IT cannot be denied that the Europeans have the luxury to travel more often than us. When they travel, they bring their values with them.
With them comes the concept of globalisation, liberalisation and freedom. Freedom started by liberating themselves from the monarch. They wanted the freedom to participate in the decision-making process. That was understandable considering how ruthless their kings were.
And then, they started to champion women’s rights to allow them to vote. Shortly after that, the demands were expanded to many other things. The word freedom has been galvanised to liberalise people from moral or religious barriers. Why should people be constrained to certain things? Why does the government dictate society’s behaviour? What is wrong with unlimited freedom as long as we mind our own business? And the list goes on.
In today’s eurocentric world, unacceptable values are accepted — no matter how unthinkable they may be. Unfortunately, people in Asia (Malaysia included) are very fond of copying them. But one size doesn't fit all and Asians should never be like Europeans.
But some Malaysians are gullible to this. They refuse to criticise the Europeans because they believe the Europeans are mighty. What is important to them is freedom. They subscribe to the idea of enjoying life without restrictions. So, the process of “liberalisation” of society follows the European way. It is not that we can’t copy the good things. I believe democracy is still the best system. But at the same time, we must set the limits of democracy. Already we have seen what happened in Ukraine. They wanted the right to demonstrate. The elected government had no choice but to respect the wishes of the people. The police had no business to control the crowd.
How about human rights? We should respect human rights, but if there is no limit, people tend to do whatever they think is their right. Not everyone would think the same way in terms of right and wrong.
Should our youth allow themselves to be “dictated” by the thinking of some hypocrites? We must think for ourselves. We must not be too eurocentric. We should have an independent mind and think about what is good for us instead of blindly following the Europeans.
We must remember that Malaysia is a multiracial country. In our country, we retain our identity, culture, religion, language and values. Therefore, we need restrictions. It is illogical to have a free society because unlimited freedom will eventually result in moral decadence.
Radzi Tajuddin, Manchester, England