Well I recently ran a campaign on my radio and ask the people two questions and they can pick any question given to answer. I told them, answer what your heart tells you. The question was:
"What does it mean to be a Malaysian?"
or
"What makes your proud to be a Malaysian?"
Simple question. Right? Most of the people I asked, thought for a while. Most of the people gave me answers that is very similar. On the average people tend to say the generic things such as "We live together in harmony despite with different races and religion, we love the food, we live in a peaceful country..." and more along this line. But deep inside I knew that they wanted to say more, I knew that they wanted to speak up more but they held back or just not interested.
Well, because I am doing the show, of course I cant participate la. Later people say I am just blowing my own horn or a propaganda machine. But truly, if I were able to ask this question to myself, this is what I would say:
"What does it mean to be a Malaysian? simple. Being a Malaysian is all about being a Malaysian. What does that mean? it may be just one line but what lies behind it, runs deep.
Being a Malaysian is not just waving the flag and screaming the top of your lung saying "AKU ANAK MALAYSIA!!!". Being a Malaysian is when
1. You are able speak or understand the national language. You go to a foreign land and you want to speak in your secret code language and that is your Bahasa Malaysia. Even if it is a broken one like "ini maciam, itu maciam" you still speak it. When you do something wrong you say "Alamak". When you agree its ok to say "OK-lah". When you want to know whether the work can be done you ask "can or not?" and the list goes on.
2. Your best friends are not the same race as you, but yet you enjoy laughing and talking to them and best of all going for a drink with them. Why? because in Malaysia, friendship doesnt comes in any color.
3. Your love for local food and you gets into a semi depression after weeks and months without a dose of local food. The roti canais, the nasi lemaks, the curry mee, the char koay teow, the chee cheong fun (with chilli), the banana leaf, the KFCs (yes there is no KFC like M'sia's KFC), the sambal belacan, the bak kut teh and the list goes on...
4. You complain about everything about the country but gets angry and try to defend the country when a foreigner say bad things about the country (accept about our politics la! that one you will join the bandwagon).
5. People around you will respond if you call each other "Machaaa" or "brooo" or "dik" or "tai louuu" or the plain and simple "Oi". Elders will respond if you call them "Uncle" or "Aunty". Going to restaurant you have that urge to call the waiter "boss", "macha", "Leng lui", "leng chai", "taukeh" or the basic "*squeeeeaaak*". When asking for the bill we show the signing a paper gesture and a nod.
Thats just a small portion on what does being a Malaysian means to me. And again like I said, "Being a Malaysian is all about being a Malaysian". We were born and bred here and the meaning of a Malaysian is just living as one!
Now... for the second question "What makes you proud to be a Malaysian?"
There are several moments for me that makes me so so so so proud to be a Malaysian. I am already a proud Malaysian but these moments are the one that skyrocketed my proudness to the air!
1. When I went to the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil for the AFF Suzuki Cup final against Indonesia, the moment when everyone almost 90,000 people stand up together side by side in unity proudly singing the National Anthem "Negaraku". This is what our country should be built upon. Together we are united supporting our nation whether it is in sports or in other things. This is what it should be!
2. I was so proud to be a Malaysian when the Petronas Twin Tower is featured as the world tallest building in documentaries. I was lying down at the KLCC park for 4-5 hours admiring the building with my cousin.
3. When Malaysia won the Thomas Cup back in 1992! I was down in tears even though I was just a kid then. I was so happy infront of the TV with my dad.
4. I was at Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil when our Rhythmic Gymnastic Team won the first ever gold medal in that category in the 98' Commonwealth Games. The moment the Jalur Gemilang was up there and the Negaraku was playing I was extremely proud to be a Malaysian.
5. Looking at how Malaysians stood behind our very own Lee Chong Wei and Pandalela Rinong during the olympics and cheer when they won their respective medal.
I usually ask others who are complaining, what is there not to be proud of your own nation? Somehow, it is our home, our nation.
All in all we all should be proud to be a Malaysian and we should stand and be counted as a Malaysian! (if you know what I mean!)
MALAYSIA GEMILANG!!!
Comments
After reading your post, I wanted to share this with you:
http://ninotazizpurplemusings.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-merdeka-thoughts.html
Yesterday, I was invited to talk about Hikayat to the Master of Architecture students at UiTM. I spent three hours, it was tiring for me but invigorating.
I agree, it is so important to live the life of a Malaysian - our food, our friendships, our cultures. Our histories, and more importantly, we are sharing our future. Together.
I watched Rhythm in Bronze over the weekend - now that's Malaysian. That's true unity. That's magical.
I was a rhythmic gymnast before Jun Sern - so I know that feeling back in 1998.
You take care.