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Thursday, May 16, 2013

MY beloved Malaysia, Merdeka, Elections and Marching On

Go forth filled with glorious pride Malaysia!

Post Merdeka certainly isn't what it is supposed to be nowadays with so many issues related to racism; otherwise why would there be an endless count of pro-unity advertisements in the media and being exposed to all these ads makes me start to wonder if racial harmony is really at stake.

When I was young (way way back in school), skin color was never an issue. We all mixed well socially and never thought of others as Malay, Chinese, Indian, Punjabi, Eurasian or English. Yes, there was a chap named Mark in school back then and he was from good ol' England. So why should there be an issue since then? I mean, people back then around my age should be the same people now who are now 'perceived' racist right? I really don't know...and we cannot go round asking others if they are racist, except of course we can judge by their actions to know.

Nazism stresses and believes in the superiority of one race over others. After a war and Adolf Hitler, there are still self proclaimed Nazis in this world. But, Malaysians are generally a peace loving lot. It's "in our blood" and culture. We are not Nazis and neither are we some form of the Ku Klux Clan. Racism and all it's extremities has no place in the modern world and certainly never in Malaysia.

What I do know is that racism should never arise as we Malaysians are Satu Malaysia, Satu Bangsa!

Harmony is not forged of tolerance; rather it comes from the mutual understanding and acceptance of one another. Yet, most of the earlier mentioned ads carry the Tolerance message.

Is the Merdeka model now dead? Hah! There is no straight answer because we Malaysians are so diverse. I may be a post Merdeka (way post, read all I could from proper History textbooks) but I think and still believe in Merdeka - it's history, significance and appreciation is a single component that bonds and binds us together...

The 13th General Elections also brought on another side of politicians that we have never seen or heard of -- they who lost started lamenting that the very people they 'helped' had voted for another. Just goes to say that these persons are politicians first before anything. And is it not true that this voting process allows us - a Malaysia citizen to have our say in choosing those whom we believe are capable to be the people's representative in the Parliament, Government and country? Instead of complaining, any proper bona-fide community service provider would have continued doing what they do best, that is to serve the people without falter -- actions do speak louder than words.

I learned long ago that national harmony can be a success only when we know why we are doing it, are clear about what we want to achieve (not Apa Lagi Cina Mahu nonsense) and set ambitious but realistic targets AND expectations. There must not be any trial and error and taking the 'we'll find out as we come upon it' attitude too. There will be a million people who will tell us a million ways why we failed to be Satu Malaysia Satu Bangsa BUT this country has way more than a million people. Right?

So if you are Malaysian and reading this - believe in unity and never back off!
 

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