SHIT by Shahnon Ahmad (National Laureate)

2021 is a challenging year for us all. It is trying times, and there is a group of people who act like they fail to see what is going on and how bad it is.

There are things they do that simply add to the people's anger, some of these made worse with their apathetic attitude towards the people's hardships.

I have refrained from writing anywhere about the internal rage I have for them. But I am then reminded of a book we have at home that was written for almost the same rage. It is this very book. Its title isn't very appealing to me, though intriguing. And when I started reading, it did not get better. This is the longest 240 pages I have ever read. I had a really hard time trying to finish it.

It is of a movement to remove a leader from its position, but written in a metaphorical world of the intestines. Yes, the characters inside are faeces. The title doesn't lie. The book described these characters as practitioners of bad politics, taking advantage of their position for personal gains with fraud, cronyism, nepotism and thousands of other 'shitty' agendas. It ends with the defeat of the movement, and the hero realizing that there's nothing he could do.

This wasn't an enjoyable read, uncomfortable and many times nausea-inducing, but I appreciate the metaphor. I think it's perfect. I think it's smart to use shit, in its foul-smelling and disgusting nature, to describe the characters. I believe in the necessity to inculcate disgust towards dirty political agendas. Where corruption for personal gain is a culture, planting natural disgust towards them within people is a vital step to curb it. Without the disgust for it, the things that come filling in would be desensitization and normalisation of it, which is perhaps what we're currently facing. When that happens, it would already be too widespread to contain.

I hope there will be a day when these people realize that their position is never about them. It always has been about the people they serve, and always will be. I hope they realize that they will be held accountable. I hope they learn from history. I hope we learn from this and never let this happen, ever again.