Think of Malaysian society as the wife who is abused by her husband. She may try to defend herself, but is cowed when her husband says the three magic words, “Want a divorce?”

Some wives with young children, who have given up their careers to bring up their families, will suffer in silence. The thought of being penniless and cast out of the family home fills them with dread.

The abusive husband is like our government. If we question it, it retaliates with arrests, and makes our lives difficult. Our culture wants subservient women, just as our Umno Baru leaders, want a subservient rakyat, and compliant coalition partners, like MCA and MIC.

The day we lose everything and starve is probably the day we will wish we had done something to stop others from bullying us.

Last week, Mohamad Sabu, better known as Mat Sabu, admonished Malaysians for being weak, but he did not go far enough in his condemnation when he said, “We are all cowards!”

He is right, but we are not just cowards . We are also selfish and greedy.

We are a nation of morally bankrupt, mindless Malaysians who fear change. The majority are only interested in protecting their rice bowl. That is more important than preserving our basic human rights and upholding our dignity.

Ambiga Sreenevasan was accused of receiving foreign money to fund Bersih 2.0. When Najib Abdul Razak received a RM2.6 billion ‘donation’ from an Arab prince, where were the people to vent their anger at Najib’s double standards?

This ‘donation’ was allegedly used in the 13th general election (GE13). How was it used? In a civilised part of the world, there would be widespread protests to demand if the money had been used to cheat. The police would investigate. Maintaining public confidence and trust are important.

We are content with the measly RM500 Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M). It is used to pay the car loan, or buy a new carpet, because the old one was wrecked when the house was flooded. Did we stop to think that RM2.6 billion could have been used to pay for flood defences?

It cannot be Islam which is making us subservient. When an Indonesian girl was gang-raped by three policemen in Butterworth, Indonesian women voiced their anger at various places in Indonesia. In Malaysia, only the women’s NGOs protested.

When two teenagers were gang-raped by 30 Malay men in Kelantan, the Malay community were mute. What happened to the Malay voice? What happened to Malay values and the Malay conscience?

A former PM said that we should not protest because that is not an Asian trait. He failed to explain why the Thais, Filipinos, Indonesians and Hong Kong people poured onto the streets to protest against corrupt leaders.

Malaysians complain within the confines of their own four walls. They would never dare to breathe a word of dissent in public. They will not pose sensitive questions when their politicians speak.

Slinking back into the shadows

Someone who interrupted Najib when he addressed Malaysians at the O2 Arena, in London, in 2012, was vilified by his fellow activists. That brave and patriotic gentleman provided the cue for other Malaysians to make their voices heard.

Instead of supporting him, the other Malaysians slunk back into the shadows. They were ‘grateful’ for the buffet of Malaysian food, and that the Malaysian government had arranged for coaches to take them home. They were more keen to take ‘selfies’ with Najib.

Democracy, in other countries, may have been won by bloodshed and an up-rising. In Malaysia, democracy comes cheap. Free makan and free transport home are enough to keep Malaysians happy. No wonder the Burmese, Indonesians and Filipinos, look down on us.

The Malaysians who have the means to leave the country, do. Sadly, most of them turn their backs on the nation, which they once called home.

The Malaysians who remain are the privileged few, the ‘have-nots’, and the massive ‘middle’ Malaysia.

The elite have built nest eggs abroad, so that if need be, they can escape to their bolt-hole.

The ‘have-nots’ are struggling to survive, and have no time to question their leaders. They are grateful for any scraps thrown at them.

Ironically, the massive group of middle-class Malaysians are both our problem and our solution.

Everyone has a important role to play, but many non-Malays make convenient clucking noises such as, “If I complain, they will accuse me of being a DAP stooge, or a communist”.

On the other hand, the Malays are afraid that a change of government may cause them to lose their house, their cars, the scholarships for their children and their privileges.

Both the Malays and non-Malays are selfish and want to protect the few material goods they have. They are too ignorant to realise that the most important asset, which has been denied them, is the freedom to think and the freedom to express themselves. They are too stupid to realise that they have safety in numbers.

We have swallowed Umno Baru’s propaganda, hook, line and sinker. Umno Baru and BN leaders, and their cronies, are plundering our children’s legacy and we don’t care. We have no values, nor do we have a conscience. Yes, we are cowards.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog , Twitter .