Brainless, Mindless and Senseless

“If we are to understand how society works, we must attempt to define the general nature and range of our ignorance concerning it.”

Malaysia has never been a dull place to live in. Day after day we encounter brainless, mindless and senseless leaders of the highest calibre who make the most nonsensical policies. There is an old saying that says the longer we live, the more wisdom we acquire. In the land of Malaysia, the opposite holds true. It seems that the longer or older one gets, the more senile one becomes. It’s funny that while we think we’re doing something beneficial, the exact opposite occurs.

Lately there’s this news that Muslim couples who want to get married have to first go through HIV tests. Now the government is contemplating whether this ruling should extend to non-Muslim couples as well. The reason for this ruling appears to be due to the rising number of HIV infected women. Of course the government is trying to do something good. But why do it this way?

The government seems to have this idea that laws and rules are the best ways to solve all our problems. We have this problem, let’s make this law. We have that problem, let’s make a new rule. Laws and rules, however, do not solve all our problems, and cannot be said to be the best way to solve any problem. No matter how severe the problem is, the government has to accept that interference through laws or rules will not make things better. The government has no purpose to interfere into an individual’s private life, whatever the outcome may be or for whatever means it serves.

By having such policies, it is implying that full grown up adults are not able to care for themselves. As a matter of fact, this is one of the biggest problems of our country today. The leaders, or government, seem to think that the people, or society, are children, depending on the government for every advice. We have always had a paternalistic government, thinking that it must oversee and decide everything, or that if there is a problem, its role is to prevent the problem. Of course in most cases, more likely than not, it is exactly government interference that aggravates the problem, not overcome the problem.

Make no mistake I am not denying that there is, or that there may be a problem. However affairs of an individual especially in the private sphere of life do not concern the government. Be it for better or worse, how an individual decides to live his or her life is entirely up to that individual. That there is a problem we acknowledged. Nevertheless, leave it to the individual or society to sort it out. In any case, the government can and should help, but not through such rulings and policies.