The World is Changing....

It is truly amazing what has happened in the political arena this year, 2008. It seems that, all over the world, the newer generation, the ones that have just reached the age to vote are finally finding a voice. Gone are the days when we had to have all night vigils, camped out in the open and finally tear gased and hauled away. Today, in our internet era, one could post blogs, take part in forums, chat on chat sites and still maintain a certain level of anonymity. The amazing thing is, there is little to nothing anyone can do about it. In a sense, it is freedom of information in it's purest form. The battle to control information is a lost cause. Our younger generation, are now, constantly bombarded with all sorts of information, it is now up to them to sieve out the right from wrong. Never before has our children been made aware of what is going on around them so early in their lives. Parents can been seen trying hard to protect their children from being exposed to information that they feel they are either too young for or not ready for. We, as parents, should know that it is an uphill battle that may not succeed and we need to learn to embrace the internet age instead of fighting it.

In Malaysia alone, it was our younger and more informed generation who had made the decision to take things into their own hands and vote. Most of our older generation would say that it is because our generation has never experienced how hard our lives can get when things don't go right. We've never experienced what war is like or when there is hate purely due to race. One has to remember though that times has change. We, as Malaysians, have developed a strong feeling of being Malaysians with the way we converse, the food we eat and of course, the way we drive. And, the one thing that we share is a need to call the shots in our own future and the future of our children.

It was not only in Malaysia that the winds of change had touched. For the first time in history, the US will be having a black president. Ten or even five years ago, if asked if this would ever be possible, most people with say a definite no but it has happened. I am so proud of the time that I live in and hope that we, as humans, are able to see beyond the colour of our skins and our religious differences to recognise that we are all citizens of this world. To me, the fact that a black president was voted into office is a small step for all mankind to realise that our squabbling about race and religion are so very petty as compared to the bigger issues of the our enviroment and the stability of our world markets.

We should look at this as an inspiration to overcome our differences in race, religion and political ideas and work together to overcome the urgent issues of the damage we have caused to the enviroment.