To my friend from Indonesia:
Merdeka!Merdeka! Merdeka! Nyaring suara dilantarkan di stadium merdeka KL 49 tahun lalu. Penjajahan yang kejam telah berlalu,bagaikan cerah selepas ribut taufan! Namun begitu, 49 tahun kemerdekaan, tiada perubahan yang obviously dari segi isi hati. Masalah2 yang menimbul kian menjelajah, sehingga menteri lupa memesan rakyat mengibar jalur gemilang pada bulan kemerdekaan tahun ini. Sistem pendidikan yang berbentuk suap-makan, mana datangnya tunggak negara akan datang. Yang dipupuk hanya pentingkan diri, sehingga lupa identiti sendiri serta tanggungjawab kepada masyarakat. Itulah serba sedikit perasaan ku dalam harijadi tanahairku. Betapa riang percuk api di langit KLCC, betapa banyaknya jalur gemilang di hadapan bangunan; hati kemerdekaan tetap sama, tetap pedam dalam hati.
5 comments:
你好
hey, u should translate you blog la...
谢谢
Yeah, today Malaysians celebrate the 49th anniversary of Merdeka (independence). Thank you, Tunku, and also thank you to all the leaders in the early years for uniting the Malayan people (at that time). Although i would have personally preferred Dato Onn Jaafar to be the first Malaysian Prime Minister. He was definitely a man ahead of his time, and how far ahead is his thinking, we are still counting the years. Can the same be said about his grandson?
I used to enjoy Merdeka celebrations very much during the school-going years. Which kids will not get excited whenever there's a public holiday...haha. I feel very lucky being a Malaysian...the list can be very long, just go looking at what Pinkpau had listed.
But do i still feel the same for my country now? Yes i do. The only thing i resent most is the political leaders these days who no longer care so much for its people. Many are willing to struggle for personal gains and political mileage, like what Machiavellian described in his book "The Prince" - the ends justify the means, long long time ago.
Malaysia's racial politics is nothing new. The most recent one was done by a budding politician. But for this to happen after so many years of independence makes one wonder if it is worth celebrating Merdeka Day. Although i am not into politics, reading on what Uncle Kit has to say makes me wonder if i am really welcomed here, the place i called home. The deja vu of creepy feelings intensified whenever i see friends posting racial articles at Friendster or Yahoo!Groups bulletin board.
Not only that, i also feel that the Constitution is slowly being challenged. The founding principle of this country, a secular state, is slowly dying. I used to wonder why my parents tend to feel uncomfortable with certain rules imposed in schools, which i am ok with it. Strangely enough, i begin to get quite uncomfortable with many new policies taking place these days. Reading Dr. Farish Noor articles, archived at Brand New Malaysian somehow enlightened my understanding on some of the current issues, but still it has not able to alleviate the fears i have.
At time like this, will the newly introduced "Ethnics Relations Course" help to bridge the differences we have? Tony Pua and Kian Ming (Education in Malaysia) have their says at here, here and here. Also read on what SK Thew has to say. Or perhaps on the independence day, we should learn from (a veteran) M. Bakri Musa piece of thought.
Happy Merdeka Day!
If I do not recall wrongly, Aug 31 1957 was celebrated at Malacca stadium. For the first time Union Jack was brought down and replaced by Malaysian flag. Not to forget the "classic" of Tunku shouting "Merdeka" for seven times (unlike Nazri Aziz shouted "racist" >40x in Parliament). See the stark contrast in less than 50 years post independence
Thanks for the reminder! I'm grateful to receive ur comment on my 3rd post in this blogging world, which is i'm lazy to do so. We still have to face to real history, where this will help us in making any decisions for the time being. I'm not border wat ppl said, wat i believe is wat i determine use my sense. The most important things is: Open discussion is the best way to find the integrity, friendship and harmony.(maybe u might think i'm too childish, but is true.) So pls feel free to drop me ur opinions and email so that v cn have a better platform for discussion. Nice to hear from u.
A must read report by all Malaysians
http://www.cpps.org.my/
More comments can be found at Screenshots (http://www.jeffooi.com/)
Please circulate to all your friends
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