STRIKE!!
it was a tragedy, not rare, but involved many people, influenced their life in different way.
this is a story that happened in nizhny novgorod, on wednesday, 12/4/2006. no name shall be mentioned. the story shall include views from many angle, putting out some questions and arguements…and it shall be seen objectively, not siding to any party…..with no intention to offend anybody
it was a normal day, everyone doing their daily routine (most of it being attending classes, lectures…). when all that has finally ended, everyone thought that another day is over, looking forward to the next routine day to come… but this monotonous pace was disturbed by a news i heard from the kitchen saying that the russian class was cancelled because the teacher needed to send a senior to the hospital….
he was beaten up by 8 ppl….so they say…somewhere between our hostel and bio physiological campus…. he managed to make his way back to our hostel, he was helped by the russian teachers. but the thing is he couldn’t remember what happened in that incident, ie who beat him, where he got beaten…..yes , he suffered from short term memory lost. 2 of my friends went to see him in the hospital. they said he was attacked at the temporal lobe. he could remember what happened before lecture, his name and everything…..but not after that…not at all…. from some other sources it was said that he went out with some russian girl and got beaten up by the youngsters. he "lost" his memory to cover it. how ture is that?? nobody knows…maybe it was just a hypothesis…maybe not… but one thing is questionable … how do ppl know that he was beaten by 8 ppl , where and when, if he himself doesn’t know…. i mean if there were witness, of course he/she would bring him back, and he wouldn’t come back alone…..
anyway, the fact he got beaten up and that is not right….so something must be done about it
on that night… an urgent meeting was held to discuss this issue to take drastic actions… it concerns all foreign students of this university. it was supposed to be held by the Student Union, which is chaired by our very own malaysian seniors. however throughout the meeting, despite the fact that our fellow malaysian seniors was beaten up, the malaysians as always, remains passive… the meeting was conducted by an arabic(speaking russian) and an african translating. they showed anger, rage, and strong will to take action. it avoke many responses. malaysian being the majority of foreign students here (80%) were quiet throughout the meeting. only when the final decision was made….that all (well….almost all) agreed to have strike,refusing to attend all classes and all lectures on the next day….to force the academy to take actions, that malaysians showed support and shouted "strike! strike! strike!"…. does that indicate that malaysians are only capable of being a follower??
this decision was made mainly because the academy was supposed to place a police post in our academy…..it was promised some time ago, but no actions has been taken. maybe it’s a russian thingy, but they tend to delay things….like you have to constantly push them in order to get somethings done. ya of course they can make wonderful promises….but those are mostly empty ones…. to have strike might not seem reasonable or practical in the eyes of malaysian (not to me at least) but apparently this is the only thing we are capable of doing….having no power of doing anything, having the embassy far away from us.this is the only way to show our anger and "helpless"ness( if there is such word).
in the meeting in order to persuade all the people to agree on striking… they bring out old history about how many ppl got beaten up or even killed by these skin heads and hooligans… it was said to be their ritual to take one or 2 lifes esp in this month of april, due to Hitler’s anniversary….and their known to be well-based in St. Petersburg and Varonesh…. it was said that they have an army there….and they are placing them all over russia….and we have to do something before it gets to nizhny…. this statement of course caught our attention and worries….and it’s a great propaganda to get everybody into this strike thingy…
they proposed that all of us go to the dean’s office together…all 500 of us… making a clear indication that we are not happy that foreigners are constantly get beaten up and no visible actions are taken. we are suppose to rent a few buses to bring all of us there….according to them we must go there together…..everybody. and there shall be no class for everybody…to show that we are all united…. they were so determined to get everyone into this because the pass attempts to go to the dean’s office to negotiate with the big shots inside failed….they were kicked out…
harsh statements were made. eg. they would lock the main door so that nobody can go to classes… if they see anybody going to class, in case he/she got beaten up next time, nobody would care less… i mean of course, there are many ways to persuade…but to use these kind of statements to force ppl to get into this strike is just too much….not so much of democracy being practiced here… and not what a future doctor would say either….it’s like telling the patient "if you don’t take my medical advice, do not come and bag for help when you are dying later"….or "i won’t let you out of my hospital if you don wanna recieve my treatment"….
