The Label That Silenced Conscience
Because the label did the work. He did not need to hate the farmer. He only needed to file him under "Chinese." Once the Ah Pek stood outside the circle of "us," conscience went quiet. The nutmeg was no longer theft — it was taking from an outsider.
That is how othering works. And it is how ordinary people become accomplices to extraordinary greed.
The Scandals and the Speeches
In October 2026, Anwar Ibrahim addressed two gatherings of young Malaysians — the Youth Economic Forum at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and the National Student Icon Award Ceremony in Putrajaya. In one, he noted that 1MDB, Tabung Haji and FELDA were helmed by political and institutional figures — many with PhDs and master's degrees. In the other, he told a story from his childhood.
"Education and knowledge alone," he said, “do not guarantee a noble personality and morals.”
They failed the rakyat. Not for lack of education, but for lack of conscience. They used power and influence to fatten their own accounts and their relatives'.
The Childhood Story
Growing up in Bukit Mertajam, he plucked four nutmeg fruits from a Chinese farmer's orchard. His grandmother, Aisyah, called it stealing. He defended himself: the farmer was Chinese.
She insisted he return them that night — close to Maghrib, almost dark. He ran up the hill, dogs barking, afraid, crying. He threw the four nutmeg fruits back into the field.
"That taught me," he said. "When I became Prime Minister: do not steal, and do not allow people to steal."
How the Mind Works
But how does a mind trained in universities still steal billions? Look at how the mind works.
In dreams we climb Mt Kinabalu, feel the sun, then wake and it vanishes. Our waking life is the same — colleagues, in-laws, shopping malls — all disappear when we sleep.
So who is this "I" we defend so fiercely? It is a label we paste onto body and mind. Search the body: no "I." Search the mind: no "I." What cannot be found does not exist as a thing. The "I" is a habit, a name, a story we tell ourselves. And stories can be rewritten.
The Cost of Grasping
Grasp a wet bar of soap and it slips away. Grasp a butterfly and we crush it. Grasp "me" and "mine," and we steal the country's wealth for ourselves and our relatives.
We mistake a rope for a snake and want to kill it. Malays label non-Malays as kafir, seeing threats instead of neighbours. At first we saw Anwar as our reformasi god. Then, expectations unmet, we labelled him betrayer and decided never to cast him a vote again. Like puppets, we are pulled by aversion and attachment, and we lose our peace of mind.
Living Lightly, Living Madani
So loosen the grip. Live lightly.
That is where Madani begins. Not in slogans, but in the quiet refusal to let any label — Chinese, Malay, Indian, friend, foe — place another human being outside the circle of our conscience.
Madani will see the light of day only when we stop gripping "me" and "mine" so tightly that we can no longer feel the humanity of the Ah Pek beside us.
Nathalie CHIA (nathalie.meiying@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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