The best thing about our country’s political awakening is that now everyone has an opinion. And never have opinions been this prevalent, pertinent or vociferous. Whether it is an individual or a collective perspective, a personal or public standpoint, Malaysians are making their voices heard. Loudly.

AFTER shopping for her week’s food supply, an Indian granny puts forward her viewpoint. She animatedly exchanges points of contention with the Chinese sundry shop-owner on the merits of the incumbent representative in their fast-growing suburb.

Across town, the day after GE13’s polling date was announced, groups of Malay men were spotted chatting in clusters at a high-end cafe. Conducted quietly and self-assuredly, the discussions could only have been about the forthcoming elections. Passers-by had no choice but to wonder, which side of the divide each table belonged to.

Social media has, naturally, changed the pattern of political discourse forever.

Friends and family, acquaintances and strangers – no one is afraid to offer their point of view. Portals, pages and posts, with threads adding weight, keep popping up with people’s opinions ranging far and wide.

Technically, an opinion is a belief or judgement not founded on complete knowledge. Opinions expressed are a conclusion that certain facts or ideas are probably true or likely to prove to be so. They differ from sentiments in that sentiments usually refer to a fixed conviction, customarily based on feeling or emotion rather than on reasoning.

Views, on the other hand, are an intellectual judgement, a critical review based on rational scrutiny, particularly of a public matter.

Late last Sunday, as it made its way through the wired network, a video clip showed the residents of Lucky Gardens in Bangsar, KL, recapturing a roundabout.

The authorities were in the midst of dismantling the array of colourful, curated flags, painstakingly planted in the centre of the roundabout. Cars circled the site after the flags had been taken away, making their opinions clear with loud honks of protest.

Meanwhile, local residents marched out of their nearby homes, took back their flags and proceeded to stick them back into the roundabout ground, one by one. Several residents went on record, too, passionately asserting their rights as citizens.

However, in defining opinions, one must note that they are not absolute facts but are biased and subjective. Sometimes unreservedly so.

But all opinions must be respected and allowed a platform, even if they differ from our own or from the general consensus. After all, people’s opinions are a reflection of themselves and their viewpoints, based on how they interpret information, facts, values and emotions.

In his introduction to The Malayan Trilogy, the novelist Anthony Burgess wrote: “One of the most attractive aspects of Malayan life, in the period of which I write (1954-1960), was the profusion of race and culture and language. But the races did not always get on well together.” This was astutely observed and recorded by the English author during his stint here. Indeed, throughout the trilogy, passages are peppered with the writer’s study of our tropical lives. And so much of it still rings true almost 60 years later.

While many opinions are aired through multiple media, what makes one convincing? Perhaps its depth of observation or its persuasive conclusion.

While each of us is the sum of our own experiences, a cohesive train of thought can sway the reader or listener towards the writer’s or speaker’s point of view.

And that is the ultimate objective of an opinion, no?

The point of having an opinion is not only to express our view, but primarily to persuade the listening party to see our perspective. And eventually accept it. A person usually changes his opinion only when his own underlying feelings and emotions change, and when he is convinced by the argument to see the other side.

Last Tuesday evening, poet, writer, translator, journalist and founder-director of PUSAKA, Eddin Khoo, addressed a small group of people with his presentation, Malaysian Politics: The End (As We Know It).

In this thought-provoking talk, he traced Malaysia’s political development from Independence to the forthcoming GE13 in an attempt to link the past with the present political situation. His view: it is impossible to think about change without any memory of a remembered past. Or the necessary historical recollection and references that will shape the future.

He offered his view on the evolution and implications of events that have shaped our country’s political culture, at the same time examining current critical issues. The minority voice, he asserts, must continue in its quest for change. For that’s where it will begin.

The essential thing about opinion, as French philosopher Voltaire wisely proclaimed, is that you don’t have to agree with what others say, but must defend their right to say it. It is only by offering an avenue for a variety of viewpoints that our minds can expand, broadening our horizons to make our own calculated conclusions.

In the end, opinions are not right or wrong. What matters is that our circumstances and environment continue to encourage their cultivation. Each one of us should and must have our own opinion. That in itself is an awakening.

Delighting in dead ends, Jacqueline Pereira seeks unexpected encounters to counter the outmoded. Find her on Facebook at Jacqueline-Pereira-Writing-on.

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