Mini Revolution

Exactly what it says.

As Malaysians, we have always been taught 'How to do things' but we were often not taught to ask 'Why am I taught this?'

That is why, most of us are passive readers of texts. Now in text, I am saying any form of publishing that can be read over and over again. It could be a photograph, it could be a movie, it could also be a theater play. As long as some form of meaning can be made of it. But our culture and education does not warrant us to think further than "Hmmm, that was a good play/movie."

"Why was it a good play/movie?"

"We don't know. But it felt good alright." or "The acting was convincing".

This is because we have not experienced any form of spiritual/intellectual revival. We are living in the 'modern dark ages'. We know a lot of things, but yet at the same time know so little. that is because what we know is only the surface of things. And that is apparent in the whole of Malaysia. We buy something because the ad says it good. We believe in something because our friends say its good. We spend more money on a product that costs a fraction of the price because we think it's good for us.

That's all??? Don't we have an opinion of our own? Have we asked why?? Well, sometimes, we do ask "Why should I buy it" but the more important question should be "Why do I need it".

Anyways, that's not the point. The point is, we can't make much of meaning from texts. So often, we take in whatever the media/friends/family tells us without thinking deeper into it. For example, I was watching this travel show on the tele the other night, and it was a feature on Berlin. There was this scene that involved a girl, an artist, who performed a piece of art to a group of other artists. She tied a sewing machine to a string of rope, hung it over a branch of a tree, and tied the other end of the rope to her hair. Then she put on a full length dress that was pegged down to the ground. So, she was actually being pulled up by the gravitational pull of the sewing machine and at the same time pegged down to the ground dy her dress.

Most of us will see it as 'Funky work of art and will go 'Wierd Westerners'. We do not think deeper and try to figure out what she is tryng to tell us?? What does the sewing machine represent? Why is it tied to her hair, trying to pull her up? And Why does she want to tie herself down to the ground via her dress? What does the dress represent? Why is it pegged down?

If only we asked more of 'Why' and think more about things. Meaning making is a very subjective subject. And most of the time, in Malaysia, we are taught to be so tolerating that we don't ask why. We just accept whatever is thrown at us. Sometimes, it's even viewed as being rude if you asked to many whys...

This has caused the entire Malaysian population to know a lot, but understand very little.