t be smart but left to their own devices, humans tend to drift into the default state of easy stupidity.
Some forms of stupidity are acceptable. For instance, most parents are stupid when it comes to their kids. In their minds, their newborns are the cutest babies the world will ever see. Never mind that newborns tend to look like miniature geriatrics.
The problem with Malaysia and Malaysians in general is the refusal to admit to our stupidity. Until and unless we admit to being stupid about certain things, we will be mired in our stupidity and unable to progress.
Admitting to being (occasionally) stupid is not demeaning. No. It is admitting that you do not have the answers and that you could be wrong about well, anything.
Our leaders, for instance, seem to be allergic to the basic apology. Screw-ups? No one in the government screws up! The ruling coalition is infallible, indestructible, indubitably capable.
And if you believe that, I’m sorry, you’re stupid.
We, the people, are just as much to blame because we let them lead. Whenever I hear someone gripe about politics or the government, I like to ask if said person votes. Cue stammers, half-hearted excuses and a quick change of subject.
To tell you the truth, I pity our police force. They get such a bum rap for being lazy, inept and corrupt. Well, you try risking your life and being paid peanuts for it. Our cops are so used to being bribed because we like bribing them. The cop gets money for cigarettes, we get away with our traffic offences. Malaysia boleh.
Now I know Talent Corp is trying its best to get Malaysians overseas to come back. All the incentives are not going to work until you fix our biggest problem: stupidity.
After more than 50 years of independence, it is stupid not to acknowledge the contributions of non-Malays to the country. But it is also stupid for champions of vernacular schools to ignore how much those schools contribute to racial polarisation.
I sneer at vernacular schools because its proponents basically think their right to choose to only speak and mix with people of their own race and who speak the same language is a good thing. And then you complain about racism and discrimination? Pot, there’s a kettle I’d like you to meet.
The biggest monument to stupid in this country isn’t the Petronas towers. No, it is Perkasa. A bunch of self-important, bigoted, self-serving and very stupid people are pandered to by our government. How can you call for a 1 Malaysia while at the same time you kow tow to a body that is against everything 1 Malaysia stands for? Explain it to me because no matter how much I try all I see is pure stupid.
What I think is the stupidest thing in this country is the denial that there are things wrong with the country. It is not being unpatriotic to point out our problems — it is our civic duty. Until we acknowledge what is wrong, we cannot possibly move forward to set them right.
There are days when I think I must be stupid to keep writing about the things I think matter, when I am not sure it makes any kind of difference. I feel stupid when I read writing that is far more elegant and nuanced than mine. Yet I take comfort in the knowledge that stupid people can, with application, become less stupid.
What then do we do with the people far too stupid to admit they don’t have the answers? We stop voting them into office.