Ethics of Argument

I think we Malay tend to talk much but less action. Quite frankly I am doing the same thing too. We talk and talk and talk all day long but at the end, there is not much thing we do to materialise the things we've discussed vigorously either at kedai mamak, Restoran Imthiyaz, gerai cendol Abu or Concorder Hotel's lounge. Of course during the conversation, we pretty much exchange views and thoughts about the issues put on the table. Nonetheless, we still manage to finish the teh tarik and 'sepinggan dua nasi lemak' after lengthy discussion with buddies.

Ah well, this is not what I want to say in the first place. All I want to say is about the ethics in argument. Many of us feel the urge to get our message cogently delivered to our partners in conversation. We will try in our best effort to sell our ideas to the audience and hopefully in return, they will agree with us and return to the englightened path, so to speak. Hello the truth and good bye the darkside. However, some of us happen to overdo it which in a way invokes the wrath of the audience while at the same time practicing the concept of 'hollier than thou' in front of the audience.

There is a manner in exchanging the arguments. For me, I believe the formality of this as to protect the objectiveness of the discussion. We need to remain focus on the topic. From the real simple issue, it can diffuse into something that has nothing to do with the initial issue put on the table if we lose focus. By the time it gets there, many people will get pissed because they could not accomplish anything from such out of proportion discussion. Not only that, it will also fume the discussion into a karate sparring amongst the participants.

Realistically, there is a possibility for us to get emotionally involved especially when we discuss on something that personal to us or perhaps something that we very much fond of. But before we are losing our steam over some issue, we need to be reminded that we are engaged in a healthy and objective discussion. Stick to the issue, try to avoid any emotional sentiment or implying any negative remarks to the others. In other word, be courteous to the members of discussion.

Arguments backs with proof and facts, not to mention as well as good intention to begin with must be maintained at any cost while we are exchanging ideas. Any emotional remark or inclusion of irrelevant personal experience will not help the discussion. It will only invite another negative impression from the members of discussion. Another thing is we need to remember that we are not the only one who participates in the discussion. Don't forget to give turn to other participant as well and also respecting their time by making our point short and concise. Remember, we are in dicussion and the prime objective in discussion should at the end produces a consensus, not a winner or who's right and who's wrong. At the end of discussion, one should not walk out with vengeance or hold grudges, instead a nice feeling of enlightening.

Heheehe...sebenarnyer aku tengok dok berdiskusi dengan sorang chatter ni pasal language. This person believes that we are taking the right step in implementing English in Math and Science classes in our secondary education. Although I at first agree with her because the need to use English is actually to be competent in the global's business but I disagree on the term of implementation of English teaching in math and science subjects solely because I believe that we should not rush into implementing this before we do thorough research on the subject matter. I said, form a committe which involves credible academicians, social activists, parents and students and make the committee answerable to the Parliament. The politicians only involve in the Parliament level because we need to legislate this and this needs to be gazetted. Lepas tu if the proposal is approved, then we go for pilot schools to see if it works or not. I know this method will take time but this is important as we don't want to jeopardize the future of our children using shortcuts, right? Kita pun kena jaga juga kebajikan studenst sebab they are also human beings, not just robots to be programmed. We cant just suddenly implements this on the whole education system sebab kesiankan budak-budak (it means the whole spectrum of students, from Malays to Indians and bumiputera yang lain, not necessarily Malays only). But this person starts to ramble on her personal experience about malay lazy syndrome, afraid to change, PETRONAS Malay executives as compared to Indian operators, SMKA students kerjanyer membunuh saja bla bla bla. Her arguments jumps from one to another and no stop like there is no tomorrow for her. I am very much offended by her non stop ramblings because I didn't expect such a focus and simple issue got diffused so widely into racial issues, PETRONAS (errmm..mestilah aku terasa..aku kan scholar PETRONAS). My initial intentions to get a wider perspective and exchange some views are now tossed into the trash bin and I quit my Yahoo messenger. Hehehehehe..