There's No Escaping The Law.

A man with a religion knows that everything that happens in this world is in God’s power. We do not have the ability to predict what will happen to us in the future but we can plan for it and strive to be the best by obeying the His commands. A man without one is still bound to the laws and regulations of a country. No matter how strongly they oppose it, at the end of the day they can’t escape it.

And so, when news broke out a few years ago about a man who died in police custody and that a police officer was found guilty of causing his death, things got uptight due to a number of reasons. One of it was the fact that the deceased was an Indian man and this of course made way to racial accusations until everyone was pacified with the revelation that the police officer responsible for his death was, too, an Indian.

Other than that, people were arguing and debating about a few issues regarding this matter. Some were for the actions of the police officer, citing that the deceased was a criminal and also a suspect for a number of possible rape cases. Some were against it, saying that he should have gone through a proper trial with a proper verdict.

For me, I do agree that a person like the deceased could have been a dangerous man if left out and about but I believe that our laws and the judiciary system would never let that happen. Furthermore, some might say that it is normal for criminals to be tortured in police custody in order to gain crucial intelligence information, but it should never cause any deaths. Also, nothing good ever comes in killing a person. It does not solve everything and will only create a chain of unfortunate events.

The results of this one man’s actions go both ways but leans more towards the negative side. Yes, there became one less criminal in the society but a mother lost a son. And, this particular case tarnished our police enforcement’s name and reputation apart from the nation losing its trust towards them besides questioning their credibility. This is what happens when people think that they are above the law. Here’s news for everyone out there – no one is.

Cyber Balkanization, Causing Us to Segregate in a Place for Congregation.

I have been an avid fan of the British rock band, Muse since 2007 and my love for them and their music never wavered even after I have grown up quite a bit ever since. Whenever I am bored, I would listen to their songs or Google the internet to keep myself updated on their activities. I have found that there weren’t that many Muse fans around me that I can share my interest with, so I go on the internet and found a forum called ‘Muse Fans from Malaysia.’ I found so many new friends with various backgrounds on this forum, and we chatted as if we’re old friends. We formed a positive bond over our undying love for Muse and even went to their concert in Singapore in 2009 together. Afterwards, small meet-ups were still held and we kept on chatting with each other on the forum.

This is an example of the internet as a ‘Global Village’, a term first coined by communication theorist, Marshall McLuhan. In his books such as The Gutenberg Galaxy: Making of Typographic Man, he described available technologies made this big world smaller and smaller through the vast inventory of information available and its rapid transfer from one to another. Nowadays, the internet is what popped into the mind when people talk about global village because it is now one of the fastest and most used medium of communication and information sharing throughout the entire world.

Now, when internet becomes a global village, where people can ‘meet’ and talk with each other, hold discussions and share information with each other, it is bound to create a smaller group of people who shares common interests and thoughts. People usually filter the information they received on the internet according to their preferences and are attracted to like-mindedness. Cass Sunstein describes this phenomenon as cyber balkanization. Cyber balkanization segregates people into specific groups of common thinkers who have the tendency to be quite critical of those who oppose their views.

Regrettably, the internet holds a plethora of people who possess these characteristics of cyber balkanization, taking their opinions to the extreme especially when political issues are involved. One can find so many blogs, profile pages and forums especially dedicated to politics with so many people forming groups of discussion in it. The bad news is that most of it is one-sided and very hostile in nature, so much so that searching for a politically neutral blog on the internet is hard work.

It is more saddening when the internet causes the people to be segregated according to their race and ethnicity where an ethnic group bashes another group of different ethnicity. This polarisation of groups surely dampens the government’s initiatives to form a 1 Malaysia nation where the Chinese, Indians, Malays and the Bumiputeras be known only Malaysians instead of their respective races. Despite that, it can be said that everyone is at fault for this case and not just any one particular side.

During the 13^th General Elections, the media including the internet exploded with so many opinions, commentaries and discussions revolving around it. People were taking sides and were desperately trying to influence others by using the internet both to good use and also negatively. And then came the aftermath; a famous mainstream newspaper wrote a front page headline that caused an uproar throughout the nation. The internet was full of hostile bashings and condemnations, sides were taken, and the nation divided. Personally, I think that the effects still lingers on until now because I still find myself feeling quite awkward and embarrassed with what had unfolded.

This could have been prevented should the government took the reins on the freedom of expression in this country. Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad once said that the freedom of the press is the same as other freedoms – it has its own boundaries, its limits. There is no such thing as absolute freedom, and people need to realize this and the government must take action upon it.

Apart from that, there are so many keyboard warriors out there. They wrote so many and so bravely on the internet but it stops just there. There are also those who claim themselves to be citizen journalists but their lack of ethics in writing proved otherwise. People must be educated that despite having bestowed with freedom of expression, a privilege possessed by few, they need to limit themselves and obey the ethics. If they keep on being ignorant, I am afraid that the escalation will spiral out of control, hence causing major problems off the internet that will affect the nation as a whole.

To put it simply, we are living in a beautiful country which canvas is colourfully painted. We should take a step back and try to admire and appreciate its beauty, even better if we do that to each other regardless of our skin colours, interests and backgrounds. No good will ever come if we keep on living with the selfish mind-set that ‘I am me, and you are you’. No one and nothing is perfect, so stop being so judgemental for it only reflects back to us and our integrity. We will be living with each other for many, many more years to come from now so we might as well try to make it a comfortable environment to live in. Just keep in mind that we live such short lives and when we are gone, our future generations will take over our place in this world. Do them a favour and leave them a place where everyone is one and the same for that might just be one of the greatest heirlooms they will ever inherit.