Let not the ego get us into uncivilised acts.

It may seem strange that a man who is the deputy president of the Komtar Merchants Association would continuously challenge the Chief Minister of Penang to a fist-fight.

But then again we have to remember that this man is just the deputy president of a merchants' association and probably does not understand that in this twenty-first century, we ought to be more civilised and if someone had claimed that we have mishandled money, there is the police and the court to settle such matters. But being impatient, he would rather resort to the power of might which he does not understand would not solve the issue he is faced with. If he wins a fist-fight, it merely proves that he is a better fighter or a stronger man which he probably is. As he himself claims, he was a boxer for about twenty years. And being a merchant he should be stronger than the Chief Minister who is a pen-pusher.

Of course, eventually, he did challenge the Chief Minister to a debate but should the Chief Minister debate with a chap who would most probably would say all kinds of things, even twist things, to preserve his ego? (We have recently seen how politicians have used even religious sermons, twisted what had transpired, in order to claim that a non-Muslim's name had been used instead of the ruler's name.) Sometimes, we have also seen debates end in chair-throwing and fist-fighting when people knew they were getting nowhere with their words.

Well, the Chief Minister have been wise in not responding to chalenges by this man who dares to want to take the law into his hands. As they say, "Let barking dogs lie." (Is my quote correct?) He is obviously doing the right thing by responding to such people.

Although this matter appear insignificant, yet it teaches us a lot of wisdom. Many among us might respond with a 'Come on.' to the instigator partly due to an injured ego. Now, any fight depends upon two factors: the better fighter due to training or strength or the luck of being struck in the right place. And to ensure victory, certainly great strength is put into every blow which could result in not just injury but also death. Whose death it might be, there would be loss. If we die we are a loss to our dependents, if the opponent dies, we might have to face the court and a number of years behind bars.

Of course, there are times in our lives when we have to fight to defend our lives and those we love. But certainly not out of the stupidity of our ego. Just because of a few words that unthinking people utter, the above mentioned loss is certainly too much to pay. And in life we are bound to come across so many such instances.



GEORGE TOWN: State police have warned Mohamed Ghani Abd Jiman not to take the law into his own hands but the Komtar Merchants’ Association deputy president is not backing off from his challenge to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for a fist-fight.