Nothing unites people like a common enemy!

I googled this to see if I could trace the author of this sentence. Instead, I found many who had plagiarized it. I am not absolutely certain and I stand to be corrected but I think that the origin of my title came from a book: Frontsoldaten by Stephen G. Fritz in which he wrote, “Nothing unites people more than shared rage against something or someone”.

Anyway, my purpose is not to identify the culprits who used this rather catchy statement in their speeches, blogs, essays etc. After all, I’m doing the same here!

Last night was the first time that I participated in a candlelight vigil. I found out that there would be a meeting at Padang Timur in front of Amcorp Mall. At first, I browsed through this type of news, without a second thought, as I usually do. This time, I don’t know why, I was compelled to show my face there. Who cares if no one knows me? Why worry if I might feel out of place? Therefore, with a bit of nudging (read begging) from me, my son consented to drive me. I finally managed to rope in another person and we were three! Great, we would be a group and not feel so out of place.

When we got there, it was just about 9 pm. I thought the vigil was going to last till about 11 pm and my earlier rush of jubilation to see the candles, even before we parked, turned to a wee bit of disappointment that people were already leaving. Of course, I won’t complain because this left us a lovely parking space available so near the main crowd. As soon as we got out of the car, other vehicles were passing by and pressing their horns. They were showing support! Immediately, whatever little reservation I had, disappeared.

Without delay, a nice lady approached me to ask if I needed a tee shirt. That was my original reason to go for the vigil.

However, I was blown away by the smiling faces, the camaraderie, the solidarity, the friendliness, the easiness and most of all the unity. We were all there for the same reason.

Although we did not interact much, we did not feel out of place. We felt like we belonged there. After all, we are Malaysians aiming for the same goal, wanting the same result.

As more people started to leave, we were approached by a tall guy, Haris. My heart leaped! Could this be Haris M Ibrahim, the blogger? I had to ask. Yes!!!!! How nice!!!!

I think I even saw Bernard Khoo. Next time, I’ll say hello to him. However, I have to admit, I’ll need at least a few more vigils or rallies before I can even recognize anybody!

It is true. A shared rage does unite people. A common enemy like the I.S.A does bring about a new sense of muhibbah. It’s been years since I heard this word. Nevertheless, it came back to me just like that.

To the Whisperer: This one’s for you!