Talking about my country
I was a bit reluctant to write about the national day spirit, not because I don’t love the country, but I felt that it might just sound tacky and mocking….considering what I feel about the state the country is in today. What I am really trying to get at is why say nice, politically- correct stuff when deep down you actually think things are going to the dogs.
Things gone wrong
Seriously, what else can you say about the situation when you cannot walk outside along the roadside, in your own neighborhood for leisure or to perform chores or to go to work without fearing for your safety. The crime rate has escalated tremendously; news reports say all the time…I don’t have the figures right now, but what is really being done by our authorities to protect our safety? I had a conversation with one senior police officer whom I was sitting next to at a dinner recently and he proudly declared that “Malaysia’s Rate of Crime Solving is one of the highest in the world”. I nearly fell off my chair. Really? How come we still read about major offences against innocent citizens, atrocious crimes on children, and blatant law -breaking go unpunished because the police cannot find evidence, or had botched up the process of investigation in the first place or someone else agreed to be made a scapegoat in high level cases. Apart from some seizure related to drug crimes, I have yet to hear a serious crime being solved successfully. To protect ourselves, we have just signed up for a “Neighborhood Watch” program which would be providing security services for a fee. And our taxes still remain just as high.
What else can go wrong
While I am on the roll, I want to share about the state of filth in the streets of KL and PJ. There has been many a time when my family and I are walking along the sidewalk in front of shop houses; and to our horror, we see rats, the size of small cats scuttling from garbage cans to drains. Imagine the diseases which are going around. We spend millions trying to find vaccines when we should be focusing on cleaning up.
What means to me most
Why am I bitching so much when I am supposed to talk about what MERDEKA means to me? I love this country. I remember returning from oversea trips, not that I travel that much, but when I am on the flight back, especially on MAS, when I hear familiar voices and phrases, it made me feel so wonderful and warm inside - a sense of belonging, like a humming rhythmic in my soul. I love the places I visited, be it Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, India, Hong Kong, Europe or US – I met wonderful people everywhere and was mostly awed by some of the things I saw, but after a certain period, I longed for home, not just because of the loved ones left behind. I just miss the place, the greenery – whatever that’s left, the beautiful people, the crazy pace of life, the noise, the food of course and the smell - haze and all.
I love my country
Most contemporaries agree with me. Whatever it is, there is something about Malaysia, which gets to you and creates that sense of belonging, loyalty, and devotion. And if I love it so much, I should be able to take it warts and all right? And this MERDEKA, my resolution is to make it my mission to contribute towards improving whatever is wrong with my nation in every possible way I can. That’s my pledge. I will start right away…
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