Reading this post by @Shacind Ananthan
(@shacindananthan) made me cry tears of joy and pride, I felt compelled to share it with all of you...
"This is for all my fellow Malaysians who are still abroad; I hope this gives you a little insight on what went on during my journey from the UK all the way to the hotel I am quarantined in in KL. To my non-Malaysian friends, this is me unabashedly showing off the exemplary work by our government. This is my tribute to the countless men and women in duty who assisted us with so much care and respect.
It all started on the plane from Doha to KL, where I had transited from Manchester. With a mere 50 people on the plane, we were all fairly separated to sit in isolation from one another. After taking off, we were handed a Health Declaration form to fill up. In addition to the general information (name, age, etc), COVID specific questions were also asked. It even asked for our flight and seat number- I figured it was to track down those who came in contact with a suspected COVID-19 patient.
When I landed in KLIA, we were greeted warmly by 2 men in uniform at the end of the jet bridge. One was coordinating us to queue, strictly keeping in mind the 1m gap, and the other was guiding us to the skytrain on a Segway. As we approached the skytrain, another policewoman took over and brought us to the bus lounge, where we boarded a bus to the arrival hall. Each bus had a maximum of only 10 people, and the seats were marked with an ‘X’ to make sure we sat adjacent to each other. In the bus was another policewoman who made sure we went in one by one, and only allowed the next person to enter once the previous one had sat down. A recurring theme you would find is that at every ‘checkpoint’ there were at least 1-2 officers who did their job so diligently, that there was no hold up, making the process very smooth. It felt as if this was an extremely well thought out procedure that had been going on for years. All the i’s were dotted and t’s crossed.
Once we alighted the bus, we walked to the immigration counters and were screened by an infra-red thermometry system. After passing it, we were guided towards a team of health officials from KKM on the right. I was very impressed with the number of health officials and the amenities provided for them. There were around 10 officials in what looked like full hazmat suits, each provided with a chair and table. I was greeted by this lovely woman, who asked for my health declaration form and reaffirmed if I had any symptoms. The constant glee on her face and referring to me as “adik” made me feel like I was in safe hands. The first step to addressing a crisis is to calm the stakeholders. It is the little things like these that reassures one in an anxiety driven situation. She then gave me a home assessment form where I had to monitor and report my symptoms daily.
After clearing the immigration, we queued up to sanitize our hands, and then were given another form to register our particulars and emergency contacts. We sat down and filled up the forms while waiting for 3 more batches of people to arrive. After 20 minutes passed, a police officer gave us a short briefing on the do’s and don’ts while in quarantine. The question on everyone’s minds was “where are we being taken?”. I overheard conversations of people praying that it was a five-star hotel in KL. However dire the circumstances, the innate Malaysian tendency to always expect luxury never fades, does it? The policeman politely replied that he wasn’t sure where we were going to be quarantined, but assured us it was going to be a good place nevertheless.
Then we were escorted by another officer to the baggage claim area where our luggage had already been taken off the baggage carousel and organized for us to simply go and grab them. I figured that this was to reduce the contact between people in case we crowd around the conveyer belt. This also significantly reduced the time taken for us to get re-organized. Take note of the little details that the authorities paid attention to.
Later on, the same police officer led us to the arrival hall where 3 Smart Selangor buses had already been parked for us to board. Before entering the bus, a fireman proceeded to fumigate our luggage and backpacks one by one, while we sanitized our hands once more before being handed a bag full of snacks by another officer. In the bus was a lady who helped us load our luggage. It was very systematic, only allowing one person in the bus at a time to maintain social distancing.
We waited for around 30 minutes for all 3 batches of people to board the buses. My mind was still in a state of disbelief, I and kept wondering how much manpower and logistics it must have taken to make the process as smooth as possible and achieve this insane level of efficiency. Before leaving, the bus driver announced that we were being taken to Impiana KLCC Hotel. Mental gasps could be heard from the 15 people in the bus.
