Monday, September 28, 2009

popular+majority = always right?

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks,
one still in use while the other unused.

Only one child played on the unused track,
the rest on the operational track.

The train is coming,
and you are just beside the track interchange.

You can make the train change its course to the unused track
and save most of the kids.

However,
that would also mean the lone child playing by the unused track would be sacrificed.

Or would you rather let the train go its way?



Let's take a pause..

and think...

what kind of decision we could make?












Most people might choose to divert the course of the train,
and sacrifice only one child.

You might think the same way,
I guess.

Exactly,
to save most of the children at the expense of only one child
was rational decision most people would make,
morally and emotionally.

But, have you ever thought
that the child choosing to play on the unused track
had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless,
he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends
who chose to play where the danger was.

This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday.

In the office,
community,
in politics
and especially in a democratic society,
the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority,
no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are,
and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are.
The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined.

And in the case he was sacrificed,
no one would shed a tear for him.

The great critic Leo Velski Julian
who told the story said he would not try to change the course of the train
because he believed
that the kids playing on the operational track
should have known very well that the track was still in use,
and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens..

If the train was diverted,
that lone child would definitely die
because he never thought the train could come over to that track!

Moreover,
that track was not in use,
probably because the track was not safe.

If the train was diverted to the track,
we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake!
And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child,
you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware
that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made,
we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one.

'Remember that what's right isn't always popular..
and what's popular isn't always right.'

Everybody makes mistakes..
that's why they put erasers on pencils..

p/s: "jika kamu mengikuti kebanyakkan orang di bumi ini, nescaya mereka akan menyesatkanmu dari jalan Allah. yang mereka ikuti hanyalah persangkaan belaka dan mereka hanyalah membuat kebohongan." - Al-An'am: 116 -

13 comments:

Balqis Riza said...

salam..

a very nice post..buat saya terfikir..

thx =)

duha said...

balqisriza-wlkmslm..

:)

berfikir itu bagus~
hehe

Dr Hana said...

salam~~~

betul3...contohnye...:

Bila ramai orang cakap duha comel, adakah itu bermakna duha memang comel???!

ataupun

Bila seorang je cakap kak fana comel, adakah itu bermakna kak fana sebenarnya tak comel pun???!
tidak, sekali-kali tidak....

bagus kan contoh kat atas ni?

ekekekekekeke
:P

sinar_islami said...

salam ya ukhtie karimah...
menarik dan bgs skali entri ni...
kalau antara 2 perkra pun kekdag dh dilema...keliru nk pilih yg mana..
apath lagi making such a huge decision...kerdilnya seorg hmba tu kan... (^_^)
dan penilaian manusia sentiasa kabur...apath lagi bila jauh dari sinar Illahi

duha said...

F.Y- well dear, secara tak langsung anda telah mengakui yang ramai orang kata saya comel dan sorang je (kalau ye pun ade laa) orang yang mengakui anda comel..terima kasih~

lalla~

p/s: dalam tajuk tu kata popularity+majority=always right? so jawapannya NO..tapi bukan setiap masa..there's time where majority is the best..that's why ada sistem mengundi..but not ALWAYS right laa..

huhu..

denda bagi duit extra double!

duha said...

sinar- waalaikumussalam..
erm..betul..kalau nak buat keputusan mmg susah..sebab byk perkara yg perlu dipertimbangkan..kalau ikut emsoi je..tak boleh jugak..susah nak cari rationalnya..jadi apa2 pun, sebagai manusia n hamba yang lemah..nak tak nak mmg kena bergantung pada Allah taala..sebab hanya Dia yang tahu masa depan dan perkara terbaik utk kita..

kadang2 kita nampak sesuatu tu dalam jangka masa pendek je kan..kita tak nampak consequences yang lebih jauh..

'berdoalah, sesungguhnya Allah sangat dekat dengan kita'

Dr Hana said...

aduhh..agak pedas di situ;p

ok..serius2...

memang kalo dibandingkan, banyak kelemahan demokrasi ni walaupun tak dinafikan kebaikannya pun ada...
tapi buat masa ni, kita dah memang ada dalam sistem demokrasi n nak mengubahnya bukan mudah [walaupun ada je yang nak menaikkan balik sistem khalifah mcm hisbut tahrir]
tapi perubahan takkan berlaku dlm sekelip mata...

dr maza pn ada cakap sistem politik islam ni fleksibel... bukannya rigid, sejak zaman Nabi Muhammad SAW sampai sistem khalifah pun ada banyak perubahan n evolusi, tapi still kena refer kat Quran n sunnah la, cumanya zaman kita ni, umat Islam ramai tapi mcm buih, yang btul2 bpegang pada Islam tu sangat sikit...

duha said...

F.Y- hurm..pernah dengar lagu eminem 'like toy soldier' tak?

hehe..bukan nak promote..
tapi ada satu ayat tu

'step by step, heart to heart'

so, nak berubah mmg bukan mudah..
tapi kena ada langkah yang diambil..
and macam mana nak pastikan matlamat kita berjaya?
kena make sure orang ramai faham kesan n tujuan langkah n matlamat kita..

contohnya negara islam..
kenalah buat orang ramai sedar kepentingan adanya sistem islam
yang melindungi umat manusia
sama ada muslim atau non-muslim..
baru mereka akan gerak sama nak bantu kita iA..

wallahua'alam~

Karim said...

Salam kak duha. Perutusan kumpulan kecil dari caliph14 alamin mohon izin untuk copy artikel ini dalam blog kami.
Terima kasih.

duha said...

Karim-waalaikumussalam..owh..sila2 :)

cactus biru said...

assalamualaikum..

best2..
=)

cactus biru said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
duha said...

cactus-waalaikumussalam..trimas :)