Dengarlah Jeritan Batinku

"Where Justice Is Around, It Feels Just Like Heaven" ~ Fi-sha

Tak la, I'm not referring to the Gifted Allahyarham Tan Sri P. Ramlee's song of the same title.

In the movie "Sixth Sense", Cole Sear, played by a brilliant young actor, Haley Joel Osment, could see dead people. While some people could see these out-of the-world beings, some could see through one's soul and feel what's brewing inside. Under both circumstances, it hurts.

It hurts because you know there's so little you could do to alleviate the pain, the sadness, the grief, the anger and the longing. What if you have to live with it for the rest of your life? Would you hide away from reality? Or would you deny your senses so you could live happily ever after since this life is too short to worry about others?

Maybe I am exaggerating but I, sometimes, could lift a sense or two when looking at someone. At times, I am glad I could because I could do something to ease and please - before they ask for it. Sometimes, I wish I could erase the 'captured senses from strangers' because they could torment me for weeks.

Last Friday, as I was driving, I saw a middle-aged man who looked forlornly, while talking to another guy at one stall. They live, i assumed, in one those low-cost flats. Around them were children busy playing and eating at the stall.

The first thing that crossed my mind at that point of time (yes, while asking My Little Angel Fariz whether he would want me to teach him to read Peter And Jane 3a book later) was if I could help that forlorn looking man, and many more parents out there, to have lesser worries in life about their children, I would make sure they have easy accessibility to proactive and effective public social services so their children would grow up in a conducive environment. Till today, I could still picture his face in my head.

As I told you before, things that I read are really meant for me, things that keep me thinking and alive, i guess.

So, despite my 'cold war' with the MSM, I told myself few months ago to at least read The Star's Metro Section.

Why? Well, this is the most interesting, make-sense section of this news piece. It is more transparent (yes, like when they reported the water operators for FT, Putrajaya and Selangor FAILED to follow clean-up schedule - Gee, Don't you think it's a BREACH of contract? Good Bye Tariffs Hike), more humane (various highlights on Furry Friends Farm and Hitam, the hero of Pulau Ketam's Dog Dumping) and its Wishing Tree Project.




But what caught my wondering eyes was a photo on Adik-adik JERIT, on their bikes, in The Star Metro's "Celebrating 20 years of human rights".

So, what do these children fight for? Why would they be burdened to fight for rights and justice that have been denied to their parents and forefathers for years? Shouldn't they just be left alone being children?

Yet, I believe that they are doing the right things because "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men", so Frederick Douglass says.

I surfed JERIT website and I found that these "Rakyat Pengayuh Perubahan" fight for: -

1. Gubal Akta Gaji Minima RM1,500;

2. Turunkan harga minyak dan kawal harga barangan asas;

3. Mansuhkan segala undang yang mendiskriminasi rakyat seperti ISA, OSA, AUKU;

4. Pastikan perumahan selesa dan yang mampu dibeli oleh rakyat;

5. Pendidikan percuma sehingga ke tahap pendidikan tinggi.

If I may add to their list "To Fight For", I would wish for a free medical services and treatment. Yes, all of these could make that forlorn looking man, contented.

You may think these people need charity but like Norman Bethune says, "Charity should be abolished; and be replaced by justice".

Thanks for reading for this long and winding posting - it feels so good to share this with all of you. And I know I have excited certain feelings in you...