LETTER | The nation needs spiritual contemplation

LETTER | The nation is going through a third wave of Covid-19. Our economy has seen the highest contraction compared to our neighbouring countries. The massive 17.1 percent gross domestic product (GDP) contraction in the second quarter of 2020 (2Q20) has so far made Malaysia the worst-performing economy in Asean.

For Malaysia, the figure is the worst double-digit quarterly contraction since 1998 - or after 22 years - following the unprecedented lockdown imposed to stem the spread of Covid-19.

In this context of weakened control of the Covid 19 and a depressing economic situation, politicians are busy scheming and plotting for power, where it seems that the upcoming November parliamentary sitting would focus on the no-confidence motion against the prime minister, instead of a platform where the government and the opposition backbenches could work together by putting aside their political differences and coming up with solutions to curb the rise of Covid-19 and reviving the economy.

In the current context of the pandemic, a general election is irrelevant and constitutional requirement is not absolute. What is needed is spiritual wisdom that is ideologically free to salvage the nation by enhancing its capacity to respond to the very complex health and economic crises.

What is plaguing the nation today is not merely a political, economic or social problem but a deep-rooted spiritual illness, where collective ego-centric political entities are scheming through a dualistic black and white confrontation when the nation is suffering from a pandemic and economic hardship.

There is an absence of spiritual contemplation among political, economic and religious elites in embracing the nation as a whole, and this has weakened our capacity to respond as a collective nation, where ideas from opposing sides could be synthesised for the common good of the country.

While the nation claims to be religious with the Rukun Negara exhortation of belief in God, such beliefs tend to take an exceptionalist pathway, resulting in dualistic confrontation rather than collaborative endeavour in seeing the good in the others in these trying times.

Therefore, it is time the nation discovers its spiritual energy that is found in contemplative tradition of all religions and work in the spirit of love and compassion, rather than competition in trying to resolve the current twin crisis of health and economic contraction.

Political elites of both sides of the political divide should stop the dualistic politics of destruction and work to embrace the good in the others that could unleash spiritual solidarity, where cooperation with the others takes precedence, rather than plotting and scheming the downfall of the others.

The nation is in dire need of spiritual contemplation.

RONALD BENJAMIN is secretary of the Association for Community and Dialogue.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.