A Poem To Reflect Malaysia’s Situation: “First They Came…”
I came across this poignant poem while looking through the papers yesterday. It was written by Pastor Martin Niemoller, who was imprisoned by the Nazis during those insane times. I feel that it also aptly describes the situation in Malaysia right now (all it needs is a few change of words), and it should be addressed to all the young politically-apathetic Malaysians out there:
First they came for the communists,
I did not speak out
because I was not a communist.
When they came for the social democrats,
I did not speak out
because I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists
I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews
I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew;
And when they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out
Here’s the Malaysian version that I came up with:
First they came for the opposition members,
I did not speak out
because I was not an opposition member.
When they came for the activists,
I did not speak out
because I was not an activist.
When they came for the journalists
I did not speak out
because I was not a journalist.
When they came for the university students
I did not speak out
because I was not a university student;
And when they came for me,
there was no one left to speak up for me
