OPINION

World says 'enough!'

What a year 2019 has been for the political youth of the world. It's as if, worldwide, the young just can't believe the extent to which their rulers will go to press ahead with rules, regulations and laws that do nothing but repress the ordinary citizen.

Hong Kong has been in turmoil demanding the right to select and vote for their own rulers and rejecting the idea of extradition to the Chinese mainland. Chile has seen violence over the privatisation of most basic services and an electoral system -- introduced by a dictator -- that is designed to permanently over represent the wealthy.

Iraq joined the list of countries unhappy with their own government, young citizens expressing their anger at endemic corruption, high unemployment, dire public services and foreign interference. Indian youth have decided that Hindu nationalism is maybe not ideal in a country with citizens of several religions. The French have fought back against inequality and planned pension changes. The Indonesians and Lebanese are angry about corruption, and Iran and Ecuador protested against fuel increases and austerity.

The world appears to be saying "enough" to the wealthy elite and the corrupt bureaucratic authorities that have been dictating the future of economic policy against the wishes of the ordinary citizens. The question now is will the Thais join them?

Re: "India protests rage on as death toll rises", (World, Dec 22).

I find Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's anti-Muslim agenda troubling. India has a long tradition of accepting a wide variety of religious and non-religious views. It dates back as far as the Rig Veda which sings, "That being is one; sages call it by various names".

Fast forward to 1863, a modern sage, Swami Vivekananda, expressed the hope that the bell that had tolled the opening of the parliament that morning would be "the death-knell of all fanaticism … and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal".

In a later speech, he declared that "the Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor is a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth".

We are told that Mr Modi is a great admirer of Vivekananda, and in fact in his early life aspired to become a monk in the religious order that Vivekananda established. We are not told why his request was refused, except that he was told that his path was to be different.

It seems that, somewhere along the way, Mr Modi got sidetracked by the very fanaticism and uncharitable feelings that Vivekananda so deplored.

Somebody should tell him to go back and review Vivekananda's teachings on mutual acceptance and interreligious harmony.

It appears the student body at a Chiang Mai university protested against the admissions policy which demanded a minimal proficiency in English. Why bother to learn another language? The students could get jobs with the Ministry of Education and a few other Thai ministries, staffed by total foreign language illiterates.

They may also eventually make it to prime ministership. Why learn a language when you are entitled to a high-paid government translator?