What are you mad about?

When I was younger, I was taught/told that all I had to do was get good marks, pass my exams and graduate with a good degree. I’d have a job, and with it financial security and independence. The lines would fall in all the right places. And they did. For some people. Some are lucky to have jobs when they graduate. But for the majority, there are no jobs. Not because they’re unqualified, not because they’re incompetent. No. Sheer (bad?) luck. A tragic game of musical chairs and I am mad, so mad that my family and friends are unemployed or underemployed and there doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

What are you mad about?

My friend’s mother died earlier this year because she couldn’t get emergency dialysis done in the middle of the night. Another friend slumped while jogging. Government hospitals ask expectant mothers to come for delivery with candles, diesel, rechargeable flash lights. Women die in childbirth of the most routine causes. Babies die, children die of diseases and complications that shouldn’t kill anyone in the 21st century. Doctors can’t afford middle-class lifestyles. Surgeries are carried out with torches. And I am mad (and scared) that if my loved ones need emergency medical intervention, they probably will not get it.

What are you mad about?

I cook with “pure” water in my home; our bore hole water is so heavily treated, I dare not put it in my food. The Water Corporation is the sad punchline of a mirthless joke. My street association is considering levying us all to pave the street. The local government is a joke. At some point, we were considering hiring private security guards. Because the police is not our friend. As I type this, the cacophony of generators is giving me a headache. The rain probably knocked out a few power lines. Our street is flooded. No drains. And I’m mad, mad, mad that I’m forced to pay 24% of my income as tax for amenities I do not get.

What are you mad about?

I’m mad about the indiscipline we exhibit when we drive on our roads, queue at banks and gather in public. I’m mad about bad roads that kill people. I’m mad about traffic that shortens my life span. I’m mad about officers that harass me instead of helping me. I’m mad that children are leaving primary school who can’t read. I’m mad that some people get to live by a different set of rules. And not just the rich and powerful either. Have you noticed how danfo drivers get away with all sorts of traffic infractions but LASTMA will fine you for stopping your car on a zebra crossing?

What are you mad about? And what do you hope for? And is your hope strong enough that you want to do something about it? To write about it, to talk about it? To meet up with your friends and do something about it? Do you feel strongly enough to form your own political party? Or to join one of the others? Are you moved enough to volunteer for a good cause? Are you mad enough?