How do you decide who’s a good citizen?

I hear the birds singing, the gardener raking leaves, the motorcycles revving. I watch ripples on the pool, sunlight reflected off window panes, leaves rigid on trees. I hear kids playing, parents watching, people leaving for work.

I wonder what the national conversation is about. I wonder if what my ears have just heard and my eyes have just seen are the backdrop or the main event. Let me explain.

I helped organise a forum this week. For the forum, we commissioned a “backdrop,” a massive, ceiling-high poster with pictures and words, placed at the back of the stage. If you looked beyond the people on the stage, you would see the backdrop. The backdrop was designed and placed to remind participants of the purpose of the forum.

That got me thinking about what’s a backdrop in our lives. Most people I know in Malaysia behave as if national events area backdrop to their lives. The “main event” in their lives are their families and friends, the food they eat, the places they visit, the money they make and spend.

I’m using the model of a stage and a backdrop to make a point about an aspect of our lives which we forget. We forget our responsibilities as citizens. All models are wrong, but some are useful (as the statistician George Box famously said). I’ll use five examples to illustrate the usefulness of the stage-backdrop model.

First, the Sultan of Johor’s remark about the abundance of Datuks in Malaysia: “If you throw a stone now, it will hit a Datuk; it will then rebound and hit another Datuk.”

In our conversations, is the subject of Datuks a backdrop or a main event? For most of us who are neither aspiring Datuks nor already Datuks, titles are a backdrop, not a main event – though we do note that the most talked about leader this week, the late Lee Kuan Yew, is just a Mister.

Second, the detention “to aid in investigations” of so many persons in recent days.

Two images in my mind’s eye now are those of Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, a serving state assemblyman and former deputy speaker of the state assembly; and of Nurul Izzah Anwar, a member of Parliament. Their images swiftly morph into the images of senior police officers who extra-judicially detained the assemblyman and MP. For me, these actions of the police are a main event, not a backdrop. How about for you?

Third, the detention of four Indians thought to be gangsters involved in the shooting murder about three weeks ago of an Indian who worked at a security guard firm in Penang.

I commend the police for finding the suspects and even two pistols. I am very pleased they didn’t extra-judicially shoot the suspects dead. Yet, it’s a story of the prevalence of violent crimes involving Indians. For me, the frequent perpetration of violent crimes is a main event, not a backdrop. How about for you?

Fourth, the Kelantan assembly’s passing of amendments to the never-enacted Shariah Criminal Code (SCC) of 1993 and PAS clamouring for Parliament to enact it.

Chan Foong Hin reminded us, the SCC contravenes the equal partnership spirit of the Malaysia Agreement which brought North Borneo into the Federation.

Sarajun Hoda reminded us, hudud was first enacted by the Prophet at a time when there was no justice system of any kind – unlike in Kelantan today.

Ambiga Sreenevasan reminded us, the SCC contravenes Section 8 of the Federal Constitution which makes us all equal before the law.

Dr Wong Chin Huat displayed the lunacy of the SCC in a multi-religious milieu.

For me, putting party interests above national interests is a main event, not a backdrop. How about for you?

Fifth, the GST is to be implemented on April 1.

One of the most respected politicians in Malaysia, Dr Michael Jayakumar, Sungai Siput MP, has pointed out that members of the government have refused to participate in forums to discuss the GST.

Dr Jayakumar suggests – and I agree with him – the reluctance of members of the government to publicly defend the GST shows something is amiss. Do they not understand it? Do they not believe it to be a good thing? Are they afraid they’ll be embarrassed by the exemptions which apparently include lobsters and royalty?

For me, the decision to implement GST is a main event, not a backdrop. I can add many more examples, but I think you get my drift.

What we spend time learning about, talking about and promoting or resisting shows how seriously we take our call to be citizens of our nation. Is citizenship central or peripheral in your life? When did you last communicate with your MP or assemblyman?

How do you decide who’s a good citizen? – March 26, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.