The journey to the hotel was just short of 50 minutes. We were all aghast looking at the sight before us when we reached the hotel. People were busy clicking pictures and taking videos of the scene that frankly seemed like it belonged to a distant dystopian future. Dozens of people in full hazmat suits were standing by a long table which looked like an assembly line, busy screening and registering us aliens. Before we got off the bus, a man in a PASKAU uniform briefed us on the next course of action. He told us to keep our passports ready for registration. We patiently helped each other with the luggage (still maintaining an appropriate distance) and queued up according to yellow tapes on the ground. I was standing in line between two sisters, so I offered the one behind me to take my spot but she politely declined. Soon enough, it was my turn.
The lady at the start of the table proceeded to check my temperature with a temperature gun and passed me another form, similar to the home assessment one. I then handed my passport to the next guy who immediately photo stated it with the photocopier behind him. While waiting for my passport, the following person asked for my phone number and my place of origin. After I received my passport, I was given the room key along with two masks and was quickly thrusted into the hotel. While it seemed quick and rushed, it was effective as the primary goal was to limit as much contact with others as possible.
As I walked in, I saw the girl who was in front of me struggling with her 4 huge bags, so me and another KKM personnel assisted her into the lift. We had a brief conversation and I got to know that she was a third-year student who had to leave the UK and pack her things for good overnight. Laughing at the fact that our rooms were next to each other, we bid goodbye and stormed into our rooms. In the room were two boxes of bottled water, plastic bags for the contaminated clothes, a huge bag filled with coffee, biscuits and snacks and so on. We are being served good nutritious food three times a day and housed in a four star (some five star) hotel all for free of charge. There is 24/7 surveillance and a medical team at our doorstep at all times. I bow down to this great nation with utmost humility, thank you for this Malaysia.
This lockdown/ quarantine has really cultivated the sense of community and the innate feeling of unity that we had lost. Though the time frame of when this epidemic will end is still unclear, it became clear to me that we will pull through, because that’s what Malaysians do best. This was further proven when all 74 of us quarantined at Impiana KLCC were added into a WhatsApp group by Lieutenant Zakee (who was in charge of our welfare in the hotel) for ease of communication. The group was instantly flooded with messages of hope, optimism and love and gratitude for the lieutenant, health workers and other officers who heroically put our welfare in front of their own lives.
Why am I writing this? This is a primary account of someone who experienced the plight of leaving a foreign country overnight with an uncertain future. This is to counter the fake narratives online that seek to defame our great nation. The entire ecosystem functioned like a well-oiled machine, NO stone was left unturned. It is not an overstatement when I say that Malaysia has been one of the most proactive countries with tackling the menace of COVID-19. Therefore, I urge the armchair economists at home, the constant naysayers- if you cannot acknowledge the good our government is doing, at least don’t stand in their way.
Thank you again, Malaysia, for keeping me safe. I have always been, am always, and will always be a proud citizen of this country that has given me so much.
Tanah tumpahnya darahku!
- Shacind Ananthan
(@shacindananthan)
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1968年
『一名南方的報紙編輯表示:「你可以畫黑人角色,但他不應該和白人角色出現在同一所學校」。』
全文翻譯:
https://www.facebook.com/1614255074/posts/10214931309388937/
On July 31, 1968, a young, black man was reading the newspaper when he saw something that he had never seen before. With tears in his eyes, he started running and screaming throughout the house, calling for his mom. He would show his mom, and, she would gasp, seeing something she thought she would never see in her lifetime. Throughout the nation, there were similar reactions.
What they saw was Franklin Armstrong's first appearance on the iconic comic strip "Peanuts." Franklin would be 50 years old this year.
Franklin was "born" after a school teacher, Harriet Glickman, had written a letter to creator Charles M. Schulz after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot to death outside his Memphis hotel room.
