What does Merdeka means to you

What does 'Merdeka' means to you? 

For me, it has been many. Sure as cliche as it may be, my Merdeka means being freed from foreign rule since 31st August 1957. To be able to wake up & live each day without the fear of guns/bombs is another. 

In my early 20s, my Merdeka means to be able to enjoy free concert on the eve of Merdeka & just loitering around KL till wee hours thinking that is the coolest thing to do (of course that my 'party life' didn't last long...my mom was a fierce mama bear at home).

Then 2004 on the eve of Merdeka, I left my motherland for the first time in my entire life. I could recall in the plane, looking down I felt a teeny lump in my throat, it was an unaccustomed feeling. Was I being patriotic? I looked at the Jalur Gemilang my friends gave me when leaving the airport as a parting memorabilia - they signed & scribbled some well-wishes on it. The next 8 months of my life as an alien (gaijin) that flag kept me company, especially in my time of solitude & feeling terribly homesick sitting at the working table, the flag was next to pictures of all my loved ones, I'd feel that lump in my throat again. This time, that lump and I are tomodachi (friends). 

And in between the years of finding self & adulthood, that patriotism slowly diminishes and before long it's just a distant feeling. Looking at the national flag, it is what it is - flag. Now, where's that lump that used to choke me whenever this nationalistic imagery come into contact with me?

Fast-forward, in my 30s, I found that lump again. My 'merdeka' lump and I reunited after 10 years since its debut in 2004. Now, with two kids, my first born was the one responsible to strike some independence day sense in me. 

Her pure request of getting some mini Jalur Gemilang was denied initially until I gave in to her and bought each one of my nucleus family, a piece that costs only 50 cents each. 

Her innocence towards the meaning of Merdeka slowly made me feel excited again. We both sing in the car, even her younger 1 y.o sis tried to say "eka" short for Merdeka. My daughters and I sing a few rounds of Merdeka song over and over again till our heart's content, a bit off-tune yet we were singing so loudly and happily that my daughter even roll-down the car window and scream "Merdeka" at random people while waving the flag at them (she feels so euphoric having a flag in her hand finally).

Seeing my 6 y.o wholeheartedly celebrating Merdeka made me lumps in the throat again. Suddenly, all of the Merdeka lyrics reverberate deep in me. I want this maintained & treasured forever. 

I want my kids to love and respect this nation so that it will prosper into an even more wonderful Malaysia. 

This love displayed by my daughter who is 6 years old to Malaysia, is unconditional & pure...However, it will be a disgrace if her love and many more innocent souls like her get tainted all thanks to many of the so-called loving mostly young adult Malaysians who wore Yellow (read: Bersih 4.0) today, on the eve of our National Day smearing the country's image under the pretext of saving Malaysia, such a fallacy that needed to be rectify immediately before the damage goes beyond repair.

Am so over Yellow..now am Green with envy

YES. am going to rant about colors now. Under the circumstances, i think yellow is the most talked about color of the month for Malaysia..and just like many others, i think it is apt that i title my entry with something provocative such as yellow...(sniffs)

2. Yellow is never my thing, be it on t-shirts, scarfs, tudung..anything. (no pun intended). I am more of a pink, or different shades of blue..and even black (for the slimming-down-effect look), white (for i am so pure & clean intention look) & silver (you know, they dub it the new black..so yeah i put this color on for the trying to keep up with the trend look)...you know that's pretty much the color scheme I'd choose from depending on the mood.

3. BUT today i cannot help but to feel a little green....no, not green as in recycle go-green campaign and not even green as in green and the logo of a moon green (if you know what i mean hehe) BUT today, i am feeling a wee bit of a monstrous Hulk, Frankenstein type of green....the type that is green with envy. the evil eye green...

4. YES. my emotions as for now is very..unstable. It become that way after browsing an old acquaintance's blog. I see that she is now starting a new life in a place that is a dear to my heart and is one of the top few places in this world i wish i can be staying....

