It was a pleasure and inspiration to listen to Hannah Yeoh's address on Christians and the Church's role in Nation-Building. It isn't every Sunday the congregation at Luther House Chapel is treated to (or challenged by?) stories, pleas and exhortations to take up the mantle of re-building this precious concept, idea, thing, place but also home we call Malaysia, a country wrecked, according to Yeoh (although one could hardly doubt this), indifference, materialism, corruption and immorality.
Inspiring blushes and giggles, Yeoh worked the crowd by pointing out the all-too-familiar advice by Chinese parents to their children to ignore politics, play it safe, and focus on wallet-building and, if possible, get the heck out of the country. She said whilst this mentality was understandable, it nevertheless represented the 'Run Away' course of action and compared it to abandoning a marriage should the relationship ever be on the rocks. She pushed instead for Malaysians to select the 'Re-Build' option, the one where we STOP complaining (a constant theme in her talk), roll up our sleeves and start working for the good of the community.
Specifically, this could mean helping out in community projects like removing Ah Long stickers, replanting trees, helping to build police pondoks, taking disabled folks for a once-a-year outing at the local mall, etc. It also means educating the younger generation by, e.g., not offering to bribe policemen whilst your kids are in your car(!), speaking up at your children's school's PTA on the need for transparency and merit-based promotions (Yeoh highlighted a Feb 2010 circular from the Ministry of Education instructing schools to not teach children democracy but banning head-prefect elections and implementing leadership by appointment instead).
Nation-building also means being informed of the plight of groups we'd care less about. E.g., Yeoh mentioned how the average policemen only gets at most RM1,500 a month to feed a family of (usually) three or four and how she's been fighting for higher-pay for our law enforcers against the objections of folks from other parties. She also lamented about receiving emails from USJ residents who told her to stop Bangladeshi workers from harassing them in their houses. When she asked what they meant by harassment, the reply received was, "They were asking for a glass of water" (after working for hours in the sun). It was absolutely refreshing, in this sense, to hear a State Assemblyman juxtapose compassion for the underprivileged with one's socio-political responsibility. To this effect, Yeoh even quoted the Old Testament's injunction for God's people to care for the 'alien' among them.
Ultimately, Yeoh emphasized that nation-building certainly means casting a vote (or registering to vote if we haven't done so). I liked her simplicity: If we don't like what the politicians are doing, we should run for elections ourselves.
To be sure, whilst Yeoh is a member (and increasingly popular personality) within the Democratic Action Party, her talk focused less on the merits of the party itself and more on the need for action, for being informed, for acting as responsible citizens.
I've left out much else she spoke about (and I'm hoping others can fill in with their thoughts and reflections - and promises to action?). But it was a blessing for her to be with us. To use a quote currently being made popular by my colleague, Yeoh's message was clear and strong. Re-build our broken nation, don't run away, don't complain, don't do nothing. Act and God will bless us.
It's not about winning elections; it's about working for the community. It's not about being partisan; it's about being a participant. It's not about exposing the wrong deeds of the "other" side; it's about doing more good deeds ourselves.
(This was written by Alwyn Lau, and doesn't necessarily reflect the views of Luther House Chapel).
