Friday, October 28, 2005
Tolerance is a Bad BAD Word
made by MENJ and Mahaguru58. “Tolerance” is a bad, BAD word. It is like a four letter word with the exception, "tolerance" has nine letters instead. I should not tolerate the varying cultures and religious beliefs in Malaysia. Why should I? I suggest that school textbooks should stop encouraging students to be “TOLERANT” of each other. Why should I tolerate you because you are different from me? Why should I tolerate you because you pray to a different God? Or that you pray to many Gods or do not believe in God? Why should I tolerate? The reason I am asking you this is because the word “tolerate” has a negative connotation, implying that I am unhappy with the situation but I put up with it (for whatever reason). I beseech you to clarify this word in the dictionary. I do not want to tolerate you or you or you, just because you are different from me. Conversely I am sure you don't want me to put up with you for whatever logical or illogical reason. I want to respect you as an individual, celebrate you as a person and accept you as you are. I am sure you want me to respect, celebrate and accept you. Heck, I surely want you to respect, celebrate and accept me. Please don't just put up with me or tolerate my behaviour.  The operative words here are “RESPECT”, “CELEBRATE” and “ACCEPT”. I respect you when we are different. I celebrate the differing cultures and religious beliefs each of us have. I accept you as you are, even when we might not agree on some issues. I would like to think that at the end of the day, we can shake hands, sincerely be friends and go out for ice coffee by the roadside stall - even though we physically look different, even when we vary in our spiritual beliefs and do not possess common philosophies of life. We should be able to look at each other with love and compassion, respect each other and do not deride or make a mockery of each other. Ever. *** NB: The word "you" in this article refers to you, my readers. "You" does not specifically refer to neither Mahaguru58 nor MENJ although this article stem from their articles. This article is not directed towards Mahaguru58 or MENJ. It is directed towards you, my dear readers, with the hope of perhaps encouraging you to think for a moment. There is no right or wrong. There is no need to even take sides because this is not a battle against one another - you against me or we against them. This is an article about learning to love, even when the person is not one like us. We are grown ups and we can hold differing opinions. At the end of the day, as I have written above, we can have a discussion on any topic, have varying opinions and be able to go out for mamak at the end of the night, laugh and be friends. Related Links Labels: Emo |
heh....oh deary me.....not again??
Fashionasia,
Please read my article again. And again, if you need to. I hope you understand what I am striving to tell the public.
TOLERANCE is not enough. We must strive for more than just tolerating. Do you want to go out with a friend whom you just TOLERATE?
You want friends that you love and respect and accept, right? In the same light, consider that Malaysia has a lot to offer and Malaysia has great potential but it's going to be a long struggle if our people cannot put our heads together and agree.