(Photo source: Asiaone )
A photo speaks a
thousand words in this case.
Two female
politicians standing next to each other. It just struck me that there is never
a bigger contrast to see these two women in the photo.
One of the women
in the photo once moaned about her
“sacrifices” during the period of ministerial salary review, expressing displeasure
of being subject to pay cut due to voters’ pressure. [Link] Excruciating
sacrifices include the loss of privacy for herself and family, to subject herself
and her family to the public scrutiny, the loss of her own personal time and
the drop of living standard for her family. There lingers a huge sense of self-entitlement
for this woman being a politician in a country where political
remuneration is the highest in this universe.
The other woman
politician too had her sacrifices all too familiar to the world. She was
compelled to forsake her husband, her two young children and personal freedom in
order to pursue the democratic path for her people. But she perceived her
“sacrifices” more of a choice than a sacrifice.
“If you choose to do something, then you shouldn’t say
it’s a sacrifice, because nobody forced to you do it.” ---- Aung San Suu Kyi.
For one who is
calculative of her losses and gains, the word “sacrifice” became a loose word. Conscious
of personal “sacrifices” and therefore conscious of the returns in exchange. For
those who intend to give, the thought of “sacrifice” and returns are both non-existent.
When these two
women stood next to each other, they contrasted each other like day and night. It
is remarkably to see these two beings, one who glitters like a diamond in the
night while the other shuts the daylight out of your day.
