COMMENT I’m not an expert on the refugee boat crisis. I doubt many of us are.

Does it really take a expert to understand the most important facts of this crisis, though? That there are 800 men, women and children, afloat at sea, with little food or water, turned away from every shore.

Horror stories of violence erupting as the situation worsens, and equally horrific tales from past refugees who have survived these death boats should remind us of the urgency of solving the immediate problem.

Yes, there is a complex myriad of issues at play. Yes, the core of this issue is gross human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. Yes, Asean, as a region, should work together to solve this problem.

But no, those are not our immediate priorities. Fat cat politicians pointing fingers at one another is not going to keep men from turning on one another as children starve.

If shame and loss of face are the only way to get the authorities to act, then let us shame them to all known corners of the earth.

If the authorities still refuse, then perhaps the rest of us should start thinking of other ways to solve the immediate problem.

I don’t have the answers yet, but surely there are hooks and crooks that will enable citizens to do something about this mess. How else can we, in good conscience, go on enjoying our daily comforts, knowing the pain and suffering so many souls endure, just off our coast?

Open the floodgates?

Some raise reasonable points about the burdens taking in such refugees may pose on our country. Some fear taking them in will open the floodgates.

Another Malaysiakini columnist quoted studies that demonstrate that a ‘tough stance’ against refugees does not deter future refugees.

If your family is being tortured by the army on a regular basis, you’re not sitting there calculating which country is more or less likely to treat you well; you just want to get the hell out - anywhere but here.

This is why most Rohingyas flee to Thailand, Indonesia or Malaysia - simple physical proximity.

Pendatang mentality cuts both ways

I read the view of one analyst: “We have a feeling of ethnic differences. There is something that has to do with the perception with the Rohingyas being less desirable.

“Like Indonesians and Thais are familiar to us with their culture, they’re somewhat alike. Whereas Rohingyas, they’re different. It’s not racism and bigotry, but it’s different; they don’t have that sense of nearness or familiarity.”

‘Feelings of ethnic differences’ and no ‘sense of nearness or familiarity’ resulting in feeling like an ethnic group is ‘less desirable’? With due respect, I daresay that is the very definition of racism and bigotry.

It is not uncommon to find Malaysians with negative attitudes about Rohingyas and Bangladeshis.

The great irony is that you’ll find the same Malaysians ranting about Ibrahim Ali or Chinese traders.

Ibrahim’s trademark tirade is against ‘pendatang’, and oh, how so many of us disdain the term.

Those of us who do disdain the term also think that our ancestors were so vastly different than these ‘undesirables’.

Were they really, though?

As I was reminded by a standup comedian, when we deride how Malaysia is being overrun by foreign workers, do we not then forfeit our right to take offence when Malay supremacists deride us for being descendents of Malaysia’s original foreign workers?

If we leave refugees to die at sea, then what moral right do we have exactly to decry Zionists oppressing Palestinian refugees?

Focus on immediate solutions

Self-righteous anger, however, should never be our focus. Rantings aside, what are our options here?

Yes, to share the load, it would be good if as many Asean countries as possible take in some of the refugees still afloat. It would be even better if Western countries could also commit to taking some of the load, rather than just pontificating.

If all else fails, I think it is time for civil society to start thinking out of the box and searching for radical solutions to an increasingly dire and desperate situation. Those of us with maritime experience might have some worthwhile ideas.

Ultimately, I hope against hope that we achieve the fastest solution possible. Whether from shaming, international pressure, lobbying, highlighting, or the kitchen sink - we hope our government has both the compassion and the moral courage to do the right thing.

We hope Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak can stop obsessing about how to look like a leader, go north, and start being a leader instead.

What better way to shore up his profile - locally and abroad - by welcoming ashore 800 sick and dying human beings fleeing torture?

NATHANIEL TAN is a member of the Malaysiakini team .