Shortly after Operation Lalang began on 27 Oct 1987, I lost my well-paying job as a country correspondent for a regional publication for reasons unknown to me. My only consolation was that it was much better than to be under the barbaric Internal Security Act like some of my unfortunate friends were. There was no newspaper who would take me in. So I became an advertising cavasser earning by commission. Like many who saw no more future in our country, I landed up in Australia three years later.

After our only child completed her studies and began working, my wife and I decided to return to our birthplace six years later. For good. But it took a while before I returned to journalism. My mother-in-law, was concerned.

"Remember, this is not your country, so be careful what you write," she told in a caring manner.

This is understandable as she is truly a pendatang (immigrant) as was my father-in-law. But for me, both sides of my family have been here for generations as Peranakan. I am here to stay. That's my birthright

But after 21 years, we are hearing the same threatening voices again. We live in fear under the shadow of the ISA. Many are brave enough to speak up for what is right but many others are reminded to be careful.

I am reminded of a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

First They Came For…

And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

I am also reminded of a part of King Solomon's poem:

To everything there is a season, and

a time to keep silence, and
a time to speak;

It takes not only a brave heart but also the wisdom of Solomon to discern the right season, so that in speaking up, our voices would not be silenced by forces of evil. (By BOB TEOH/ MySinchew)