Reflection for the Merdeka Day - "Apa dah jadi Wahai Malaysia ku?"

I am attempting this write up in my typical Malaysian way.

While watching some children playing outside of my window it brought back some good old childhood memories as I began to reflect the moment - Sebak mengenang zaman persekolahanku.  I was raised in Tanjung Malim a small town bordering Perak and Selangor….used to claim as Perakian or Selangorian depending on who wins the Malaysia Cup.. ??

Being born in the early 70s, and spending most of my school days in 80s and early 90s, I would consider mine as a privileged generation. Probably, the only generation would have fully lived and experienced the 3 Waves…traditional and modern Agriculture, Industrial Wave and information Technology and now into Industry 4.0. In my early days with parents and siblings we lived at the periphery of a kampung (Kg. Berop), 10 minutes away from Pekan Tg Malim. My best buddy at that time was Atan (real name Osman), we went to the same school, Methodist Tg Malim. Atan was more of a “brother” than a friend to me..we used to cycle to school together accompanied by a packet of MAMEE to crunch every other day. Though he was average academically, Atan excelled in almost every other outdoor activities and he was my guru for football, running, main gasing paku, layang-layang (kites), guli (marble) petai, guli kaca, dam Aji, lastik burung and you can just name it.. I could still remember the days where we used to play gasing at his Opah’s house basement, a typical raised Malay Kampung house. Once a while we sneak out to the famous Sungai Bernam much to the angst of both our parents. And I practically lived in his Opah’s house during Atan’s berkhatan (circumcision) ceremony and for Hari Raya my collection of Duit Raya at the kampung will usually surpasses Atan. Without a single doubt I was treated equally by his Opah, Atuk and all the Makciks and Pakciks of the kampung and never in a second, I felt as an “outsider”. As we grew older our circle of friends expanded with addition of children from other neighbouring kampungs, tamans, and pekan….

Now fast forward 30 years, today, we constantly hear many dividing messages came constantly ringing into our ears from all nooks and corners of the country. The question is, has the relationship built over the period of 60+ years is so weak that it’s getting more fragile......are we still very much Malaysian at the Core and be able to withstand the challenges and test of time which I believe will only get louder, no thanks to the speed of information exchange today. Very recently I attended my children’s school sports day and just before the event begun, we were requested by the event MC to raise to our National Anthem, “Negaraku”. While singing, I tried to “feel” every single line of the National Anthem which I would have probably scrambled through during the school days. I could hear my inner voice gets louder and as it goes and I could connect it to my inner soul and I almost felt tears flowing. It came as an opportunity to put my personal patriotism to test that day.  

Now, let me share an open secret which I am experiencing everyday now.. especially to the young Malaysian to know what we can do and achieve when we are together as one…. Currently working for an International Organization my role includes overseeing execution of large-scale projects across Asia Pacific. And guess what; more than 50 percent of the technical experts and execution team members involved in executing the high-tech projects across Asia are none other than our very own Malaysians from various ethnicity? And these technical experts are very much sought after not just in Asia but across the world. Ask the recruitment experts in case you doubt my facts.

Besides their technical expertise, what makes us so different are the ability to work as one single family while forming good synergy with experts from other countries. For their credit the team have built plants at world class standard across Asia. What made us so special here; is our ability to go above and beyond, our ability to communicate effectively, our ability to connect with ease with other International team, our ability to adapt quickly and deliver and most importantly we produce results. Malaysian offers great “Competitive Advantage”, those are the words from my European and US team leaders currently based in Asia.

Now, if all indicators showing what we Malaysian are capable of when we are together, why in the world we want to choose the path of self-destruction. Our old Malay proverb “Bersatu Teguh, Bercerai Roboh” have said it all. We should just embrace the differences, respect the faith and values of each other’s strength and move forward in every occasion. To move on I believe we should ask the question again are we Malaysian at the Core..… The best time to test is now for the Merdeka Day..

I yearn the return of Atan, Opah, Atuk, Makcik, Pakcik, Aso, Ah Kong, Ah Po, Uncle, Auntie, Anne, Thambi days of the past..

Sayangi Malaysiaku: Malaysia Bersih. Selamat Hari Merdeka

By, Orang kampung..