Friday, May 09, 2014

Speak up, oh silent majority!

Did you know that the term, 'silent majority'  had been used in the 19th century, as an euphemism for the dead? I didn't, until I looked up Wikipedia, and according to their definition,

'The silent majority is an unspecified large majority of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was popularized (though not first used) by U.S. President Richard Nixon in a November 3, 1969, speech in which he said, "And so tonight—to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans—I ask for your support."  In this usage it referred to those Americans who did not join in the large demonstrations against the Vietnam War at the time, who did not join in the counterculture, and who did not participate in public discourse. Nixon along with many others saw this group of Middle Americans as being overshadowed in the media by the more vocal minority.'

Elsewhere these are common quotes:

'The only way to be heard is to actually speak up.' Nobody would know what you think unless you speak up.

'Speak up, because the day you don't speak up for the things that matter to you is the day your freedom truly ends.'

According to Sakmongkol AK47. in his latest post, Dig in and fight:

'There is an opinion that in the face of growing racial polarisation, the Chinese- the rich ones and the highly educated, the tax payers should leave this country. This is a defeatist attitude. The ones promoting racial bigotry are those in UMNO and pro UMNO groups who want to justify the oppressive policies they adopt because they are necessary to counter the legitimate competition from other races. If the proponents of leave Malaysia subscribe to the trafficking of that intoxicating quick fix pedaled by UMNO and the racial bigots, what about the rest of the Chinese?

You do that, that is exactly what the UMNO right-wingers and brown-shirts want you to do.'

Rest of his post:

More recent events in Malaysia have seen the more vocal minorities - leaders of Isma and Perkasa, making hateful statements, while our PM maintain his usual elegant silence, unbecoming of a leader who made 1Malaysia his signature theme before GE13. Please let us know where you stand so that we know what to do next.
Link

No comments:

Post a Comment