A choice of perception

Twenty four hours from now, the New Year will have begun. Much revelry will be taking place – much laughter, much shouting and for some, much drinking. There will be much celebrations. Double number, 2020 - the number 2 in numerology resonates with relationships, your intuition and the very purpose of life, therefore its amplified energy.

And, at long last, 2019 will be gone.

Such a year this has been; a year to relinquish, a year to remember. What becomes of us now will depend on what we choose to remember, and what we choose not to.

We will remember the Chinese Uyghur’s human dignity crisis when the Chinese government expanded its efforts to curtail what they termed as ‘religious extremism, separatism and terrorism.’ News reports from all over the world carried updates of the concentration camps.

Without doubt, there is clearly a deafening silence among ‘mutuals’, to quip the lingo of social media users, as far as a regional effort at mobilizing a concerted censure against the Chinese state is concerned. But why haven’t we heard anything from the elected representatives of the Muslim states in the Nusantara to speak against the Chinese Communist policies subjecting the Uyghur Muslims to repressive and inhumane regime of Islamophobia?

On the world front also, the global economic crash is also real. The memory of the 1929 and 1987 crisis was said to be the worst stock market collapse in history but it did not destroy the world. The world has been running on more than one economy for a long time so as a whole is strong enough to withstand the rolls and blows of the current economy and market systems.

Then there’s the Brexit saga that continues with further discussions between the United Kingdom and European Union. These deliberations are to allow dispute resolution, the arrangements in haulage and aviation, security, foreign policy, space, energy, mobility of citizens travelling between the UK and the EU, and future British involvement in the EU’s programmes, including higher education. December 31st, 2020, is the earliest date that the transition period can end if the EU and UK agree on future trading relationship. The date when EU customs rules apply to Northern Ireland.

We might also want to remember 2019 for the Syrian multi-sided civil war fought between the Ba'athist Syrian Arab Republic led by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, along with domestic and foreign allies, and various domestic and foreign forces opposing both the Syrian government and each other in varying combinations. Currently, there is no sight of an ending.

Here at home, we will recall 2019 subdued UMNO General Assembly in December. Party deputy president, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said in his opening speech that after being an opposition for the past 18 months, if the party still failed to produce a new or fresh ideology, UMNO will remain as a lifeless body, without any spirit, empty and dry. A sad state of affairs indeed.

We may have cause to dredge up the not so intellectual stories of a flying car. Most of us never really knew what to make of it. Do we even entertain the notion of a flying blue car like in Hogswarts? This story was covered widely in the media with much hilarious reaction.

December 2019 also saw Media Prima undertaking internal restructuring to embark on its next phase of its business transformation exercise, according to a statement from the company. Over 1000 staff from Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad (TV3) and New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd’s (NSTP) employees were given the dreadful notice just before Christmas.

It was not an easy time for anyone, regardless of whether your name was on the dreaded list or not. If it was, you had lost your job and for some, a job that they had loyally held for more than two decades. If your name was not on the list, then you were among the few who had to watch your friends pack and leave because you got left behind to pick up the pieces of the destruction.

It was not only media practioners that were affected, academia also saw many bite the dust because of the economic downturn. Academics were never affected in the last global economic crash but this year many were let go across private institutions, regardless if you have a doctoral or not. So that says a lot.

In 2019, Malaysia underwent serious testing of the limits, be it political or economic. It was close, but we were not tested to destruction because there is still hope for betterment. We faced situations we had not faced before and were not prepared for, and we were able to measure our responses and reactions to them. Seemingly keeping our wits about us.

We are the wiser for this; a little more experienced, a little older which means, time will surely show this to be true – we are stronger now.

Or we might simply choose to remember the truths brought home to us in 2019; that it is better to speak softly than shout, better to negotiate that agitate; that there are important reasons why tolerance, discipline, restraint and simple civility are such highly respected virtues that must be maintained, always.

The value of experience is not measured in the price paid but in the lessons learned. We shall remember the things we also learned about ourselves in 2019.

If you are reading these words on the first day of 2020, I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing this to be a happy and fulfilling year for all of us. And it will be, as long as we remember 2019 as the year which tested us with shadows and taught us the inestimable value of keeping our faces toward the light… an important exercise of spiritual fortitude, otherwise known as looking on the bright side.

Happy New Year everyone!

* Profesor Madya Dr Roslina Abdul Latif is an Associate Professor at School of Media and Communication, Taylor’s University, Lakeside Campus.