MENDEKA!!! MENDEKA!! MENDEKA!!

Salaam...

Esok merupakan ulangtahun kemerdekaan yang ke-48 for SEMENANJUNG MALAYSIA (I have to be politically correct ok?!). Seperti biasa, malam ni, semua rakyat Malaysia yang menetap di kawasan Lembah Kelang ini, tak kira umur (tp mostly org muda le), tak kira bangsa (mostly orang Melayu laaa), tak kira agama (err... no komen!) akan berkumpul di sekitar bandaraya di mana ada diadakan sambutan menyambut detik 12 tgh malam untuk melaungkan perkataan hikmah 'MERDEKA!' sambil ditemani oleh sinaran cahaya warna warni dari bunga api. (cheeh..!! intro aku kemain lagik!)

Kenapa first line aku highlightkan SEMENANJUNG MALAYSIA tu, or should I say Persekutuan Tanah Melayu? Sebab Sabah dan Sarawak tak merdeka for 48 years lagik, but they just happy to celebrate the holiday! But apa2 pun, yang penting negara kita dah merdeka for 48 years!

What does that mean? To you? To me? To him? To them? Bagi aku, Merdeka adalah hari bercuti dari kerja, kalau it falls on a weekday. Kalau kena pada hujung minggu, maka aku ada sehari lagik cuti extra, meaning to say, a long weekend. Other than that, tgk konsert kat dalam TV, tgk bunga api, dan re-runs of 'Patriotic Movies'. Kibarkan Jalur Gemilang? Errr.. ntah le.. tak berminat. Lagik pun meninggalkan kesan yang tak besh kat kereta. Dan kibar saja2 sambil berjalan2 kat KLCC, level patriotisme aku tak sampai ke tahap tu lagi.

Ada ke semangat patriotisme di kalangan Malaysian generasi alaf baru ni? Hmmm.. entah le.. tak berani aku nak menjawab. How do you gauge their level of patriotisme in the first place anyway? Adakah dengan menyokong parti pemerintah dikatakan patriotik? Adakah dengan membeli barangan buatan Malaysia jugak di anggap patriotik? Adakah menonton filem2 Malaysia dan membantu menaikkan industri hiburan Malaysia dianggap patriotik? Adakah bergado ngan foreigners yang mengutuk bangsa dan negara kita dianggap patriotik? Honestly, I have no idea!

I like to think of fighting ngan foreigners be it physical or workwise as a patriotic act! At least I can lay my hands on these whiteys! he he!! Ada bunyik cam racist tak aku ni? Well, that's the truth! Nothing but the truth! Malaysian are racists! Not an extreme one though, but still is! Check this one out, writings by a friend of mine, named Lat, on Merdeka. Very the true one! How kita although mengaku hidup dalam harmoni dan berbilang kaum, but keharmonian tu tak berapa nak nampak sebenar nye in the real world out there. We tend to mix with our own colors, our own tongues, and our own circles. Never outside! Coz we never feel comfortable about it. I used to have friends of different races before. Not that I am no longer befriended with them anymore, just that geographically we are not in the same location. So right now, I can count how many of my friends are non Malay, non Muslim, not including my colleagues though.

A few nites back, there was a debate on Tanya Linda on Astro Ria, discussing about Merdeka and Patriotisme. The panels were a UiTM student and i dunno who as pencadang or penyokong, while Suhaimi apa ntah (alaaa.. presenter TV tu) and sapa ntah as pembangkang to tak setuju lee! Well.. of course Suhaimi edged everyone out that nite coz he was much more professional in this matter. The two penyokong kept on giving nonsense remarks or points to say that the new generation of Malaysians has the patriotisme spirit in them, and agreeing that there's nothing wrong with celebrating the Merdeka month, although only for a month in a year. Sorta like saying, daripada takde langsung. But the pembangkang nye team plak, tanya, kenapa tak instillkan the spirit sampai bila2? An ongoing progress so that all Malaysians, especially the younger generations will know what does it mean to be a patriotic.

I kinda agree with the later nye points. Semangat tu kureng sikit dikalangan org2 muda sekarang. Heck, even in me! But not to say that aku tak nak turun padang kalau negara perlukan aku. Kalau nak perang besh gak! Bila masa gik nak pegang senapang! Anyways... sebulan dlm bulan kemerdekaan.. susun buah kelapa buat jalur gemilang.. kembara jalur gemilang.. konsert sana sini.. in the name of kemerdekaan.. kibarkan jalur gemilang.. GREAT CAMPAIGN.. but efektif ke? Apakah kesannye kat rakyat Malaysia? Dapat tgk konsert free and balik sampai kol 2 pagi tanpa kena marah? Sampah merata2 sebab bendera2 or Jalur Gemilang tertanggal dari kereta and malas nak kutip balik? Or just another resting day for those who were hard at work?

Kemerdekaan should mean something, whatever it is! I am still searching for it, not that hard though, but just enuff! To end, I would like to say these :

Mana dia bangsa yang boleh bersaing dengan bangsa2 lain di dunia ini yang sering dilaung2kan oleh ahli2 politik semua bila PM sendiri sanggup menyerahkan pentadbiran MAS, a national carrier, to a foreigner? Takde Malaysian yang berkemampuan ke setelah 48 tahun merdeka? (please don't give me all those excuses! I read the Sun this morning!!)

Mana dia kereta nasional yang bley kita nak banggakan di mata dunia setelah more than 20 years in operation? Tolak ke tepi GTi ngan Perdana, yang obviously bukan nye di bawah kemampuan most rakyat Malaysia anyway, what is there to offer?

Sampai bila taraf hidup rakyat kebanyakan nak dinaikkan di kala prices of stuff around us keep on hiking?! Cakap ekonomi dah kukuh, tapi pesal gaji tak pernah nak naik2 except for gaji2 menteris?!

Aku baru tau hari ni, kete proton tu, dia nye test driver adalah Tun Mahathir! Now it answers all the questions that I have on Proton cars! *sigh*