yes i am aware of the fact that i started writing this blog with barely 15 minutes of Merdeka Day left. ok in this 15 minutes.... reminisce
what do we celebrate? is it that we have an independent nation, no longer under the thumb of colonial powers? (post colonial view here - sorry hahaha i would like to think my English Literature studies could be used somewhere - apologies for unleashing on you guys)
is it that indescribable nature that makes a peninsula (ok and one large-ish island and several small ones) off southeast Asia... so distinctly home? Malaysia was my home for 13 years of my life...
so what is it to me? just that... home. where i was born, where i was raised. I'm as malaysian as i'm human. its something i hold proudly, even though i reside now in Australia.
so what do i celebrate every 31 August? the life my country gave me... i remember the sacrifices made by those in the past... that made my country what it is... and i remember, that looking to the future, its up to us... as citizens wherever we are, to make the country what it will be. Malaysia is not just a country... i've come to realise that as citizens wherever we are, we are the country. the country is the people...
so it is with happiness that every 31 August i celebrate something dear to my heart. my homeland. the place that gave me life (to which hopefully one day i will return). and i pray that i get the chance one day to contribute to what made my country so dear to my heart.
its a simple line, but its true "i am, we are, you are Malaysian"... i urge you guys to remember what that means. and when you find out what it means, that is when you realise the significance of 31st August 1957.
God places us in wherever we were born ... to make a difference. Malaysia isnt without its faults. but who is? like it or not... its home. it was home. now it is not physically home, but its home in my heart anyways...
God bless you all, and i wish you all a happy Merdeka Day... (well the last 6 mins of it neways) =D
The grapevine
4 comments:
i guess the difference in opinions and experiences here simply goes down to how long you spent in the country. at the age of 13, when i left Malaysia, i was probably old enough to gain a sense of what it meant to be Malaysian. i dont want to get into an argument here regarding Eastern vs Western values... all i can say is that... Malaysian lifestyle is different. our mindsets are different. i feel that since ive been here for a while, ive switched to a more ... non-conformist, individualistic (prob not the best word - not all malaysians are conformist, quite a few are individualistic to the point of pure selfishness - then again, westerners arent exactly innocent in this regard are they?) australian mindset. i notice it more when i talk to my parents... and suddenly, though we may arrive at the same conclusions, i realise that our thought patterns (ie reasoning patterns) can differ significantly. i still think alike to my parents in some ways... along 'asian lines of thought' (dont know if it makes sense to you), yet i guess i have an appreciation of how Aussies (westerners) see the world. to be malaysian for me means that i still have those mindsets (for better or worse - we cant always value judge mindsets)... and thus i guess i can see things from different perspectives, and i appreciate having that. Malaysians see things differently from Westerners (apologies for sweeping generalisation here =P) will answer the question in more depth when i have more time WK. have a torts essay due in 4 days. hope this does for the time being. any comments?
The time has come for Singapore to take back what is ours.
All the way to KL!
lol matt... you wouldnt know which way KL was until it hit u in the face... also history has shown that the 'lebensraum' argument... hasnt worked well for those trying to use it.
then again... at least someone reads this blog
Who is this "matt" you speak of and I wouldn't call it a case of liebensraum... more a case of Manifest Destiny.
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