The Sick In Secular Sweden

Di masa-masa cuti ni, kami suka meluangkan masa dengan membaca. Takda kerjalah kami nak membaca majalah sampah seperti Mastika, ataupun novel jalanan Melayu yang jalan ceritanya mendayu-dayu dan sebak. Kami baru saja habis membaca sebuah memoir oleh Ulla-Carin Lindquist yang bertajuk ‘Rowing Without Oars’ dalam terjemahan Inggerisnya.

Ulla-Carin Lindquist merupakan seorang wartawan dan penyampai berita stesen televisyen utama Sweden sebelum beliau didiagnos menghidap ‘amyotrophic lateral sclerosis’ (ALS), sebuah penyakit sistem saraf yang seringkali menjangkiti mereka yang aktif dan sihat-sihat belaka. ALS membawa maut dan sampai sekarang belum dapat diubati. Memoir ini mencatatkan detik-detik terakhir Ulla-Carin, dari saat pertama beliau mula syak ada yang tak kena, apabila tangannya begitu lemah sampaikan tak dapat mendayung perahu, sehinggalah saat beliau meninggal dunia pada tahun 2004, lebih kurang setahun selepas diberitahu beliau menghidap ALS.

Kesulitannya diceritakan dengan nada bersahaja dan lucu, tidak pula cuba meraih simpati seperti novel-novel dramatik Melayu. Walaupun pembaca sedar kesedihan dan kepayahan yang dipikul, Ulla-Carin sentiasa bersikap positif dan penuh dengan harapan. Apa yang kami kagum sangat ialah sistem perubatan Sweden yang amat prihatin terhadap mereka yang sakit dan kurang upaya. Ulla-Carin dibantu bukan oleh satu, dua, tetapi lebih dari empat jururawat dan penjaga tanggungan kerajaan yang sentiasa memberikan rawatan dan sokongan moral kepadanya. Hospital di Sweden dilengkapi pasukan trauma kanak-kanak yang berpengetahuan tinggi dalam memberi sokongan psikologi kepada anak-anaknya yang masih kecil dan belum dapat memahami keadaan tenat ibu mereka.

Kerajaan Sweden membiayai sepenuhnya kos melengkapi rumah mereka dengan lif dan tanjakan (ramp) bagi membolehkan Ulla-Carin bergerak dalam kerusi rodanya. Mereka juga menghormati maruah intelek; apabila tangan dan jari Ulla-Carin berhenti berfungsi disebabkan ALS, beliau disediakan dengan komputer canggih yang dikelolai hidungnya supaya beliau dapat berhubung dan mencatatkan isi fikirannya. Inilah kehebatan sebuah negara yang bukan sahaja kaya, tetapi begitu mengambil berat terhadap warganegaranya. Walaupun Sweden secara dasarnya sebuah negara sekular, tetapi asas sistem politik dan sosial mereka sealiran dengan ajaran Islam, yang mengutamakan egalitarianisme (kesaksamaan antara yang kaya dan yang papa), memperjuangkan hak-hak asasi – baik bagi lelaki, wanita mahupun kanak-kanak – dan menitikberatkan kemajuan dari segi santifik dan kebudayaan.

Sweden mencatatkan skor 0.21 dalam sistem ‘Gini coefficient’ yang menilai jurang perbezaan antara golongan miskin dan kaya, di mana 0 menunjukkan tiada jurang manakala 1 menunjukkan jurang paling tinggi. Kaum wanita di Sweden setaraf dengan lelaki, dan bilangan wanita di Parlimen Sweden (45%) lebih kurang sama dengan rakan sejawat dari kaum Adam. Kanak-kanak, golongan imigran dan orang kurang upaya dilindungi pejabat Ombudsman yang memperjuangkan hak dan membela nasib mereka. Sektor sukan disubsidi kerajaan Sweden supaya aktiviti sukan dapat disertai semua golongan masyarakat. Dari segi kesenian pula, tidak ramai yang tahu Sweden sebenarnya hanya di belakang Amerika Syarikat dan United Kingdom sebagai pengeksport muzik terbesar di dunia. Walaupun begitu, sumbangan kebudayaan termegah Sweden adalah penganugerahan Hadiah Nobel, yang memberi pengiktirafan kepada individu yang berjaya dalam bidang sastera, keamanan, perubatan dan saintifik.