as i have said, this incident gave different impact on different people. one of my coursemate who was beaten up last winter felt the pain once again when he heard the news. he is not agressive by nature, but he was one of the people who showed the most reaction to the proposal of striking…. some people might wonder how he has change…but i think what ppl say is right. you would never understand what you’ve never experiece… just like my friends in malaysia wouldn’t understand what kind of danger and fear we are experiencing now… he group mate comforted him….showing that there are still ppl who would support him, to help him to get out from this shadow of darkness…
2 girls in our hostel wrote a poem (or sth like that)….saying how are we different that they have to beat us up, saying that we come to this foreign country with good intentions, eating the same food, breathing the same air…..just because of skin color difference…they beat us up…. they showed their fear, anger, and anxiety….which at this time….touch us all…and they translated the poem into russian…..using a translater i think…because alot of mistakes…but nevertheless…it voiced out our concerns….
actually this hooliganism happens everywhere in the world….not only in russia…but why is it that everyone make so much fuss about it?? the reason is simple. because we do not see the bad guys got caught, beaten up like what they did to us..everytime somebody got beaten, the police came and make report, but no news of what happened to the bad guys then….ya , the proposal was to place a police post in our hostel to PREVENT these things from happening…but deep down inside everyone’s heart in the darkest corner is the desire to see them got caught and suffer from those bad things they have done. make them feel the pain….or better still, to take those actions in their hand…. nobody wants to bare the pain alone… this is human’s nature….apparently…( you can’t expect everyone to be saint, afterall..)
so all groups had decided not to go to classes and lectures tomorrow….
well, this didn’t feel right to me…. i wasn’t educated not to go for classes. i understand this is for the sake of all students…but i just do not feel right. i was insisting on going to classes on the next day, but i was persuaded or even scolded by some people…of course i would follow the majority’s decision on going to the dean’s office together…but i was struggling between going or not to the class….which apparently is not important at all to others… it’s a shame and ironic to me that for the first time in my life i am scolded for wanting to go to classes, by some people who is happy to have an extra day of holiday…and for the first time they sounded so right… and i looked so guilty for insisting of studying…how crazy is that….
in the end, i didn’t go to classes…but at the same time i felt sorry for those teachers….they were the good russians of course. but to bring them into this mess makes me feel guilty. they are innocent. and imagine what would you feel as a teacher when nobody attends your class…none….zero….or worst, the lecture who is supposed to be attended by 200 ppl…
the next day, since 8 am, all the departments from the first year to the 6th…kept calling the dean’s office to tell them about this situation. this of course, worried them. and they know that we meant business…and they are in big trouble if this goes on.
we gathered down the hostel since 1200 and waited for the buses to bring us there…
.but it was funny that they only rent 2 small buses and expect to fit 500 ppl inside…of course it’s impossible…some of them went back. me, being one of the ppl at the back, din’t get to go to the dean’s…nevertheless, it was still a magnificent sight seeing all 500 ppl gathering down the hostels….
another meeting was held that night….it was said that the pro-rector came out to greet those ppl like a do g….and for the first time everyone could go into the office….(only about 60 of them)….and the promise was made to do it ASAP…….how true is that?? it is another one of those empty promises just to calm us down?? nobody knows….anyway the arabian and the african was condemning the pro-rector and the dean’s when suddenly the door open the the pro-rector appeared….he was accompanying the jpa representitive from moscow who juz arrived and insisted on seeing us…hah….it was an awkward scene when both of them was startled and didn’t know what to do…they immediately change the subject and declare that we should go for classes today……and since the pro rector was juz sitting beside, they didn’t know how to end the meeting ….ended up saying the same thing over and over again…hahhaa…this teaches us not to say bad things at ppl’s back…how much did the rector hear?? who knows….??
another thing worth mentioning is that in medical studies missing one day of class can mean alot…probably, one big part of the syllabus…. thus, is it not good for our studies… esp for those who are taking exam soon ( like in 3 days time)…and to force everybody not to go for classes is not a reasonable thing, esp if it’s strongly against their will. you can’t just knock on thier door and tell them please don go for class tomorrow, we should act as a team… when that doesn’t work, you tend to threaten him/ her… everyone has his own will, his believe, and his desire….and he has the right not to do it…using tricks to persuade is juz not right.. esp to make something so right seemed so wrong….and make them feel guilty for doing the right thing….
i came into science/ medic because being naive, i thought i could avoid all political issues, s i’ve had enough of that….but i was wrong…politics are everywhere. where there’s human, where there’s desire, the will to manipulate, there will be politics…. and to think that becoming a doctor is universal, not tied by politics factors, helping whoever is in need….how idealistic was i?? sigh….
now that the strike is over….i hope everything will get back to normal asap…back to our normal routine life…i hope the senior would get well soon….and none of us would be beaten up again….
