Persistence

Not enough good things have been said of persistence. If the genie ever came to his life asking him what was his highest wish for his own children, it would not be for an excess of talent and ingenuity, it would be that they would realise the value of persistence. Nothing is so impossible it can not be eroded in due course by the consistent application of persistence.

Even the great master of grunge, Neil Young said, “Rust never sleeps.” The big Boss himself, Bruce Lee, advised, “Be as water.” Persistence is the key. And always it is best applied in tandem with human aspiration. The more seemingly impossible the human aspiration the better.

Take Nelson Mandela and the eventual freeing of South Africa from the shackles of apartheid. How many years did Mandela spend in jail? More than 20 years. And yet in the end, freedom. And what of Aung San Suu Kyi? Almost the same story. And it will end the same way most likely. There is something to be learned here perhaps where the case of our claims to the Spratlys and Sabah are concerned.

We cannot and we should not go to war over these issues. That would be stupid. But not as stupid as pretending our claims do not exist just because we cannot pursue it by force of arms. After all, recorded history is there and it cannot be erased. Only the interpretations vary. In the end, all civilized states must give in to the correct and legal interpretation of the historical facts. The most rightful claim over these territories can be determined. They can be determined by human institutions precisely appointed to do this.

This does not mean the contesting parties will surrender to the judgment of these institutions. Why would China or Malaysia even admit the need for the issue to be adjudicated this way? They can back their claims by force of arms. They have de facto control over these territories. Yet even so, this does not mean they are right. It simply means that for now they have the upper hand.

But there is nothing more fickle than history. The wheels always turn if not by war then by good or bad fortune. We are wise to make up for in persistence what we lack in everything else. We are right to commit ourselves to these ends for the long haul.

Which is the main reason why the present administration should really go back to the drawing board and finally figure out its position over these issues. Hopefully, this position should not be as shallow as that we will not be dragged into a war with Malaysia or China over these issues.

Nobody expects much less wishes to be dragged into any war with Noynoy as commander-in-chief. That’s a no-brainer. But if our claim to Sabah has been abandoned then that much must be stated in no uncertain terms. If it has not then that too must be clearly stated. But why would we abandon those claims now?

What Agbimuddin Kiram did in Sabah is reckless and foolhardy. One might even say it is a stupid waste of human lives. And yet we also cannot help but ask ourselves why and how it ever came to this? Despite everything, Kiram has managed to make all of us turn our heads and pay attention once again to what  happens in the southern parts of the country.

And what we immediately realize is that such an act of turning our heads and paying attention is not at all even half-bad. The issues of our territorial claims over the Spratly Islands and Sabah have certainly not been given sufficient attention in school curricula even at the college level. What we immediately realize in the wake of all these is how little we know. What Kiram demonstrates is that this ignorance comes to us at some cost.

Were it ever a war, it would be a war already lost just by virtue of our collective historical negligence. It is a clear case of self-inflicted ignorance. It cannot be said that this realization is sufficient to justify the loss of even one life. And yet, that fact only makes all these seem an even sadder tragedy.