Merdeka (Independence Day) is almost here. It's weird but you won't see me waving flags or shouting "Merdeka !" at the top of my lungs. Its not that I am not patriotic nor that I don't give a damn about it .. I am saddened by the state of this country. With every daily newspaper I see the country backsliding slowly into something alien and troubling. I fear that the Malaysia that I know is slowly dissapearing.
Just 5-10 years ago we could see the palpable racial harmony. People smiled to each other and were very understading. Today however , we have Khairy Jamalludin pointing his finger at the Chinese community of Malaysia and making them into the bogeyman. It's probably just a political stunt to draw attention from his ECM-Libra scandal true but the reaction from the people at UMNO is heartbreakingly nonchalant, at the most apathy. Instead of asking him to apologize they actually ask the Chinese community to shut their yap and forget that he said that. Wow , what superb racial harmony. I am sure that if a Chinese politician said the same thing about Malays (about how they are "plotting" behind our back ) the entire Malay community and UMNO will go straight for his/her throat.
I go to my lab to hang out and hear the ladies there constantly making racist remarks like " Chinese don't bathe in the morning" or "They don't wash , only use tissue paper .. euwww" (God knows what they talk about Indians when I am not around). That is the racial harmony that I have to endure every day. I am constantly bombarded with this "It's us or them mentality". When I was studying in UKM , I had lots of Chinese and Malay friends. One of my best friend , the one that I contstanly hang out with is a Chinese. Whenever I met up with my Indian seniors they will advise me on how my Chinese friends will abandon me when I get into trouble and only the Indian community will stick with me and because of that I should keep more to my race. I was actually ostracized by most of the Indian community in UKM because of that. (Of course there were lots of nicer Indian seniours and coursemates who were cool with me so it wasn't that bad .. at least I got to know who my real friends were).
Is it any surprise that I can't bring myself to wave the flag and shout happily and celebrate a free and united Malaysia ?
Here are some blog posts of note that helps paint the depressing picture of our country's "unity" and other stuff :
http://blog.limkitsiang.com/?p=671#more-671
http://rockybru.blogspot.com/2006/08/joget-pantai-irama.html
http://www.bakrimusa.com/archives/spare-me-the-pak-and-tok
http://www.aisehman.org/archives/2006/08/more_trouble.html
http://www.aisehman.org/archives/2006/08/pissed.html |
At 5:03 PM,
Sigh. This just increases my need for Merdeka Madness 31.08.06
Well what you see today has and always will be the inevitable result of racial politics. It just didn't matter so much because the economy was pretty decent before.
Mind you a good economi here is one where the Umnoputras (the now common slang term for dudes that get rich based on political affiliation rather than ability) get as much as they want and there's still decent sized scraps for the masses.
Now the scraps are almost non-existent with high prices, stagnant wages and rapidly increasing unemployment, compounded by a truly horrendous education system.
Next comes the finger pointing. Race based political parties will no doubt have to point at someone other than themselves, which will inevitably be the members of another race.
Its quite sad though, K-boy (in the vein of Mr. Britney Spears "K-Fed) is Oxford educated. I guess no amount of education can cure a skewed mind.
I think its about time most of you developed a contingency plan for when things get bad. It might not of course, if the economy improves rapidly, but that probably won't happen given todays circumstances worldwide.
You think I'm being dramatic. Wait till this years 60,000 local grads can't get employment, next years 70,000, what about the year after that?
Good news is I plan to be long gone by the time this place tanks.
I don't cheer for Merdeka because I don't give a crap. Think may be my country, but it doesn't stand for what I stand for. It doesn't treat me equally with all other citizens. Plus I'd honestly prefer British rule, at least the university students had some semblance of character day in the day.
Gimme second class treatment in the first world anytime over third class treatment in the third world.