Ask not what your country can do for you

Korang kenal ke pakcik dalam gambar ni? Inilah J F Kennedy, Presiden USA yang terkenal dengan ungkapan "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". Dia mengucapkan ayat keramat tu masa majlis perlantikannya sebagai Presiden. Kadang-kadang kita terlalu fokus kepada apa yang kita nak, sehingga kita lupa apa yang kita mampu dan patut beri kepada orang lain.

(source: www.jfklibrary.org)

Begitu juga dalam membincangkan masalah. Kalau tengok di media sosial, banyak rungutan, komplen,dan perkataan negatif yang berkesudahan dengan kecaman terhadap kerajaan. Kerajaan buat itu salah. Kerajaan buat ini salah. Kesusahan yang dialami semuanya sebab kerajaan.

Mungkin ada benarnya.

Cuba kita lihat masalah yang berlaku dari pagi kita bangun, sampai ke malam.

Jem waktu pagi; mamat motor mencelah2 secara bahaya dan langgar lampu sisi kereta. 

Mamat tu kerajaan ke?

Singgah stesen minyak: nak guna toilet, tapi patah selera sebab toilet busuk, pam rosak, dan kunci pintu tercabut.

Orang yang merosakkan toilet tu kerajaan ke?

Pusing-pusing cari alamat rumah: "Manu satu jalan Putra Cendana ni? Tak nampak signage pun. Kalau ada pun, tak nampak perkataannya. Habis kena tampal dengan sticker iklan."

Penampal sticker tu kerajaan ke?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending the government from any wrong doings that were committed. In fact, what I've said is not just for Malaysian government, but other governments in the world. What I want to share is WE as individuals have responsibilities too in the troubles and problems that we see everyday. 

To paraphrase JFK, ask not how your country has made life worse for you, ask also how you have made life worse for your country.

Are we guilty of the following?

1. maintain unhealthy lifestyle (poor diet, lack of exercises, smoking, drinking) - increasing healthcare cost
2. being a reckless and inconsiderate drivers (park-as-I-like, no signalling when turning, over speeding) -increasing other drivers' stress level
3. damaging public properties (sticking adverts on road signage's, littering, vandalising) - increasing maintenance cost
4. Harming the environment (wasting water and electricity, avoiding recycling, plastic sapien) – degradation of natural resources

I believe everyone would like to improve the nation.

We can start by changing ourselves.

Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves (part of verse 11: ar-Ra'd)

The fate of the collective (people) can be changed by the individuals within the community.