We live in defining times. The effects of the pandemic is now in its full swing and the weight of it has brought many to their knees, waving a white flag for help.
A “white-flag” reality may hit different households differently. Be it from providing for our families or even a stretch of depression from not seeing any light in the end of the tunnel, many are merely making ends meet. The shadow of the pandemic casts shade of socioeconomic darkness that surrounds us all.
The destitute has been hit hard. Part-timers feel the sting of economic hardship. While public spending on cash transfers has done its part in lifting the burdens of low-income households, middle-income families, especially larger households may need to face difficulties in meeting monthly commitments and to clear debts. This is why the white flag movement is a relevant cry fo these crucial times. How we will be remembered in history will be a result of how we choose to respond to the challenges that we face today.
If there are enough out there with the courage to fly the white flag for help, there is need more as many, if not more Malaysians to rise as fellow neighbours and citizens to come to meet these needs. And with more white flag stories we hear, it is with much hope that we can be more convinced that we are or can be a caring society. These collection of deeds will help define us as a society.
There is much urgency to act. Malaysia’s suicide rate is alarming with 468 cases in the first five months of 2021, almost exceeding 75% of the 632 cases in 2020 which saw just a moderate increase from 2019. This is a worrying trend as more are down cast. More of us are struggling to see a way out of our situations.
The white flag embodies more than an act of desperation; it goes without saying that it is an unmistakable sign of surmounting pressure from the effects or the pandemic. But on the flip-side, when we hear of stories that show the thriving humanity in use, we find hope. Perhaps, while we find our way out of this difficult period, we can choose to set our eyes on this hope as a source of strength for ourselves and for others around us.
A scene that comes to mind is a place that we see as sacred to our history – the National Monument. But right along the hallowed road – Jalan Parlimen, there is a towering bronze sculpture of fighting men, one of them holding the Jalur Gemilang in its hand, memorialising our warriors of past and present who keep the peace.
Although distant to many of us right now, it serves as poignant reminder of our current war against an invisible enemy. A war without drawn frontlines, where attacks are coming in all directions and our frontliners stretched thin. But as with the generation of Malaysians who had fought for peace, we are the represented by a flag in white, red, yellow and blue. And as more of us share more good deeds and stories, it can be a loud-enough chorus to tell a defining story of hope for our generation.
