Dearest Bam, Shu, Moo and Loosh
Daddy wants to talk to you about the coming ‘walk’ - 501.
As you know, I have been to a number of ‘walks’ over these few years and even helped to organise one here in Johor Baru. You must have been wondering why your daddy likes to walk.
As usual, let me begin with a story - remember I told you about Martin Luther King Jr? He developed a sophisticated strategy of war fought with grace, not guns. He countered violence with non-violence and hatred with love.
The victories of the freedom movement he led did not come easily, and most did not come at all during his lifetime. Roy Williams, an uneasy rival of Dr King, kidded him in 1963 that his methods had not achieved a single victory for integration in Albany or Birmingham.
“In fact, Martin, if you have desegregated anything by your efforts, kindly enlighten me.”
“Well,” King replied, “I guess about the only thing I’ve desegregated so far is a few human hearts.”
He knew that the ultimate victory must be won there - in the hearts. Laws could prevent white people from lynching blacks, but no law could require races to forgive or love one another. The human heart, not the courtroom, was his supreme battleground.
As Philip Yancey stated succinctly, “Politics can legislate justice but not compassion.”
So the real goal, King said, was not to defeat the white man but to “awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor and challenge his false sense of superiority... The end is reconciliation, the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community.”
To me, 501 is the walk to opt for the oppressed and to opt for the oppressed is to opt against the oppressor. We walk to make a stand together with those who are oppressed economically, politically and socially; we walk to make a stand against oppression.
501 is also the walk for hope, hope for the beloved community. Daddy has often said to you: Malaysia is our home; it is a beautiful country and its beauty lies in its people. So my hope for Malaysia is a multiracial people who celebrate our diversity and find our unity in being part of this beautiful country we call home.
This round, I think it’s a good time to bring you four along, to walk with me. You will see many people, you will meet many ‘unfamiliar’ friends - pakciks, makciks, aunties, uncles, young women and men, teenagers and children like yourselves and even the handicapped.
You may ask, “Daddy, why do you need us to walk with you? You can walk by yourself, mah!”
Sure, I can, but why would I walk alone when I can walk with you?
You see, walking is something you do with somebody you care about, like a friend with a friend, or a child with a parent. Two people in love would go for a walk.
This time, we will walk as a family amidst our larger family.
So, 501, my dear ones, let us enjoy the walk together!
Kisses
Daddy
CHRISTOPHER LING is a proud daddy of four beautiful daughters.
