happy 50th love.
I've been a Malaysian for as long as i can remember. obviously. a typical Malaysian teenager, if i may. what i mean by a typical Malaysian teenager is a Malaysian citizen, aged 13-19, who doesn't give two hoots bout singing the National anthem properly, reciting the Rukun Negara and not forgetting, complaining about our nation's exam-oriented education system, while enjoying a nice cup of teh tarik or teh o' ais limau, whichever you prefer, and watching the EPL on a big plasma screen. yes. typical.
as most of us have already noticed, there has been an overwhelming amount of articles about the struggle towards independence, national unity, la dee da. not to mention the countless people interviewed about our founding father, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman and his oh-so-very-kind soul.
all these articles which have seemingly appeared out of nowhere give a very pathethic impression of the state of the patriotism of the citizens of Malaysia. seriously. we mostly ignore the journey towards independence lest for some small articles throughout the year but come August, everyone suddenly decides to fly the Jalur Gemilang besides showing off the height and the size of their flag which they most probably think shows everyone their immense pride and patriotism. but behind closed doors, they insult our nation's leaders, the education system, the government, the amount of tax they pay and i bet they even insult the way the mamak down the road toss their roti canai. i mean i'm not trying to be sceptical and scrutinse their efforts at trying to be patriotic but c'mon. the Jalur Gemilang only goes up for 3 weeks and by the 3rd of September, you see them taking it down again. where's the sense in that?
but despite all my sceptism, un-patriotic-ism, and whatever other -isms there are, i LOVE Malaysia. i sincerely do. i don't fly a Jalur Gemilang outside my house. I recite the rukun negara reluctantly during morning assembly. I complain endlessly about our exam-orientated syllabus. but in the end, i feel an immense amount of pride, joy and love for our country. think about it. as citizens of a South-east Asian country, comparatively we are very very blessed. we're allowed to consume chewing gum without looking over our shoulders. we don't need to travel to any of our neighbouring countries to work as a labourers. we don't have militants who try to overthrow our government while our Prime Minister is not around. i mean honestly. we hardly have to worry about racial riots. we always have enough to eat. we have the freedom of speech however restricted it may be. as teenagers, our only worries are exams and friends and the whole lot. teenagers in places like Iraq worry about when the next bomb might land on their house and teens in Africa have to tread carefully each time they walk so as not to step on a landmine.
perhaps we have overlooked all the good this land has given us. perhaps we have taken for granted the toils our ancestors had to go through just so you and i can have a cup of teh tarik peacefully. maybe that's why we need those articles about the people of Malaya's struggle for independence. We need to be reminded of their passion, their sorrow, their joy, their faith and ultimately their hope. We need to revisit the times when racism was just a word as everyone joined hands and worked towards a common goal. Tunku the Musical, which is currently playing at KLPAC, ended with a song about how someday we will all be colour blind. somepeople scoffed at the idea of us becoming colour blind. they believe that we will never be colour blind. but i think we're heading in that direction though. seriously. take a look around and you'll see mixed marriages. Chinese with Indians. Indians with Malays. Malays with Chinese. i am a product of these relationships. which means that my mother and father are colour blind. so i pray that that someday will arrive soon. and even if it takes another lifetime for that someday to come, let's remember our ancestor's struggles and not lose hope aye?
a very very blessed Merdeka everyone. here's to another 50 years of peace and prosperity. btw, tune in to hitz.fm. there's a song which is in Malay, Cantonese and Tamil. pretty muhibbah if you ask me! ;)
Soundtrack:- Sudirman - Tanggal 31
Becky
"ngo weng yuin tou hai ma lai si ah tong yan"