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| Be A Good Citizen |
We have engaged in two boundless and peaceful revolutions,
yet nothing seems to have changed because we have just changed our leaders and
have not changed ourselves. We keep blaming our political leaders for the
mess we are in. We keep demanding good governance from them but have not
demanded anything from ourselves. There seems to be a missing piece in the
puzzle. If we demand good governance from those public offices, there must be a
counterpart from our end and this is good citizenship. And how do we become
good citizens? By living according to good citizenship values which can we
drive from the preamble of the constitutions-Faith in God, unity, patriotism,
work, Respect for Life, Respect for Law and Government, Truth, Justice,
Freedom, love, Equality, Peace, Promotion of the common Good, Concern for the
family and Future Generations, Concern for the Environment and order.
These are our values as a people. These are values that will
make us good citizens, if we live by them. They must be translated into
concrete action in all aspects of our lives at all times. If we do this, then
all our actions no matter how humble will build our nation in much the same way
that the simple act of a humble and the realization that all our actions based
on these values, no matter how small, are building our nation, will give us
that sense of nationhood that has heretofore escape us.
There is nothing new in these good citizenship values. We do
not need to learn them. We know them. What is lacking is the will to live by
them. How then shall we move from knowing them to living by them? We just have
to take a look at the mess we are in and we will realize it is the absence of
these values in the way we live that has brought it about: sinfulness, discord, greed and selfishness,
indolence, violence, and murder, anarchy, intrigue and mudslinging, oppression,
exploitation, hatred, war, broken homes, environmental degradation, violation
of human rights. And then we should ask ourselves. Is this the world we want to live in? Shall
we be part of the problem or part of the solution? We just have to decide. Yes,
we want a better country. Yes, we will live these values at all times, no
matter what cost, through thick and thin, come hell or high water. Because
living these values is the only way to turn things around, to have a better
world. Sometimes, it will not be easy to live these values. There will be a
price to pay. But living these values will also have their own rewards as all
good works will bear good fruit, maybe not on short term, but in the long term.
If we are to build a better nation, it is not enough to
press for good governance, we have to demand to ourselves, each one of us,
young and old, rich and poor, Muslim, Christian or Protestant, good citizenship
that is values based and values-driven.
There is still hope for our country. Let us forget the
politicians. We can transform this country from below. If we cannot find heroes
among our leaders, let us find them among the ordinary people, those who build
our nation by truly heroic act of being good citizenship day by day all the
days of their lives.
Do not ask what your government can do for you, but ask what
you can do for your government.
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