I’M NOT going to do a list of personal resolutions because none of them are going to have much bearing on our society and country (unless me learning to cook is really of earth-shaking significance). So I’d like to do a list of collective resolutions that we all should make together. Here goes:

Let’s decide to bring back ethics. According to my dictionary, that means a system of moral principles governing the appropriate conduct for an individual or group. So it means that we all undertake to not lie, cheat or steal. That includes people in public office, of course. In fact, let’s demand better ethics from people in public office. When they’ve done something wrong, they should do the ethical thing by owning up, apologising and maybe even resigning. Let’s also insist that saying terrible, unsubstantiated things about people is not news, it’s unethical.

Let’s call a spade a spade. If someone in public office says something stupid, as they are often wont to do, let’s just tell them they are stupid. Let’s not beat about the bush so that their feelings won’t be hurt. Hey, when they say dumb things, I feel hurt because they think I’m mentally deficient. Why is it that they are allowed to insult us and we are just supposed to swallow it? Getting a high post doesn’t make you an intellectual giant so let’s call a midget a midget when we need to.

Let’s really celebrate diversity in all its forms. I said celebrate, not just acknowledge. I think I am rich because I have friends of different races, religions, nationalities, socio-economic status, political and sexual orientation. I love that about my life, it’s what makes it interesting. We should all take a look at our lives and see if we can truly celebrate its diversity. Not just give a cursory nod to it.

Let’s get literate, not literal. Let’s try and understand irony, nuance and different shades of meaning. Let’s not insist that everything has to hit us between the eyes before we understand it. Let’s just grow up.

Let us get militant about getting good service. Let us no longer tolerate people who keep you on hold on the phone and never come back, sales assistants who don’t know what they are selling, people who don’t keep promises, people who blow you off if you ask too many questions. It’s become so bad that the other day when I asked a question at an information counter and the person manning it could actually answer, I was so shocked. Good service must become the norm, not the exception.

Let us not tolerate people who break traffic rules. And let us insist that there are police to enforce those rules. Why does everyone stop on yellow boxes, park on double lines, beat red lights, keep driving when people are using zebra crossings these days? We had to know these rules when we took our driving tests. Are we supposed to ignore them once we’ve got our licences?

Let us refuse to be condescended to by bureaucrats. If they try and tell us we are unpatriotic just because we ask difficult questions, let us tell them where to go. We are paying their salaries, allowances, first-class tickets with our taxes after all. And please, let us insist on knowing why they waste our money.

Let us not endure mediocrity in anything we do. If something is not really good, let’s not say it’s good “by Malaysian standards” unless we mean that our standards are really low. We should promote only the best, not the second or third best. We should benchmark ourselves against the best in the world and if we fall short, then aim higher and work harder. We should never be content to be jaguh kampung or the one-eyed king among the blind.

Let us stop being feudal and automatically bow and scrape to those with titles. It’s so amazing who gets titles these days that you start feeling, like Groucho Marx, that it’s becoming a club you don’t want to be a member of.

Let us stop finding excuses for not doing the right thing. If something difficult needs to be done, let’s stop fidgeting, hemming and hawing and then not do it. Or better still, let’s hold the hemmers and hawers responsible for the disasters they cause. The rule of thumb should be that if something eases the suffering of people, it’s the right thing.

Let us really listen to other people, especially when they are saying things we don’t like to hear. Just because we don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not true. And let us ask them questions because we really want to know, not because we want an opportunity to attack or to pontificate.

It’s funny how easy it was to do a list. In fact if it weren’t for my word limit, I could probably find a lot more to add. But I won’t, because if we can do even half of this, I would be happy. That’s not accepting mediocrity, it’s understanding reality.

Happy New Year everyone!

The Star Online, December 29, 2004