Doing things in moderation

ON the remote control there are a number of buttons; I pressed one, then another. On the TV screen, I switched from one channel to another until I finally got the right one that would enable me to cover many of the capital cities of the world.

I wanted to watch displays of fireworks on as many channels as possible just by using my fingertips.

Thanks to the Mayans, the world did not explode before Christmas. On the stroke of midnight on December 31, many cities were brightly lit up in various colours. First, it was Auckland, in New Zealand.

It was mid-evening in Kuching while the New Zealanders were enjoying the fireworks from the tallest building in town that houses the casino. The Kiwis beat us all; the rest of the world is behind time, every year without fail.

Then the show moved across the Tasman Sea and, two hours later, it was at the Sydney Harbour Bridge — more spectacular fireworks and more money was burnt. By some estimates, seven million Aussie dollars went up in smoke on the bridge!

As 2013 began across the globe, more and more fireworks exploded – in New York, in Dubai and in other cities. By the time I finished watching the local TV showing the crowd of revellers at Dataran Merdeka, it was an anti- climax.

Why were these cities spending so much money on fireworks?

An idealist would ask, “Shouldn’t the money be better spent on the poor of the world instead?” But who listens to idealists? They are not realists.

It would be more sensible to ask, “What about spending that money on studies to discover the best method of predicting earthquakes or tsunamis, on research to find the most effective system to extinguish forest fires, or on developing vaccines to prevent AIDS or measles or those that can cure cancers?” But who will listen to sensible suggestions when everybody is having a good time?

All these questions were swirling in my mind all the time I was watching the fireworks until after a while boredom set in – more of the same thing. It was well past midnight and the beginning of the first day of another year. For me, the previous year had simply passed into another just like it always has been for the past 76 years.

Love of noise

Many people love noise; it’s fun. Noise of some kind is always associated with parties or parties with noise and fun involves noise. This love of anything noisy has been attributed to boys by the adults, but there are boys in the adults. Making noise has become a tradition of many cities and fireworks or crackers are an integral part of a celebration, even though it is a wasteful custom.

This year there will be more noise in the country. At the state level, the Sarawak Government Almanac has lined up all the major festivals. Choose the ones that you are going to celebrate; some of them you cannot avoid – the religious ones are obligatory. The cultural ones are not mandatory to observe but would be politically incorrect not to celebrate. In February there will be more noise – the fire crackers.

Less noise, please

Can we think in terms of less noise and in terms of celebrating in moderation?

There is one celebration where we may start exercising moderation. That’s Malaysia Day, on Monday, September 16. It’s the Golden Jubilee anniversary of the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. Before you know it, we will be half a century old as a country.

Isn’t it high time to be different? The bottom line is not the lavish spending on parties and dinners and parades; what’s vital is the spirit in which it is celebrated: the spirit of participative patriotism. Never mind the term,  something I have plucked out from thin air without going into the semantics.

Let’s celebrate the day together. Some would like to celebrate it with pomp and pageantry – on a much bigger scale than that organised by the former state legislator Dominique Ng and his supporters. Salute to them. These were the people who kept an important date in history for others to remember. The16th of September has been accepted by the federal government leaders, rather reluctantly at first, as another important date besides August 31. However, as far as Sabahans and Sarawakians are concerned, that day in September is the most important event in the history of their respective states.

A note to the organisers

September is not far away in terms of time for preparations for the day. As early as possible, let’s think in terms of celebrating a national event in  another format. I hope the organisers will rope in as many volunteers as possible to sit in the various committees – volunteers drawn from various groups, never mind their political or religious affiliations.

Make it a national project. On the day itself, I would like to see all the country’s leaders – ruling and opposition – sitting on the same dais or platform and singing the same theme song now being composed for the occasion. The mass media people will have a field day taking pictures of the politicians standing on the same platform for a change — a platform of National Solidarity.

In 1965, we sang ‘Berjaya’ at the Central Padang. Where is it going to be this time around?

Hopefully, the notion of moderation in most things will develop into a national trait for Malaysians eventually. It will become part of our psyche if we believe in it starting from now.

By the time the centenary celebration of Malaysia Day comes around, the practice of moderation will have become a national culture. By then those of you still around may have any amount of fireworks and crackers you like. By then, if His plan goes according to schedule, grouchy old men like me won’t be there to hear the noise.