COMMENT If there is one thing I want to say to the Chinese community, after watching how two Malay groups, Otai Reformis and Pro-Rakyat, came out strongly against any troublemakers, is this - stop spreading the bogeyman of May 13.

It is not to say that May 13 cannot happen, unless we vote out the people who are frequently playing up racial and religious sentiments to tear up the fabric of our society.

Or there is a change of leadership in Umno, and the new cabinet is one that truly represents middle-ground Malaysians. Or someone like Anwar Ibrahim who has turned over a new leaf, becomes the prime minister and he is assisted by capable ministers who are competent in their respective fields.

As someone pointed out, it may be necessary for the ruling party to lose in at least two general elections, before they ever come to the realisation that their political office is not forever.

But for that to happen, the Chinese community cannot continue to ask why the Malays are so stupid as to believe that the DAP and Christians have a secret pact to Christianise Malaysia, when we ourselves are so gullible as to believe in the bogeyman?

We have to learn to stand up for truth and justice, irrespective of race or religion of the person being persecuted, instead of being the tortoise which shrinks its head. What we see in the leaders of MCA today is a mirror of our own community.

Perhaps, it is the upbringing or the conditioning that has been placed on us, but I am personally moved when I saw how our Malay brothers were willing to stand up for the sake of the Chinese.

I can tell you that in months or years to come, both Otai Reformasi and Pro-Rakyat will face ostracism within their own community, but if they are willing to stand up for what is right, why are we Chinese trying to ‘see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.’

A video clip , apparently from Free Malaysia Today, has been downloaded and gone viral which is worth watching.

Too many bogeymen

Within a week, there were so many bogeymen that were created and spread over the social media. The problem is, people do not verify the authenticity of the video clips or messages sent out, and they keep forwarding them out.

I do not dismiss the fact that some messages were written by people who were genuinely concerned, or in the know, but it is also likely that these messages were written by the same people behind the rally. Not possible?

It could be either to scare the Chinese community or to intentionally show people that they cannot always trust what they receive. I know of one Chinese gentleman who would even go to the extent of creating the bogeyman himself just for the thrill of it, but he plays it only on his own relatives.

One video clip that was sent to me was that of two young men wearing red shirts. Apparently, the incident happened in SS2 Petaling Jaya more than a month ago, even before we heard about the red shirt rally, and as one member of the Whatsapp group pointed out, one of the two men was an Indian.

Then, there was the message written based on what a so-called trekker had seen while jungle trekking. The message said that the red shirt supporters were secretly having their parade at the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (Frim). It sounded so serious that these people were carrying machetes!

I did not bother about it until I saw a friend posted a Facebook response from Frim’s corporate communications director Norhayati Nordin on Frim’s Facebook. After verifying the authenticity of the FB post, I asked her to send me pictures of what she claimed was their Merdeka parade!

Apparently, someone was trying to create a mischief since Frim is frequented by the Chinese community from nearby Kepong! And some of us are so gullible as to believe the story.

According to Norhayati, a police report has been lodged at the Desa Jaya police station on Sept 14 to protect the safety of the joggers themselves.

And one last one before I call it a day! Within my Whatsapp chat group, a friend made a remark, “Culled pig.” Of course, he meant it as a jest, but when I saw it, I had to immediately put a stop to it albeit with some gentleness. My friend took the cue, but I can understand his frustrations.

But, how can we call someone like Mohamad Sabu, who is better known as Mat Sabu, a pig? Or, Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali .

Or, Marina Mahathir? Or Anwar Ibrahim, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and their lovely daughter Nurul Izzah? Or Noor Farida Ariffin, who is the coordinator of G25 group of eminent Malays? These are people created by God, who have the same colour of blood running through their veins beneath their skin.

There are too many bogeyman stories that we have fed our minds with. The social media is only a channel for communication, and as users, we should know how to differentiate between the right and wrong, or at least attempt to evaluate what is in the news media instead of being too gullible.

It is so easy these days to just type in a few keywords and google for what’s there on the Internet and ask whether the source is reliable or not.

For too many years, the bogeyman story has frightened the Chinese community to vote for Barisan Nasional. One of my aunties, for example, who is in her eighties, said that she has been voting for BN because she was afraid there would be a repeat of May 13.

Her generation is moving on. The new generation of Malaysians who went through May 13 are now enlightened.

Although we do not discount any possibility that some attempts will be made to create a similar situation as May 13, as there are too many right wingers now, we have to be wise and check the sources before we forward the bogeyman’s message around.

While it is good to know what is being sent around, we have to learn to assess the truth from a whole lot of lies that are intentionally spread around. One of the best way to verify the facts is to check with the trusted online news.

So what if they are red?

Not sure if you noticed it that even God is fair. While some of us were joking and praying that a thick haze would descend on the rally goers on Sept 16, the Air Pollutant Index (API) was low, probably due to the cloud seeding the night before.

But, overall, God is fair. He allowed the air to be clear so that there are no excuses for the rally not to go on. When it happened, we could see how many people really turned up for the red shirt rally compared to Bersih 4.

And how desperate certain individuals were at the eleventh hour who were appealing to people to adorn the red T-shirts.

God also did not want the people who came to choke to their death with the high API the day before. He gives rain and sunshine to the righteous as well as the wicked. God is fair.

Many of the red shirt supporters probably came for the rally without even knowing why they were. One of them said it was because he was told that the Malay rights were being taken away from them and the Chinese ‘black magic’.

You laugh? Wait till we look at the mirror ourselves. Of course, I mean this as a friendly rebuke.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.