Do you know that one simple word may have a different meaning to you compared to someone else? Do you know that there could be hundreds of different meanings attached to that same word? Yet we often assume that our understanding of a particular word is similar to everyone else.
I’d like to share this story about a group of blind men describing an elephant somewhere far from here.
The first blind man reached out and touched the side of the huge animal. “An elephant is smooth and solid like a wall!” he declared. “It must be very powerful.” The second blind man put his hand on the elephant’s limber trunk. “An elephant is like a giant snake,” he announced. The third blind man felt the elephant’s pointed tusk. “I was right,” he decided. “This creature is as sharp and deadly as a spear.” The fourth blind man touched one of the elephant’s four legs. “What we have here,” he said, “is an extremely large cow.” The fifth blind man felt the elephant’s giant ear. “I believe an elephant is like a huge fan or maybe a magic carpet that can fly over mountains and treetops,” he said. The sixth blind man gave a tug on the elephant’s coarse tail. “Why, this is nothing more than a piece of old rope. Dangerous, indeed,” he scoffed.
Here in our country, the word ‘lockdown’ has carried different meanings to us Malaysians, following the repeated Movement Control Orders (a.k.a lockdown) we have had to endure in the past 1.5 years.
For many of us, lockdown means everyone must stay at home to help the country break the chain of the COVID-19 pandemic. To others, it might also mean to immediately pack their bags to “balik kampung” to send their children to their grandparents before all roads are blocked. However, to the opportunists and business-minded individuals, lockdown would mean an opportunity to make more money via online business, and also to deliver services and media or online content.
Meanwhile, with all the free time on their hands, some see lockdown as a great period to get on the net and become keyboard warriors, trying to save the world from all evil. But for those who are food lovers and movie lovers, lockdown may mean having quality time for themselves, to order food delivery and watch Netflix or the Friends Reunion on HBO Max. However, for couples with long-distance relationships, lockdown means bad news as they will be separated from their spouse and children for another 14 days.
With the recent rise in positive COVID-19 cases, lockdown means more tireless efforts and sacrifices to all of our frontliners, with non-stop tasks awaiting them at the hospitals. We have to feel sorry for them as due to our careless, individualistic and nonchalant attitudes, they have to continue being separated from their families in order to help keep ours safe. It also means the lack of food on the table and hunger for families whose livelihoods have been impacted by their inability to open their businesses or travel for work.
Malaysia was recognised as one of the best countries in managing the COVID-19 pandemic early on. After one year, however, we have dropped down the ranks and are now considered one of the worst. This is a strong wake-up call for us to take the pandemic seriously and to take their vaccination as soon as it is available to them. Only by doing so, we help our country to get back on track.
Che Zulhaimee bin Abdullah is the Vice President of Human Capital & Administration of Honda Malaysia. He is a Research Fellow with the National Human Resource Centre (NHRC) of HRD Corp.
The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.
