Speeding Merrily Along...

I was up in PJ about a week ago. Went up for my cousin, Pauline's birthday. The fact that I greatly admire Pauline for her spirit whilst dealing with difficult health issues was a major part in making the decision to drive up on Saturday for a Sunday birthday lunch and then immediately back again.

That's another story, however.

What I'd really like to talk about is how on the way up, I got my first speeding ticket in many years. I have been stopped a few times before of course, but I have not been given a ticket in over 20 years.

It may surprise you to know that I have never as much as offered a bribe either. So how did I escape when it was painfully obvious in some instances that the policeman was out looking for some extra income?

Well, all I ever did was to admit that I had done wrong, and that in that case I would be ready to pay the penalty. In all cases, the cop just gave me a warning. In one case one Chinese New Year's eve, despite being clocked at 145 km/h I got a warning and even a wish for a safe journey home and a good reunion dinner too.

I guess it always helped that I speak decent Malay. What really made the difference however, was my honest insistence that if I'd committed the offence, I would pay the penalty. When the cop realised he wasn't going to get a contribution to his wide-screen plasma TV fund, he would invariably just let me go and save himself the paperwork.

This time around he didn't. He took out his book, asked me directly for my licence and IC and gave me a ticket. He told me very politely where I could pay it and that was it.

And you know what? I was very happy indeed to be getting that ticket. The reason is simple and it has everything to do with the spirit of Celebrate Malaysia!

I've extolled personal change here often enough it must surely soon start to wear thin. This incident, however, is indeed about personal change. When you encounter corruption at a low level, what do you do? The cynic will expect it, and indeed be resigned to participating - "everyone is doing it so I will too". I find that attitude completely counter-productive, as you well know.

If we faced up to corruption with the attitude that it's wrong and we shall not, therefore, add to it, we become instead the instigators of change. OK, so you pay the fine, but you're doing what is right, and you're therefore reinforcing the concept of justice.

Have you heard of the song Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie? First written and performed during the height of the anti-Vietnam War protests, it was about individuals standing up to be counted and saying they will not be a part of something that was unjust.

Well, I firmly believe it works - and it always starts with one guy standing up and saying "I will have no part in this".

Doing it on my own may have made little difference over the past 20 years and the 4 or 5 times I have been stopped by cops. But, if everyone reading this who has ever bribed a cop had done the same, would it not be conceivable that perhaps the level of corruption now wouldn't be as significant as it is?

I will say this again: Cynicism is a step backwards. Only active participation makes a difference. If you want to stop corruption, stop being a part of it - stop being corrupt. It really does start with you.
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Thoughts while pedalling: Why am I doing this?

If you don't cycle, you might wonder what goes through my mind when I'm on the bike. Now I don't know what the 'standard' is, or indeed if there is any particular norm. I do know that by nature, I subscribe to what I call the Dirk Gently method of thought.

Dirk was the principal character in a couple of Douglas Adams detective stories. He believed in the interconnectedness of all things and would often simply go where chance and fate would lead him believing that he may not get where he wanted to go, but he would wind up where he needed to be.

My thinking is kinda like that too I guess. Case in point: one morning I mentioned to Mei that I knew I had something on the next evening but could not remember what it was. I finally recalled the event and sms'd her. She thought I'd checked my diary but the truth was that I was at the coffeeshop opposite my office having a cup of coffee when a guy with a goatee walked past. He registered on the edge of my consciousness and I had this thought that he looked like a designer. From there I started thinking about design work in general, then thought about my recent interview on Asia Business Report when I gave an opinion on Sony's brand image, and then I started on what other stories I could dig up that might be newsworthy, then thought of the (then) upcoming global brand forum, and finally remembered my friend Nantha who was in Singapore from KL for that and it was indeed Nantha whom I was to meet the next evening.

Rather convoluted I know but that's my thought pattern. And I usually get where I need to be as well.

One of the stray thoughts I had while cycling to Batu Pahat was about an interesting recent short conversation I'd had with one of the guys I work with, Andrew Wilson. In preparing some material for our work, we discussed the concept of 'Influence'. What exactly is influence?

My first considered response was that it is the ability to effect a particular decision and action in someone else. As we delved deeper into this, it became clear that influence is a little wider and more complex than this. You can influence thought without action. You can influence action without thought.

You can influence through contact. And you can too, with no direct contact.

And then there are the forms of influence - the whole spectrum from direct coercion through to inspiration. Andrew will doubtless have more to say on his Whole Manager blog soon.

As I cycled however, I realised that the idea of influence indeed underpins the whole notion of this ride. It is in fact, a very good study of the whole concept of influence.

As things stand, I have a number of goals (listed here in no particular order):
i. Get from South to North
ii. Meet people and interact with them
iii. Discover things, especially values we think we've forgotten
iv. Get back safe and sound
v. Write about people - especially positive things
vi. Have a good time
vii. Get fit
viii. Don't get broke - literally or figuratively
ix. Meet old friends
x. Take pictures and videos and collate material for a book a film whatever
the list goes on a little more.

What isn't on that list is any direct desire to change people. That is not to say I have no such wish. The truth is that I would be lying if I said this is a strictly personal journey.

The very act of planning this has made some of you think about the whole idea. You would have thought about what you'd read, considered my motives, weighed up my chance of completing the journey, and even thought about why I bother. By doing this, you have unavoidably examined your own natural instincts, your bias and your prejudices. You have challenged your own perceptions.

I have influenced your thoughts. I have influenced you.

Now, I may not have made any palpable difference in the manner in which you approach your life. Influence need not, as I have begun to understand, necessarily create the influencer's desired result. In this case, it doesn't matter.

I have a relative who is so cynical he could freeze an egg in boiling water. Whatever that means. He is cold about the prospects this country faces. I think his attitude is wrong and I go back to the notion of 'If you change the way you look at things, the things around you change.'

Cynicism is a particularly devious condition. It weakens not just the people who encounter it, but also the person who bears the crutch of cynicism. I choose not to be cynical.

This morning, on the way from Batu Pahat to Muar, I stopped at Pekan Seri Menanti in Johor and had breakfast in a little Malay coffee shop. What struck me was how there were Chinese and Malay patrons, sitting down with each other, enjoying a good chat over their teas or coffees. I sat down with two gentleman who, as things turned out were DAP and UMNO men. Chinese and Malay. And they sat there, discussing things, laughing and joking with each other and with me, sharing their concerns for the country. And in this little shop, everyone greeted everyone else. They all shook hands. Malay, Chinese, whatever: it didn't matter. Heck almost everyone shook hands with me!

I stayed for one hour, risking a warm arrival in Muar for the sheer pleasure of seeing my Celebrate Malaysia! ideals displayed right before me. Cynicism? Bah! Who needs it?

The ideals I professed to be searching for are indeed out there. I like to think that my ride is influencing some people - maybe you. This morning, I sat and was instead influenced by a couple of older gentleman.

And for these two reasons, I am doing this ride.

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