LETTER | Covid-19: The Pope's call to all faiths, every nation

LETTER | Indeed, what better time than now, in the midst of the ravages of the deadly pandemic, for the world to take stock of human greed.

In his message to the universe, Pope Francis clearly echoed the fundamental truth about leaders, governments and human activity.

His Holiness statement of undisputed fact. that "greedy for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things and lured away by haste", should make every nation stop right now in its tracks and decide the direction it wants to take henceforth.

It is a "now or never" option before all of humanity.

Meanwhile, let us Malaysians convene, congregate and agree to chart a re-balanced future too.

For too long over these past three decades, we have been sold the mantra of greed. Greedy for profits was the firing-away pistons of our privatisation machinery.

The multitude of government-linked corporations (GLCs), a handful of billionaires and many millionaires were our proud badges of so-called success.

Our greed for profit lured us all onto the path of haste which we camouflaged with the catchphrase of "progress and development".

Today, in the face of this universal plague, we Malaysians are holed up in our homes with our human mobility curtailed. Commoner and rulers are under the same rule of captivity.

Fear of being the next victim of the virus and the threat of being the cause of the spread of the virus has taken away our gregarious freedom granted by creation for all of humanity.

Unfortunately, even in the thick of the fatality and the looming, unknown possibility of how worst the Coronavirus will ravage, we continue to see the magnitude of our greed rage on.

People hoarding food. People capitalising on essential personal protection equipment to make a killing. People falling victim to scams ranging from profiteering with sale of face masks to quick rescue financial gains of sorts.

Greed continues to take cover under the widely marketed slogan of "economic resuscitation".

Who can capitalise under this unprecedented virus assault on humanity is what is being championed.

Transparency and accountability remain only as promises.

People, think about it.

Malaysia is a nation populated with mosques and surau, churches and chapels, temples and shrines in every city and town, and not forgetting the shrines under trees and the prayer altars and prayer mats in every home.

We celebrate all the religious festivities all year round. We shout, scream and demand religious classes in all schools and probably gave the most number of spaces for religious instruction.

We even start and end every speech and public event with a prayer.

But the greed for profit and being "lured away in haste" has become our superseding preoccupation, justification and panacea.

Today, as we panic in the onslaught of this global pandemic that has crashed our so-called "economic resilience", we remain adamant in remaining ever so faithful to aid and resurrect our greed - the greed to make sure our self-interest and cartel-styled economic gains are protected.

Small and medium enterprises are crying out for aid. Entrepreneurs are screaming for financial help. Farmers are threatening to dump their produce. Fishermen have no qualms to hang up their nets and moor their vessels.

An economic agenda set in motion three decades ago by a political mantra of race and religion is crashing under the Covid-19 attacks.

Indeed, we need to take stock of Pope Francis' universal message to the world.

Have we Malaysians not fallen victim to "Greedy for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things and lured away by haste"?

Can we rise and rebuild a nation consistent to the tenets of all the various religions taught to us respective communities of the faithful?

Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and all others did not teach us to be greedy for profits. These faiths did not promote the culture of being lured away in haste to economic and financial successes that serve cartels and groups and individuals.

Can Malaysia, a small nation of people who have been blessed with bell-weather, a myriad of rich resources and the wisdom of centuries-old religions of the many holy books, as well as the various philosophies of life and beingness, build a model nation for the world?

We need to rebalance our political will. We need to re-chart our mantras of nationhood. We need to see ourselves as Malaysians. We need to wipe out all those who thrive on greed and self-interest.

If we think it cannot be done or believe this is all sheer utopian, then we will remain to face the next wave of retribution by mother nature which could be more merciless in all probability.

What we sow will be reaped by the next generation.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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