Haze and Sowing Discords

It is so easy to sow discord between two individuals of different nationalities, especially when the two nations are facing political/economical/social issues, like right now, between Indonesia and Malaysia. It got worse when these issues are sensitive to the heart of the citizens (of both nations, respectively), but people from other countries used it as a tool of good-natured teasing. These people meant no harm, but honestly, now I begin to be wary of what I would say in front of my Indonesian colleague because she was teased by the Pakistani colleague on the link I shared even if she said she doesn't mind. It was a very embarrassing moment for me when I read the comments which both of them made. I had removed the post from my timeline, and visibility only to them both. I had to do some risk management to avoid misunderstandings between people from my friends' list with the owners of the comments.

Take those Malaysian or Singaporean investors to the court, Indonesia. Like I care if these people have to be punished for doing so. They did something wrong, so they deserve to be punished. But please remember that this happens every year since I was a kid so do remember to do it NEXT YEAR before they start burning your forests again. And those people who are breathing in the dust from the forest fires are innocent people who have nothing to do with your forest fires. So please don't behave as though the whole nations are at fault to your forest fires. Or at least, teach the communicator to the press to say the right things to them.

And oh... If you are afraid of me because of my reactions to some of the things you said, then you may not know me well enough, or never really are interested to know me. My advice is don't judge me when you don't know me. I'm just being me. So if you think you know how to be me, then perhaps you should question yourselves why do you want me to be who you want me to be. And know what, I keep away from such people in my life because it does no good to you or me. I'm not proud of throwing away such people in my life, but it will be healthier if you and me live in our own separate circles. No hard feelings, but yeah, a better way to keep the world harmonious. I learned it the hard way that it is perfectly fine that there will be some individuals whom I can never be friends with no matter how angelic these people are to everyone else around me.