The year when Merdeka is overshadowed by by-election

I haven’t been around that long but still, long enough to remember what Merdeka means. It means joy, a sense of muhibbah, achievement, freedom, thanksgiving, feelings of warmth and all the good vibes. It means Sudirman’s song and a lot of flag waving that comes from the heart. It means muhibbah songs like that one ‘Demi negara yang tercinta…..’ when Siti Nurhaliza was a gadis sunti and Elaine Kang wasn’t an old hag.

But after 51 years, I don’t think my children feel the same kind of muhibbah-ness like what I experienced as a kid. Don’t be mistaken. My kids are very multi-racial and I am very proud of them and also proud of myself for bringing up real Bangsa Malaysia kids. They can eat, sleep, talk shit with Malays and Indians friends with absolutely no barriers except for remembering their religious restrictions and respecting it.

So, where did we go wrong? Can we entirely blame MIC, MCA, UMNO, Barisan Nasional, DAP, PAS, PKR, Pakatan Rakyat or have we as parents also partly to be blamed? Me thinks we parents are at fault too. How many Chinese parents have verbally and loudly told their kids that Malays are lazy and Indians have kutus? I have heard these with my own ears, a lot of time. And how many Malay parents told their kids that Chinese and Indians are out to claim their land, destroy their faith and gosh, lots more that I do not wish to say. And well, what do Indian parents tell their kids? I don’t know…LOL, ‘cos I don’t speak Tamil so I didn’t overhear.

Now, my dear readers and those blind surfers, don’t start to put words into my mouth that I am being racist or deny that such things do not happen. It does. You may not do it, you may not be aware of it but it is there.

I have been watching and reading, listening and getting the unsaid messages. The intensity of the hatred and suspicions of other races are very worrying, a shame to our country and totally ugly. The Indians are getting frustrated. The Chinese are getting fed up. The Malays are getting paranoid.

Now, everyone think that this can easily be solved with the change of political scene, waiting for a breath of fresh air, new leaders and a new dawn. But friends, things don’t change that easily. The change has to come from each of us.

While I am excited about the outcome of the Permatang Pauh by-election, I am not too sure if it is ever going to bring us closer as Malaysians. The change has to come from us, as I said. We have to embrace Merdeka for the significance it brings and not just blindly hope to wake up to a new dawn on September 16. (you have to know what this date promise or else you are wasting your time in Malaysia). Get real, get working and start loving and accepting each other race, with the warts and all.

Amen.

Hehehe, I didn’t plan to write the above, it just flows from my crappy mind. Cos I am hungwee again as the cilaka Olympic has driven me to eat maggi mee dinner in front of my PC. (no, I cannot cook because I was out since about 10 am ok?)