Ho ho ho… It’s Malaysia’s ‘Birthday’ and the celebration seems to be full of fish bones in the flesh.
Politically, Malaysia is going through a drastic turn of events. The ruling party is wondering, what’s next from the Opposition party. Will Anwar’s plan materialize come mid Sept 08? The Permatang Pauh by-election event hinted that the ruling party has run out of bullets and are just shouting ‘Bang! Bang! Bang!’. The voters know too, by giving the Opposition a higher vote count. The ruling party couldn’t make any more promises like better roads, better wet market, better housing, etc., because the rakyat knows that all that would end up as just that- promises. And BN decided to play up the Anwar alledged scandal. Personally, I thought that that was a backfire move; throw in sensational issue to get vote? Oh please, the rakyat is not so dumb to simply believe what’s sensational. I wonder, the nation is to go through election again today, will the Opposition really take over the government? I didn’t vote during the last general election, but if one to be called now, I would go back and cast my vote. I know who I’m voting for.
Economically, it’s bad. The rakyat knows, that the world is going through a rough economic road, but it i dampened in Malaysia simply because of the black gold- the domestic price is not affected by the international rising price. But once the government denied that of the rakyat, what other reason to vote the ruling party back in? Funds to most if not all sectors from education to healthcare to business sector, most if not all are mishandled. The rakyat knows it, because we are the end user. Education is not up to standard (don’t you remember, our beloved UM has drop out of top 200 recently… well, at least we are in top 500 ranking…). Road repairworks are terrible ( don’t you remember, it takes a member of rakyat to repair pothole in JB to get a spark of nationwide attention) And how many times have we heard of shabby works, even the parliament building is not spared… The rakyat are questioning, the ruling party has been in power for so long, but the general public is not getting any better. Things are getting more expensive. We are expected to cycle to work and use only one lightbulb per household. That’s not a sign of progress at all. Somethng is very wrong. The country does not have enough fund to make the country a better place to live in compared to last year, or last 2 years, or last 10 years? then what the hell are we working for and paying taxes?
Socially, we are no where. From the time we are ‘independent’, the racial line has always been there, and redrawn, and demarcated. There is a quota system in place, be it in education, in the government sector, in the army force, even in the private sector. Though it is not as apparent as confining seating arrangement in coffeeshops, it is glaring enough, and the rakyat knows it. Who put in place all those restriction? Why are we still using the term bumiputera and non-bumiputera? Why do we need to indicate our race when we fill forms? Are we less Malaysian if we are Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, whatever? Of course we are, for we are ‘trained’ to believe so. I’m ok if we are not unified to have a bangsa Malaysia, for I am readily accepting diversity. But to define my nationality and my rights based on race, that’s unfair and downright racism. I’m born a Malaysian, I am Malaysian. And yet, we are always told, we are living in harmony and we are together. And yet, come election, we have political parties based on race, we heard speeches with racial tone, we hear serious racial remarks made by high level people.
So, what is there to celebrate this Merdeka day, when even the real age is debatable? I still choose to celebrate, not Malaysia, not the ‘racial harmony’ with all those ‘racial dances and performances’, not Malaysia’s tangible progress; I’m celebrating us ‘rakyat’. We have seen how Malaysia is shaped, and it’s out-of-shape now. I’ve seen how we’ve learnt about each other of different races, religion and background, and we are still learning. I’ve seen how we have matured from the time we have freed ourselves from the British, and now back to being ruled, and we are realizing our choice. And I’m celebrating exactly that- the rakyat’s choice. We choose, and we have the right to choose, for ourselves and loved ones, for freedom, for better living for everyone who shares this dream.
Happy Birthday Malaysian…
