Rowdy folks: Protesters throwing water bottles at a police car during the Bersih 3.0 rally. — Bernama

One can never stop learning, and to grow, we need to cast aside our preconceptions and prejudices first so that our minds can be free to accept new knowledge.

IT’S the end of the year, folks, and it is a good time to sit and review the year gone by. For me it has been an exhausting one with so much work and things happening all the time. I talked and talked and talked, to women’s groups, academics and students and anyone else who’s interested, both here and abroad.

I joined the 150,000 or so Malaysians who marched at Bersih 3.0 and was shocked that such a peaceful march could become something else entirely.

I got a new book out and did several book signings at various bookstores and got the opportunity to meet the people who actually read me.

I feel like I’ve had more things inputted into the hard disk in my head than any time before. One can never stop learning, I found out, and to grow, we need to cast aside our preconceptions and prejudices first. Only then can our minds be free to accept new knowledge.

What is the purpose of that knowledge? To me it can only be to serve others, in my country and the world.

In a time when knowledge is power, and those who have knowledge try and keep it to themselves, or worse, distort for their own ends, more than ever we need to do everything we can to democratise knowledge. Equality only comes when knowledge is shared so that power can be shared.

Some of us are lucky and privileged to have access to new knowledge all the time. I count myself as one of them, and I find my most scintillating bouts of learning when I am among women. Women seek knowledge to find solutions, not to have power, and they share it for the good of all humankind.

When I sit and listen to the many women from around the world who have studied and researched the pressing issues affecting women, I can only be humbled and grateful for the opportunity. The warmth and sincerity is so evident; we all work for a common purpose.

Looking back at 2012, I have to wonder what our common purpose as Malaysians are. This year, to me, is a landmark year in incivility, in the type of language and behaviour that could never be associated with good manners and respect. What can we make of people who, in the spirit of misplaced patriotism apparently, thought it appropriate to shake their butts in front of a woman’s house? In the annals of our history, this will not go down as a proud moment.

Nor can it be said about the targeting of the individuals, groups of people of different sexual orientation and the hounding of some organisations and online media.

I would love to see our leaders go to some international meeting and proudly list these as our achievements this year.

Perhaps in 2013 we have to wait until the elections are over before we return to normal behaviour. Perhaps after that we can carry on with life without finding the need to constantly berate the ones who are most powerless, voiceless and vulnerable.

Perhaps we can go beyond a special regulation in Parliament that disallows sexist speech and actually implement a greater respect for women everywhere. Maybe we can stop arguing about why crime seems to have escalated and actually do better policing so that we feel safer.

Perhaps, just perhaps, we’ll actually restore trust and confidence among the public by actually persecuting someone for major corruption, not just the small fry. Perhaps we can stop displaying our utter lack of confidence in ourselves, especially in matters of faith.

Maybe we’ll finally have leaders who have the spine to actually tell us what is good public behaviour and what is not. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll leave people’s private lives alone.

Sadly I don’t have the confidence that things will change much after the elections, no matter what the outcome.

Whoever loses is going to make everyone’s lives miserable by constantly harping on every little thing they can, including personal stuff, real or otherwise. I don’t have the confidence that anyone will behave in mature and magnanimous ways at all.

That’s partly because of the numerous instances of childish and arrogant behaviour we’ve seen all year. Will anyone wise up that the public is sick of this? I doubt it.

So what can we ordinary Malaysians do but decide for ourselves what sort of future we want for our country, one that can once again stand proudly in the world, and act on it, not just complain.

Meanwhile I wish everyone a relaxing holiday season, a very Merry Christmas and a new year that restores our faith in this land we all call home. Happy New Year!

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