Malala Yousafzai

She’s just a girl, on her late teens, but that doesn’t stop her from making a difference. After being forced up to grow up all too early, she has now stood before the world advocating rights on girls’ education.

Malala Yousafzai

I used to think that Noble Prizes were meant for elders, like people who have seen so much of the world, with precocious experiences to share with the younger generation. These people, I believed, are the ones equipped to be respected – at the very least, to be heard. There is some merit after all to the saying, “Respect your elders.”

Then, there are the news and media games, depicting a less-than-encouraging image of the future generation. They’re more desirable – very much so, mixed with a pinch of tantalizing sexual brands, that would have been tabooed in the times when what Marilyn Monroe did was shocking as well as revered as refreshingly new and setting the trend. I know some people who did not bat an eye seeing Miley Cyrus’s recent gimmicks. And, funnily, even though Justin Bieber’s retirement announcement was considered a Christmas miracle for some, he has had quite a following. Therefore, when the media premiered the ones we called “teen idols” and successfully brought them down too, a lot of people were left in doubts: What’s to become of our next generation?

 

Sensationalism and materialism which threaten to engulf our generation.

 BBC has remarked that young Miss Yousafzai was a breath of fresh air in the midst of deteriorating culture. I couldn’t agree more. She is the first young person I know that is nominated as a Noble Peace Prize winner. She’s quite the inspiration.

Malala Yousafzai was born in Pakistan. The region is under the terror of the Taliban, a Muslim extremist group. The group imposed rules on its conquer. One of those rules intervened directly into her life when she was just a 7-grader: her rights to education might be abolished! It no longer became only a possibility when her fears were realised in 2008, when females were indeed forbidden to go to school.

Education - some take it for granted

It seemed the Taliban wanted females to stick to their domesticated traditional roles: abiding inside the four walls, cooking, and having children. Now, for most open-minded females out there (including me), that is simply unacceptable. Malala has the same belief. She realised that to escape her fate, it must be through education. The Taliban was blind-siding them!

Meanwhile, the Taliban had captured the attention of the world. Reporters naturally wanted to find an inside look to a country still occupied by civic unrest. Malala’s father, a social and education activist himself, was contacted by a journalist. He recommended Malala to the journalist because she was outspoken and she had a cause to advocate. Finally, this was the birth of the Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl.

The world’s attention shifted to the plight of the young girl, bravely chronicling her life under the tyranny of the Taliban, a group that could kill her and her family in a blink. She aroused an appreciation of one gift that has been mostly taken for granted: education.

How many of us are still complaining that school is boring, school is a waste of time, and all that matters? I do complain from times to times. Although, I am thankful that today I realise that school is something precious – not everyone gets the chance, and we (the lucky ones) should help our peers to get access to this basic human development necessity.

Malala, speaking in front of the United Nations

Sympathizers did come from all the ends of the world, condemning the actions of the Taliban. Malala’s voice had been heard, and she was making the complacent peacefulness ripple. Her popularity was on the rise. She was suddenly the symbol against the cruelty and injustice that is the Taliban – much like Katniss Everdeen in the face of the Capitol’s regime – a high profile target for the said regime too.

Despite increasing dangers to her life, she stood up in front of the UN headquarters, dared to question Obama regarding the US use of drones (which had taken civilian casualties in Pakistan), and campaigned for girls’ educational rights – all the while juggling her “mundane” responsibilities as a student.

By this point, she had had an onslaught of supporters, and also people who wanted her head. There was this calm before the storm. Malala was on the journey to her house from school, at an afternoon in October 2012, when suddenly, two men stopped the vehicle carrying the students. “Which one is Malala?” they asked. The students couldn’t help the knee-jerk reaction which was to turn their heads to the person mentioned, innocently pointing the two men to Malala. Afterward was chaos. A gunshot rang. Four students were covered in their friend’s blood. Malala was shot in the head.

The effort to rescue Malala’s life began. The world waited with bated breath. Fortunately, it was not a mortal wound. Malala was able to recover after a 4-month stay in England. What would she do afterwards? Would she shrink back in fear? It would be a normal reaction for a teenage girl with her life threatened.

No. Malala did the exact opposite. She refused to self-pity herself and took the way out. She became more active than before. Her shooting was a big stepping stone for her, for instead of returning favour to the Taliban, she became the world’s darling. I bet the Taliban regretted shooting her. The world’s animosity grew toward the group.

“The gun has no power because a gun can only kill, but a pen can give life,” as she was quoted saying. She is now actively promoting her memoir, I Am Malala, and is one of the world’s most influential women. The story of her life has raised deep within me a question: What kind of person do I want to be?

Malala’s life has a meaning – a mission, if you will, until it makes her valuable enough to become a target. I’m not saying that everyone should make themselves a target. That is easily accomplished by being a criminal. I am saying that it is very admirable to have a noble cause, and selflessly fight for it.

I know that a person is usually considered successful once they have a stable job, a family, and a good life. I’m sure some of you would agree to that. I really do admire people around me who have that, including my parents. They had to work years for it.

However, ...

“What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society had intended? What if a child aspired to be something greater?” Quote from the movie Man of Steel.

They were right. When you start to grow up, it isn’t about looks, wealth, or boyfriends/girlfriends. The question most profound in my mind is what kind of person I want to be.

Maybe I’ll take a page out of Malala’s book

She is definitely a true hero.

 

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