Solutions must suit on-ground reality

HERE is a tale about a Buddhist monk and a cat that might shine a light on the unspoken side of compliance culture.

Decades ago, there lived an old chief monk in a temple in Kedah.

He and his fellow monks would wake at 4am daily to chant in the shrine hall.

In this temple was a cat which loved to meow plaintively and rub its body continuously against the kneeling monks as they chanted.

The chief monk observed that the cat disrupted the monks’ concentration and its ceaseless rubbing left their robes covered in fur.

He thus leashed the cat to a tree during the morning chanting.

Being a man of few words, he did not express the why of it to anyone.

When the chief monk passed away, his successor dutifully continued with the “rule” of leashing the cat before the morning chanting.

Eventually, the cat died.

The chief monk then looked for another cat and leashed it at the appointed time.

It didn’t matter that this cat had not disturbed the chanting monks.

This went on until an elderly devotee told everyone that the late chief monk’s only reason for this practice was to temporarily prevent the previous cat from distracting the monks.

This tale reveals the negative side of blind adherence to rules without critical thinking or common sense.

A conformist society stifles creativity, critical thinking and innovation and leads to groupthink.

Lately, authorities have been on an enforcement blitz.

They’ve been demolishing illegally-built shacks and seizing tables, racks and hawker stalls on five-foot ways.

They’ve torn down unapproved shop signboards and arrested illegal foreign workers.

They’ve also evicted tenants in government flats who have not paid rent in years.

These enforcement actions have been taking place in Penang several times a week and going by social media responses, Penangites approve of it.

Some of these measures are great because they improve citizens’ quality of life.

My friend in the food business is now in “fire-fighting mode” because several of his illegal foreign workers were arrested in a recent immigration raid on the island; he will be fined and the workers will be deported.

Such raids, also happening in other states are to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and increase job opportunities for Malaysians.

But there is a flipside: a roti canai here costs between RM1.50 and RM2.

In Perth, Australia, it’s AUS$13 (RM36) for two pieces.

The huge price gap is because, among other reasons, a waiter earns AUS$35 (RM98) an hour, according to my friend running a cafe in the Western Australian capital.

Offer less and it would be hard to find good staff, he said.

These waiters have their income tax automatically deducted and they file tax returns to get refunds.

If you can earn RM35 per hour as a waiter here, wouldn’t you take up the job, even if you have to pay taxes?

What then will become of the price of roti canai in Malaysia, not to mention our global status as a street food paradise?

A law-abiding society is what most of us want.

However, there is always the possibility of rules not being in line with reality and the changing times.

Besides banning, confiscating and demolishing, the powers that be must lead, regulate, give solutions and even change the law when necessary.