Apakah pula sumbangan negara-negara Islam hari ini? Apakah peranan yang dimainkan Indonesia, Arab Saudi, Pakistan, Turki, Iran dan negara kita sendiri, dalam meningkatkan maruah kemanusiaan? Mampukah kita berbangga dengan pencapaian masyarakat Islam tanpa perlu merujuk kepada sejarah empayar Abassid, Uthmaniyah, Mughal dan Melaka? Kedengaran ke suara orang Islam dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak wanita dan kanak-kanak, peningkatan taraf hidup, kebudayaan, kesenian, saintifik, kesusasteraan, kesukanan, perubatan dan lain-lain bidang kemanusiaan?

Are we here to produce, or do we simply exist to consume?

*This article marks the conclusion of the Swedish Series

Patutkah Kanak-Kanak Dibeduk?

Continuing with our special focus on Sweden, a liberal Scandinavian nation with a strong social democratic background, we explore the contentious issue of corporal punishment of children. Apart from having an Ombudsman for Children, Sweden leads the world in child advocacy by being the first country to ban corporal punishment of children, in 1979. Although offenders are subject to prosecution, the country relies more heavily upon the pedagogic effect of the legislation, and has set in place a thorough education campaign and support services to minimise family stress and conflict.

In Malaysia, although the level of corporal punishment is not as severe as in the past, it is still considered normal and acceptable for parents to spank or cane their child. Many a parent have provided the oft-used excuse that they do it out of love, and ironically, we have heard many adults themselves saying the spanking they received in childhood moulded them into the fine, law-abiding citizens they are today. Could it be possible that they have turned out that way in spite of the tight slaps they received? Would other, less violent forms of discipline have failed them? We are not at all disputing the parents’ love for the child, but could it be possible that they struck at their kids mainly because they were physically capable, and that it was socially appropriate to do so?

We, too, were subject to corporal punishment as children, and although we acknowledge that this method of guidance may have been acceptable in the 20th century, we strongly believe that in the present, and more so in the future, corporal punishment is an outmoded form of discipline. Caning and other forms of physically-intrusive discipline are increasingly being viewed, by parents and educationists alike, as archaic, ineffective and abusive. As the traditional Asian family dynamic of strict, tough-love give way to a more collaborative form of parenting, adults are finding that it is much more effective, humane and even normal to guide a child by engaging in, among others, age-appropriate conflict resolution and mediation skills. Verbal parent-child interactions not only enhance a strong, trusting bond between the two, it also develop a child’s cognitive ability.

Suffice to say, these skills need to be properly learned and cultivated in parents, as they require a strong level of emotional and intellectual maturity to be properly implemented. Parents and school authorities who continue to spank and slap their child at this day and age, are taking the easy way out, and in the long run their actions are more likely to damage the child’s development and the relationship between them and their child.

Who’s The Man? Ombudsman! (A Complainant’s Dream Come True)

One of the most striking differences between the Letters section in Malaysian newspapers and those in developed countries is how we regularly misuse it as an avenue to complain on domestic issues. In contrast, readers of the better broadsheets in the First World transform the section into a lively and multi-dimensional forum to discuss various issues concerning politics, the environment, society, sports and public health.

