Join the UBAH team !!

I would like to share a story of the rat trap with you. “A rat looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. What food might it contain? He was aghast to discover that it was a rat trap. Retreating to the barnyard the rat proclaimed the warning; “There’s a rat trap in the house, a rat trap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Excuse me, Mr. Rat, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The rat turned to the pig and told him, “There’s a rat trap in the house, a rat trap in the house!” “I am so very sorry Mr. Rat,” sympathized the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are in my prayers.”

The rat turned to the cow. She said, “Like wow, Mr. Rat. a rat trap. I am in grave danger. Duh?” So the rat returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s rat trap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a rat trap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever.

Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the barnyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

His wife’s sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer’s wife did not get well.  She died, and so many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.”

What is the moral of the story ? So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when there is a rat trap in the house, the whole barnyard’s at risk.  

Everyone is connected and what affects me, also affects you. Therefore, be more aware of what is going on in your family, in your ‘taman’, in your office, in the society and most importantly, in our country. Be an activist in your own little way. You don’t need to join a political party in order to make changes albeit small or big.

Use your talents. If you are good writer, write to the various papers, social medias and websites about the things you are not happy about in the country. If you are a good organiser, organise the Residents’ Association and look into the various issues affecting your ‘taman’. 

If you have good networking, influence more people to be agents of change/UBAH. Agents of change can come in many forms i.e, before, during and after elections. No man is an island. 

Hence, it is best to work with political parties as they are more organised and experienced. Before the elections, volunteer your services (legal, finance, accounts, management etc). During elections, be voting and counting agents or help out in the campaigns or in the operations centres etc. After the elections, give feedbacks and help to reach out to the areas which were not penetrated earlier.  

Channel your concerns and demands through the right political party and/or politicians by working with them. Be part of the UBAH team for a better Malaysia.