...are these words to define the state of some of our fellow Malays in our community? That is a tragedy indeed!
Dahlah bobrok with all the problems which used to be known as the triple D problems of the Malays - drugs, divorce and delinquency. These problems still existed though it was made known to us that statistically, the numbers have lowered but the problems have crept deeper into an almost bottomless pithole. The pithole that saw too many young marriages that were doomed to fail. And I can only guessed that perhaps these young marriages stemmed from the high incidences of teen sex, pregnancies and gangsterism prevalent among the 'unguided' young Malays, and the problems got deeper when innocent young children became victims of abuse and murder. Not to mention the "Orang Pantai" syndrome that mushroomed in East Coast and Changi beaches. With all these 'bobrok' issues, it is highly unsuspecting how 'goblok' some of our Malays are - 'goblok' in the area of education, specifically in the subject of mathematics (and also science, and the English language).
It could be that we are bobrok that's why we are goblok or it could be the other way around - we are goblok, that's why we are bobrok. And let me disclaim that it is not my intention to label or belittle the Malays. I am a Malay too and I'm saddened by this state of my own community.
Indeed, we have been in this state for a very long time. According to some, it started when we gave up our land to the British. But since I have no plan to research which history came first, it led me to think how far back our shortcomings began. This is the story of "Singapura Dilanggar Todak" where the Sultan of that time ordered the killing of the life of a young genius lad because of his own stupidity. In this fable or legend, I hope that this story is a fable instead, when Singapore's shores were attacked by swordfishes, the Sultan's so-called bright idea was to use the shin of his citizens to protect Singapore shores from the swordfishes. That led to the deaths of his many unquestioning and unthinking citizens. Then came a gifted and genius young lad by the name of Nadim who suggested to the Sultan to use the bark of a banana tree to line the shores so that the swordfishes got stuck to the bark instead. Unfortunately, the Sultan who listened to his evil adviser ordered the killing of Nadim.
What luck that this phenomenon existed still in this info- and nano-technology world that we lived today.
Are we still thinking like the Sultan?
Are we still thinking like his advisor?
Are we still thinking like his unquestioning and unthinking citizens?
Why can't we be thinking like Nadim?
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