Tolerance? Why not understanding and Respect?

Monday, 2 February 2009

Tolerance? Why not understanding and Respect?

As the Ox comes in the Chinese New Year, we are now into the month of Valentine’s. Love is such a great thing. It makes you do the craziest of things and can still see the positive in the most negative of things.
The month of February has two Valentine’s. One for Chap Goh Mei on 9th February 2009 and Valentine’s on 14th February 2009. I am sure all the commercial entities would want to make a killing and then most would soon forget the reason and history or legends where each celebration comes from.
If we look at the state of our country, and if you like me have lived in Peninsular and East Malaysia and have travelled to countries less travelled, you would find the serious problem of perception. Too much or too frequent do we hear the rhetoric of the word “Tolerance”.
What is wrong with the word? Well, in my opinion, why do we need to always encourage tolerance? Is it not better to encourage understanding and respect?
The attitude change is made so with so much lazy thought process. Most of us are guilty of liking buzz words. Suddenly everyone likes to use “tolerance”. Do they actually know what it means? If you look through the dictionary, you may then understand.
I think we should all change our perception and encourage ourselves to understand and respect. By doing so, you would understand your partner. You would learn to respect your partner. You will then know more of the other’s beliefs, attitudes and character. Each would then try to keep the other informed. Is that not how love would then be beautiful? Not just skin deep and because everyone is doing it.
The politicians must also take heed. The use of tolerance is used with so much rhetoric it makes most of us sick. Maybe, they are telling us that we must tolerate them. They, perhaps fail to try to make us understand and respect that each person is different. Each one or each community’s need is different. We too should understand and respect them. To also know if they are supposed to do what we placed them there for. Without that, we will never ever vote wisely. Even before we vote, we should also understand why we must vote.
I find that the action of tolerance always connects to negativity. The idea of “What I do not understand, I need not respect and in so, I must tolerate”. “If we get angry we use racist generalizations and call people animal names” This is actually quite a “kurang ajar” attitude. What have our forefathers and parents taught us since we came to be?
New parents must take heed. Greeting one another saying the simplest “Thank you” is an act of respect. How many of us still practice it? How many of us respect the faith of another without fear? We now live in quite a time where the need to have more understanding and respect is more important than tolerating.
Take in the case of Love. What is love actually? Tolerance? Then, I fear this will end in heartbreak. Look around. How many actually tune their minds and hearts to understanding and respect? I know most like to tolerate as they do not have the patience to do so. They seem to think that putting food on the table is the ultimate. More often than not, this is at the expense of a good family unit or a good couple unit.
Is it not respect that we keep faithful? Is it not understanding that we remain faithful? It is only with tolerance that we go astray. The blame is always on one party, never both. In actual fact, it is both as the failure to understand and respect gives lead to such destruction.
I think we all need to rethink ourselves. Our love for one another, our neighbours and our country. Do not let ourselves be cowed to tolerate fallacies within our system. We should understand and respect it and change this from within. Forcing beliefs and thoughts are gravely wrong. It only leads to chaos.
Come Chap Goh Mei and Valentine’s day, do celebrate the Love. But bear in mind, to love take understanding and respect. We should understand the need to respect each other, the environment, different beliefs, different attitudes, different levels of education and status. Once understood, then we will make better decisions on whether the situation is fair or unfair. Then we walk away from unfair practices and pray that they change as GOD plans for all of us. Say a prayer so GOD forgives them.