Speak not spit it out.

The stepping down of President Mubarak of Egypt marked the beginning of freedom and hope for thousands (or much more) of Egyptians and gave justice to those who had died in the demonstrations or police crackdown of civilians over the past 18 days.

now what has this to do with me?

for some reason when i scrolled over news about the change in regime and viewed photos of demonstrators, i felt a pang awe twds the people. i felt sympathy for those who lost their loved 1s in the battle, and i felt happiness for those who gained freedom.

Image by AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

it shows that the people have power too to make changes for the better of their lives.

it shows that an authoritarian cannot rule and abuse his power to oppress the thousands under his ruling forever. in this case it was 3 whole decades which was pretty long anw and even if he stepped down he could live a really luxurious life on some holiday island like Hawaii. but at least for the people, the oppression stops.

people are driven to speak out when their limit of tolerance towards injustice and abuse have reached the threshold. and it took the death of 1 brave woman to spark a demonstration of thousands. many a time we hesitate and we dare not speak our minds bcz of check and balance mechanisms and law that ensure people adhere to limitations of so called freedom of speech and actions to maintain peace and order in an organisation.

let's not even talk about issues at the national level.

let's look at issues in our own homes or workplace or learning institution.

we all agree that supression of freedom of speech will cause dissatisfaction that can either resolve with time, or mount to a volcano that explodes when time is due. most people choose to remain silent bcz that requires the least work, they want to maintain peace, they dont want to get into trouble or they think things work for the majority so they'll just go along w it.

when the time bomb finally starts ticking bcz the dissatisfaction has reached the border of its limit, u get anger, irritability, unhappiness and disharmony. finally 1 person stands up and says, ok i've had enough. i'm going to voice it out.

but by that time, bcz he is at rage and negative emotions are flying, he may voice out his dissatisfaction in a way offensive to certain groups of ppl. words that're too blunt, actions that're not tactful, and due to frustration he may throw in a slew of unrelated issues and personal agendas when making his point.

perhaps what we still need to improve on is the way we handle unwanted situations. making compromise, voicing out dissatisfaction in a liberal yet unoffensive manner at the correct time and being brave enough to stand for our own rights. all in the circle of rational judgement of course.

and if outbursts do occur, we need to look behind the emotions and study the issues brought up instead of turning his away or putting him down bcz we think his action and words were inappropriate or offensive. bcz volcano eruptions happen for a reason. when the lava cools, phps we can start talking.

on my part, i have lots to improve on. i have a tendency to speak my mind too fast (sometimes too loud) and expect ppl to have the same openness and respond in a rational minded way. its a part of debating i appreciate where ppl point things out and discuss issues in the open without feeling that the issues are personal attacks or selfish complaints but giving gravity to them.

not every member of society however has that level of openness yet. n thrfore i need to think twice before opening my mouth and layer my words with more peanut butter and jelly so that the sandwich gets eaten and digested more easily.

so much for the bad stomach. =)

yargh better start working on my case write up now lol.