Yay….I am flying the Jalur Gemilang!

Have you?

The other day when we were passing through the new highway between Grik and Kuala Kangsar, we passed by this little village call Kampung Liman Kati Awan or something like that.  The villagers (Chinese) were on the roadside putting up a row of [tag]Jalur Gemilang[/tag].  One of them waved to us and we waved back.  [tag]Life[/tag] in a small kampung is indeed blissfull.

Along the way from Kelantan to Grik, I saw broken, wooden houses with the sweetest gardens tended with care.  Some of these houses were erected with bricks but the owner probably can’t afford more cement to patch up the bare bricks and of course, there is no fancy ICI or Dulux weathershield.   Yet, there is something homely about life there.  And each houses have their Jalur Gemilang.  Some drapped the flags over their walls, next to their door.  One can’t help but feel the love they have for their country (I said country, not politicians!)
Scenes like these make me feel humbled.  They live with the innocent and blissful love for the land they live on.  However, this can’t be said to us.  We think we are the more privileged.  Yet, we complaint endlessly each day.  If we look at how some of us complain, we may see that we are the miserable lot, aren’t we?

For me, I have absolutely no desire to go out of my way to buy myself a flag.  Several years ago, I did have one glued to my apartment’s grille door.  The recent turn of events have left a bad taste in my mouth.

Some of these are:

1) Little boys, the age of 10-12 years old in small town like Kuala Terengganu are smoking and riding their bicycles, asking my two boys to ‘Balik lah!’ because they are mimicking some of the grown-ups and refused to share the skatepark in Batu Burok with my boys who are tourists, skateboariding there;

2) Youths  wearing UMNO flags, tied to their heads and as capes barged into a hypermarket after the launch of UMNO Youth in Penang (not too  long ago).  Where is the traditional sopan-santun of the youths?  They were adrenalin charged and full of egos, walking without disregards that I was holding the little hand of my toddler, going in the opposite direction.  It is a case of ‘Give way or we have no mercy’.

These are scenes that directly affect me and the future of my children.  I for one has always been proud that I am one of the most muhibbah person with kids brought up with absolutely no discernment for race or religion.  But now, I am not so sure if I can still continue to allow my children to have that kind of innocence that we are all of one race – Bangsa Malaysia.  Because they are now exposed to the cruel fact that the majority don’t see them that way.

The only consolation I have is that I was not one of the millions who chosed things to turn out this way. 😉

In the spirit of [tag]Merdeka[/tag], I am going to fly a Jalur Gemilang anyway.   But only because I have a photo of it.  Only because I was waiting for my dinner and the flag was there for me to play around.  Only because my son was playing with the camera.  Only because I think it is fun to put it on my blog.  Not more than that.  I looked through my past entries last year and compare  to my current enthusiasm.  They are way different.  And I bet the rot will slide  even further next year….if no drastic changes are done to arrest this situation.

8 thoughts on “Yay….I am flying the Jalur Gemilang!

  1. Don’t shoot me for being very frank…..but Merdeka has lost steam several years ago….people now a days don’t really appreciate what Merdeka really means……

    ok, you all can start shooting now.

  2. Yes, those Mat Cemerlangs really leave a bad taste in my mouth…

    Luckily got dessert at the end to leave a sweet taste… your photo flying the flag of course!! LOL

  3. CNP from somewhere :
    “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” – Mark Twain

    Those politkus make me more depress than the previous year. I will never fly a flag unless there is transformation on social politics.

  4. Sad the way things are heading.It seems to me the changing demography has had a drastic impact on the social structure and the govt. has allowed things to slide to pander to the majority with the political clout.I made my choice 20 years back and voted with my feet.I dont regret it I’m sad to say.

  5. Diz> U forgot..England has their own flag…and only be patriotic when football is on.
    I don’t fly the Union Jack..but doesn’t mean I am NOT patriotic.Heck I don’t even kow the lyrics to God Save The Queen.

    Problem is, the sense of patriotism must be instilled within oneself from young..so you will always be patriotics.

    I am a Singaporean who cuss-n-swear at all time(Failed Badly with my Civilian Conversion Course CCC OK?).Yet, an old Army Saying goes like ‘If everyman go running protect their family,eventually they protect their own country,with their own life and limb’.
    That IMHO is more than patriotism. Doesn’t mean if one fly the flag is patriotic too;heck some dishonor the flag.

    Gen McArthur once said, ‘This is our flag, Raise it High for all to see, how high our pride can be,Protect it with our Honour and Dignity’.

  6. It is hard to find a country that meets our expectations. Politicians everywhere kill the dream. Makes ya wanna scream don’t it. America needs another revolution.

    Hope Malaysia does not follow the path of Indonesia and racism become blatant and worse deadly.

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