Glickman, who had kids of her own and having worked with kids, was especially aware of the power of comics among the young. “And my feeling at the time was that I realized that black kids and white kids never saw themselves [depicted] together in the classroom,” she would say.
She would write, “Since the death of Martin Luther King, 'I’ve been asking myself what I can do to help change those conditions in our society which led to the assassination and which contribute to the vast sea of misunderstanding, hate, fear and violence.'”
Glickman asked Schulz if he could consider adding a black character to his popular comic strip, which she hoped would bring the country together and show people of color that they are not excluded from American society.
She had written to others as well, but the others feared it was too soon, that it may be costly to their careers, that the syndicate would drop them if they dared do something like that.
Charles Schulz did not have to respond to her letter, he could have just completely ignored it, and everyone would have forgotten about it. But, Schulz did take the time to respond, saying he was intrigued with the idea, but wasn't sure whether it would be right, coming from him, he didn't want to make matters worse, he felt that it may sound condescending to people of color.
Glickman did not give up, and continued communicating with Schulz, with Schulz surprisingly responding each time. She would even have black friends write to Schulz and explain to him what it would mean to them and gave him some suggestions on how to introduce such a character without offending anyone. This conversation would continue until one day, Schulz would tell Glickman to check her newspaper on July 31, 1968.
On that date, the cartoon, as created by Schulz, shows Charlie Brown meeting a new character, named Franklin. Other than his color, Franklin was just an ordinary kid who befriends and helps Charlie Brown. Franklin also mentions that his father was "over at Vietnam." At the end of the series, which lasted three strips, Charlie invites Franklin to spend the night one day so they can continue their friendship. [The original comic strip of Charlie Brown meeting Franklin is attached in the initial comments below, the picture attached here is Franklin meeting the rest of the Peanuts, including Linus. I just thought this was a good re-introduction of Franklin to the rest of the world - "I'm very glad to know you."
There was no big announcement, there was no big deal, it was just a natural conversation between two kids, whose obvious differences did not matter to them. And, the fact that Franklin's father was fighting for this country was also a very strong statement by Schulz.
Although Schulz never made a big deal over the inclusion of Franklin, there were many fans, especially in the South, who were very upset by it and that made national news. One Southern editor even said, “I don’t mind you having a black character, but please don’t show them in school together.”
It would eventually lead to a conversation between Schulz and the president of the comic's distribution company, who was concerned about the introduction of Franklin and how it might affect Schulz' popularity. Many newspapers during that time had threatened to cut the strip.
Schulz' response: "I remember telling Larry at the time about Franklin -- he wanted me to change it, and we talked about it for a long while on the phone, and I finally sighed and said, "Well, Larry, let's put it this way: Either you print it just the way I draw it or I quit. How's that?"
Eventually, Franklin became a regular character in the comic strips, and, despite complaints, Franklin would be shown sitting in front of Peppermint Patty at school and playing center field on her baseball team.
More recently, Franklin is brought up on social media around Thanksgiving time, when the animated 1973 special "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" appears. Some people have blamed Schulz for showing Franklin sitting alone on the Thanksgiving table, while the other characters sit across him. But, Schulz did not have the same control over the animated cartoon on a television network that he did on his own comic strip in the newspapers.
But, he did have control over his own comic strip, and, he courageously decided to make a statement because of one brave school teacher who decided to ask a simple question.
Glickman would explain later that her parents were "concerned about others, and the values that they instilled in us about caring for and appreciating everyone of all colors and backgrounds — this is what we knew when we were growing up, that you cared about other people . . . And so, during the years, we were very aware of the issues of racism and civil rights in this country [when] black people had to sit at the back of the bus, black people couldn’t sit in the same seats in the restaurants that you could sit . . . Every day I would see, or read, about black children trying to get into school and seeing crowds of white people standing around spitting at them or yelling at them . . . and the beatings and the dogs and the hosings and the courage of so many people in that time."
Because of Glickman, because of Schulz, people around the world were introduced to a little boy named Franklin.
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