My Neighbours: What Do You Want From Us? The Behaviour of My Neighbours

By Hatem Dhieu Dau, Melbourne, Australia

Introduction

Monday, 25 November 2019 (PW) — 21st Century has expanded the requisite networks of Human relations. Like anybody of our Age and generations, I have got friends almost everywhere; my friends come both from on land and from virtual worlds. It is both of these worlds that constitute my Neighbourhood. Thus, to all My  friends, I want to announce to you that: I am going through tough times, a difficulty in my understanding of my neighbours, more especially, the behaviours or the attitudes displayed towards me by the inhabitants—of a place—that both, or all of us, can comfortably call our home; it is home–both to me and to my neighbours. My neighbours form my neighbourhood.

I am also my Neighbours’ neighbourhood. I am also their neighbour in the same or similar way that they’re my neighbours. We’re a people of one neighbourhood and should work for our betterment, our greatness, and the prosperity of our neighbourhood. What then could the neighbourhood not being our home—me with my Neighbours?  These’re tough times, of difficulty in relations, also stupidity in human’s relations. Otherwise, I have and continue to observe a deterioration of our neighbourhood, our way of life, and a decline in our progress and prosperity. Until today, this observation remains relevant and in touch with contexts regarding the idea of good neighbourhood and everlasting good neighbourliness that we all, since immemorial, have in mind.

I believe that this is doable, not an impossibility. want to tell you that I am perplexed, appalled, and dishearten by the new, aimless hostility towards each other, the unfriendliness and moral bankruptcy shown to all of us by the newly-adopted form of our neighbourhood. Whatever an individual perspective or states of affairs might be, different or the same with the notion of neighbourhood one finds in or the neighbourhood or the understanding shaping both your social and physical neighbourhood, I don’t care. I am disappointed and talking to all of you—about the elegant, meaningful neighbourhood.

A good neighbourhood, in my view is nothing short of the one big enough to contain all of us, and as such, should rest on togetherness, promotes our greatness, the interconnectivity, the social intercourse, and the idea of good neighbourliness, all, bounded and punctuated by good human relations and the relationships of all sorts that it brings without any exception to all. The spirit, however, has changed. It is not the same as it used to be. For this reason I disagree with all my neighbours and reject their version of neighbourhood.

My neighbours, for example, barely see no greatness or willing to add value to our past greatness. I am your neighbour. You should know that. The outsiders make no neighbourhood with you are not your neighbours. We did not meet here, not in yesteryears, merely by accidents, how much we have lost to accidents that we would be losing, also, to these accidents, the very accidents: that are currently in demands of our neighbourhood. Bad neighbourhood makes no good homes: or promotes good to both neighbours and neighbours of this neighbourhood.

The habit of  throwing a bag full of blames at your neighbours, blaming much onto all your neighbours’ wrongs would bring the same to you and you should expect this—you or your together with your neighbours. Seriously, but specifically on this:  I don’t know how my neighbours’ world works. What do you want from us, my neighbours? The neighbourhood and all good that comes with this neighbourhood lays with each of us: promoting the good, the acceptable, in our neighbourhood; what would you make when we humbly say to you: good morning, good afternoon or good evening to you?

To show togetherness–unfriendlier living, as reflected by your behaviour, the attitudes you display towards us, your neighbours, you call us: The “selfish” or continue to characterize us as “mean” and/or outright extension of dumpiness. We’re not dumb, you should know that. You should know, also, that we do not represent the characterization you have made, or worth your ignorance and selfishness you have thus far shown to us.

We’re bigger, very big, than your exasperated strength, the biggerness you have claimed and demonstrated in our good neighbourhood. You’re a wrecker. Otherwise, how would you feel: When, on your everyday, you encounter an attack directed towards you or us—your fearsome neighbours, or an attack from the next door (from the opposite block)?

If you have all the freedom and the willingness to respond to this, would you then send your little ones, your dearest sons and daughters, or in this regards,  the “self-proclaim brave sons” and daughters of our neighbourhood for the destruction or building of our good neighbourhood? Clearly—such a response would put y you or your neighbourhood in troubles. Because both the behaviour and the response you have or continue to adopt do not reflect that of the brave, of intelligent and good neighbour, moreover, as you have claimed to the weak and coward neighbours.

Instead, they are bankrupt and as such add no value to the intentions of our neighbourhood, our homelands.  The fight, any fight, good-deadly fight, and all fights, go on to take hours and cost lives to rote. No one or any civilization can volarize fights. They should know what to loose. Fights can also take place between groups, and characterized by: throwing punches, big stones, the purpose would be to: hitting each other back with sticks or exchange foreign-made machine guns onto ourselves.

