Light and Darkness

Standing at the main entrance of LCC-T (Low Cost Carrier Terminal), I was choked by the air of Kuala Lumpur. I couldn’t believe that I would have to live here for another one and a half year. My parents especially my father was quite worried about my safety as well as my welfare of living here although I already told him that I would be just fine and I would keep myself safe. However, this mega city is not as simple and naïve as I think…

More accurately, I am staying in Bandar Utama, a very rich and expensive area in Petaling Jaya. It can be considered a golden triangle too since it has a lot of shopping malls in the area. For instance, there are the 1 Utama , The Curve, Ikano Power Centre, IKEA, Tesco, Tropicana City Mall and 10 Boulevard which is going to open soon. Coming from a small and peaceful city in Sarawak, I never encountered any bad guy in my life. So, I still take it easy with everyone. But, in the first week here, something happened to my new friends here. I can’t really believe this was actually happened around me. That day, Ah Beng, Ginger, Woei Song (my roommate) went back from 1 Utama to Centrepoint to have our dinner before went back home. Since I live in Centrepoint, we separated as Ah Beng and Ginger stayed in student house. When I was having shower, Woei Song suddenly knocked at the door, telling me that they were in trouble. Ah Beng and Ginger were cheated by some bad guys. What was on the Earth right now? We went down stair with warden to look for them. We could not contact them. They were nowhere to see!

When everybody was anxious, they appeared in front of us. They were not joking. They told us that they were stopped by a group of people half way. The group told them that they were investigating some crime conducted by KBU students and wanted to ask them some questions. Ginger naively agreed, leaving Ah Beng no choice but followed them. They were separated then. Ginger was brought to McDonalds and Ah Beng was in the Jade Garden (a vegetarian restaurant in Centrepoint ). Both of them were told to hand in their ATM cards. Ah Beng didn’t give them but Ginger did. They were allowed to go after the group had got the money. As a kampong boy, I never dreamt that I would have this thing happened around me. If I was the one who encountered this I would also do exactly what Ginger had done. This was the first time I realized that I was actually surrounded by pure darkness.

The story did not end here. Recently, another friend, Nabil lost his phone to a group of people in a white Saga. They told him that they had lost their way and they need to borrow his mobile phone to call for help. Naively, once again he gave them his mobile phone. To his surprise, they drove away, leaving him there to figure out what had just happened. If the same thing happened to me, I wouldn’t bother to borrow them my mobile phone too as I would just take the thing easy. Stupid right? On the other hand, some of my friends who live in student house also experienced being followed by somebody. Luckily, nothing bad has happened so far. Whoa, what type of world is this? Aren’t we civilized enough not to do these entire bad and lousy things?

Some elders said that whenever there is darkness, we are just a few steps toward the light. To some extent do you agree with this statement? However, I do agree with this. Yesterday, when I was on my way to Sunway Pyramid, I had seen some light in the darkness. The bus was so crowded but I managed to get myself a seat near the window. After a few stop, a Malay lady stood beside the Chinese who sat beside me. Suddenly, he stood out in complete silence to grab a handle nearby. Both the lady and I discovered that he was actually giving her the seat. I was touch by that man. Again, the story did not end here. I saw another young Chinese lady helping a blind Malay girl to cross the road. In addition, I saw a guy pressing the door of LRT when he saw a lady running from far. These entire people asked for nothing in return and just did all these in silence.

Honestly, I never did all these before simply because no one around me does these entire things. I am afraid that I would be laughed by someone nearby. Right now, I am deeply ashamed of myself. We had learnt courtesy, politeness and morality since our early year. “Help those who need help, son.” “Give your seat to senior citizens children or pregnant ladies when you encounter one, son.” “Don’t litter, my dear. You are just making our Earth sick.” Don’t we know all these? How what extent do we actually practise all these? Think carefully yourself for a minute and answer to your heart.