The tabloid Malay Mail, and particularly Malay publications such as Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian, seem to dedicate their Letters section solely for disgruntled citizens to lodge and publicise their complaints. The page is constantly awash with grievances ranging from bad Astro reception, faulty electricity lines, leaking water pipes, uncollected garbage and a myriad of nasty experiences by ordinary Malaysians who hide under such pseudonyms as ‘Pelanggan Tertipu’, ‘Mak Cik Marah’, ‘Pengguna Kecewa’, ‘Warga Tertindas’ and many others. This phenomenon highlights at least two important issues. One is that Malaysians are still not confident in the extent of freedom of speech in this country, and resort to concealing their identity for fear of reprisals by the authorities. The second, and more important issue, pertains to the lack of proper channels to which citizens and consumers can air their grievances. They are left with no choice but to highlight their problem to the media in the hope that it will raise enough attention to warrant action by the authorities or companies involved.

The problem could perhaps be solved by implementing the ‘ombudsman’ system initiated by Sweden. An ombudsman is an official appointed by the government to represent the interests of the public by investigating grievances and preparing a report which addresses the complaint at hand. Although the ombudsman is selected by the government, he or she is absolutely independent of executive pressure or interference. In the Swedish government, there is an ombudsman for Equal Opportunities, Children, Disability, Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation, Ethnic Discrimination and Public Press, as well as a Consumer Ombudsman. Recently a complaint was lodged to the Ethnic Discrimination Ombudsman when it was discovered that Muslim tenants were snubbed by landlords specifically due to their religious background.

In Malaysia, areas in which an ombudsman could play a major role, besides those already existing in Sweden, include Utilities such as Water, Electricity and Communications, Postal Services, Public Transportation, Migrant Workers and Law Enforcement. Hopefully, the establishment of on Ombudsman system will reduce the number of domestic complaints aired to the media, and the Letters section of newspapers will be able to become the public forum of diverse and high-quality opinions that it was intended to be.

Swedish Simplicity Vs Malaysian Extravagance Part 1: Interior Design

Two of Europe’s biggest design powerhouses are Italy and Sweden, and although both are renowned for quality workmanship and an obsession to detail, the two are extremely divergent in terms of philosophy and attitude. Italian establishments, the likes of Fendi, Armani and the showy Versace, lavish the eyes with grandeur and avant-garde creations, while Swedish designers adopt a much more sensible approach, favouring function over form in accordance with Scandinavian minimalism.

This pragmatic approach is best projected by the giant interior design chain IKEA. Its no-nonsense, blue and yellow bold-type trademark which greets potential customers from across the highways is symbolic of its thrifty, prudent and neutral image. IKEA’s low cost, mass produced, flat packed DIY furnishings may appeal to the efficient ideals of capitalism, but it is in fact a materialisation of socialist fundamentals that demand uniform, affordable and practical furniture for all sections of society. In essence, it is egalitarianism built and firmly nailed into interior design.

The Malaysian concept of interior design is one which is traditionally extravagant, adorned from top to bottom with ornamentals, perhaps influenced by the Asian fear of empty spaces. The Malays, Chinese and Indians are all proud descendants of a heritage of elaborate floral motifs, intricate wood and stone carvings of statuary and geometric patterns. In a modern interpretation of this celebratory take on interior decoration, Malaysian houses are cluttered with cheap bric-a-bracs, miniature wooden carvings from amateur sculptors and adorned rather unfortunately with oversized artificial flowers, filled in even bigger vases (or is this just a style favoured by my dear aunts?). Small terrace houses are supported by faux Greco-Roman pillars, its walls painted with garish and unimaginable colours that resemble a really bad procession of a Warna-Warna Malaysia parade.

At its best, Swedish minimalism, with its clean, straightforward lines, basic colours and a complete banishment of clutter, can arouse an almost Zen-like serenity, a sensation of calmness that is the perfect antidote to the stresses of daily life. But it can also be cold, uninspiring and just plain dull, incidentally attributes that have often been stereotypically tagged to the Swedes, unfairly or otherwise. The rich, cultural and elaborate design heritage of Malaysia, when left to the wrong hands, is often reduced to a gaudy display of kitsch. If properly done, as can be seen in the emergence of the New Tropical Asian movement, it is at once breathtaking in its opulence, yet still manages to retain the earthy, humble character that forms the hallmark of Southeast Asian culture.