Eventually, we would clear our front-yards through fights, settle our arguments through fights. I thought of this as not happening to our good neighbourhood. But your little itchy tongues: spilt over between your inferiority complexes and willingness to embrace militancy in place of all of our domicile can be compared only with madness in the neighbourhood.

On Exchange with Cowards

For half a decade, as I have observed, through your behaviour, referring to your neighbours that  they individually or in collective represent no neighbours but cowards is disingenuous;  and that your “ little sons did it…The Victory” as you have claimed. Neither the assailants nor any thieves in our good neighbourhood should not be accepted; and whether an attacker, sends to us by you, and whom we have fought past our door and faced you, through and in all of this, we didn’t let you down by sending little sons, we (all of us) went into the fight. But you denied our involvement, accusing us of spying on you or having been engaged in “betrayal” of you.

If you deny having spied g on us, why then, did these attackers have to run towards and pass your door? I do not see any requisite for honesty in the wars anyways. I believe that wars are waste, waste of material, lives, and time, and should not be started by those who would not sustain them. Was the incidence not a war against us, then? Should you from us—your neighbours; we have said or told you that we did not spy on you , that we were together in a fight with you — in defend of territory , a goodness of neighbourhood. Our strength and all the victory it brings would always result in our common good: “co-existence”.

Do not refuse our answers. Else, you can continue your belligerent behaviour; extend your accusations and re-branding of us; call us your “attackers” or war agents within the neighbourhood. When we were at peace with other blocks, you caused instability across the blocks. Throughout the neighbourhood, you have been known for your hostile notoriety. You had conflicts with the Darians block, we were not there, also fought the Murblian block and dismantled the unity of all the blocks, again, we were not there.

But you blame us for all much mess that you have thus created. You continue to meet your bravery, while we, on the other hand, have continued in search for our good neighbourhood, greatest happiness, humbly ignore the insults you hurled at us. Neighbourhood cannot be frontlines or battlegrounds for mere, aimless fights.  

Wars Make No Heroes

Heroes and heroines are born to mothers and fathers. They’re not found in wars or in frontlines. Heroes and heroines stand for: healthy, peaceful, and good neighbourhood. You called us “dump” we would accept if this would make peaceful version of us to you. You called us “crazy” because of brilliant ideas we have got: preaching togetherness and co-existence throughout all blocks. When we were silent, you say we were anti-peace; or are contemplating an attack on you. No sir. You’re an extension of warmongers in the neighbourhood. 

When we intervene in matters of our “Collective-gathering”, you say that we were brainwashed by the attackers or by others; and that you and us would be conflicts very soon with you. True anti-peace manifest their anger through distortions of truths and facts. You have shown all your hatred to kindness and to peaceful version of us so much. Aren’t you living in confusion with yourself, in contradiction with reality, replacing truths with your ugly lies, facts with fictions.

The Conclusion

Our intentions are clear. We want to build a healthy neighbourhood and promote good neighbourliness. Would you join us? If not why? Don’t you like healthy neighbourhood for healthy communities?  Anything short of this is selfishness, idiocy, and above all, an act of cowardice in itself. We have had heroes and heroines. You know that; and we’re not afraid of any intimidation or afraid of the death itself.  We’re bigger than the death you have in minds.

We are asking you work together in building relationship across the blocks than putting everyone’s problems on us, treating it as if , it is “you and I”, the neighbours’ problems. We need good and positive neighbourhood, why are you in opposite?  Calling us, a crazy, a coward and naive, a spy and so on, just because of brilliant ideas, humbleness and “we” society or “togetherness” traits, we preached across the blocks.

When our young ones, shout loud and writes those ideas asserting: we love peace and togetherness, healthy neighbourhood; just a “we” society and not an “I-society”, you say they were insulting, defaming your integrity, and labelled them as: a “bad neighbours”. But why, you still don’t understand a peaceful version of us. Substituting togetherness and healthy neighbourhood–where all live and work: in peace as one community cannot should come through your infinite blames onto your neighbour(s).

This behaviour reflects no strength, or one’s willingness to cooperate with necessary parties for the betterment or good of our neighbourhood. All you have shown to us, my neighbours, represents: A change from “something” to “nothingness”.  Is just a pure traits of idiocy one would never wish to have come from within same neighbourhood or from next door?

Atemthi D. Dau is a Chemist and Public Health Researcher at Flinders University, Australia. He holds bachelor degree in Science (Majoring in Analytical and Environmental Chemistry) and Master degree in Project Management (healthcare services  and project management) from Victoria University; and a master degree in public health from University of Newcastle Australia. His academic work has been published in prestigious international journals. He can be reached via atemddau@gmail.com

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