5. NO, do not get me wrong. It is not that i am not feeling happy for her. Great for her, really. After spending 1 year in Japan, 3 years in Holland and now she's back to Japan for another 3 years (perhaps). And not to mention, doing thing that I too imagine myself doing that is to undergo post-grad studies.

6. I am envious at how people like her get to be where they are today. Get to live that dreams of theirs. I know there's the 'fate' talk or 'qada & qadar' equivalence, BUT there's got to be a 'methodological approach' to their successes, is there not?

7. I mean, how is it that there's people who seems to be living out life on Aces? String of good luck. As if they are meant to be enjoying this life without worrying too much of getting hurt from dreaming too much of life.

8. In relation to my friend's case mentioned above, she got to study under a scholarship scheme that is about the same as mine. OF course, the only difference is, she is doing it all in overseas institutions.

9. YES for that i envy her. Could it be that she gotten the right scheme? I had the same opportunity to be just like her, been offered the same thing from the same university as her 3 years ago, but i let down the offer because even though i knew there's a higher chances of me studying abroad if i take that offer because that particular uni is a new uni so they're allocating a big sum of money to trained their future employees..BUT i let it down still because the uni is in the east coast of this country..and the fact i am offered a course on industrial art-communication related thingy...just was not my thing.

10. SO i gave that one up, just as i gave up another offer that was soon to follow that one a few months later...a job at a uni (non-academic post) but with some relation to my background studies and job experience and best of all the benefits it had to offer to me was really interesting.

11. AGAIN, i let that one go, because i was heavily pregnant then, and the taught of embarking a new career that is in the heart of the country and having to take the LRT for it, was not convincing enough for my husband's approval.

12. SO there i was probably a loser, a stupid sore loser for giving up 2 lifetime opportunities.

13. UNTIL......after the birth of my baby girl- came the break i have been longing for.

14. IT was perfect - the post is of dream, the course is something i have experience with, the uni was my second home for the first 5 years of my adulthood..i mean what else could i be asking for....except...when the letter came, it stated "LOCAL".

15. BUMMER indeed. "LOCAL" as in local university was the choice given to me for my Master/PhD. All that dreams just crashed...........

16. THEN, in between hopes crashing/still hopeful and keeping a job that i was already climbing back on the ladder of success (another thing i was dreaming to have ever since i started the job) - i knew i had to make a choice.

17. AFTER much contemplation......although never a 200% sure - I tendered my resignation. MY dear chief was shocked though he knew something like that would be coming out from me, another chief in another department was also surprised at my decision (as he did help the process of 'climbing-up-the-ladder-of-success' thingy)..heck, i even surprised myself!

18. SO that was it. It's almost 2 years now.. i have given up a job that i love so tenderly and enjoyed doing (really i do, despite the long, unpredictable hours) all in pursuit of happiness of a new, hopefully more promising career in academia and if Allah permits, a chance of doing the post-grad overseas.

19. Question now, I did what is needed to be done...BUT that one shot at MA overseas, I did not get it, but others did. WHAT did they do for them to get what they are doing now? HOW was the selection on who gets to go overseas who does not, was carried out?

20. AGAIN do not get me wrong, not that i am not over the fact i am still stuck here while some of me friends are not, enjoying the fresher breeze of air.

21. I am so over MA melancholies.

22. NEXT question : HOW do I get myself to the places i dream of being for the next level of my study despite everything..? CAN i not carry on with this offer to continue my studies for phD in malaysia and hope that i can have a second chance when i am a staff under a different scheme? WHAT is there that should be done in my part to realize this little dream of mine?

23. BIGGER question : AM I ON A WRONG CAREER PATH ALTOGETHER???? Because at this point it seems all the odds are against me...everything did not go well from day 1 when i enrolled my MA in UM.....is that the reason why i am not getting what i wish i am getting in this scheme i have been longing for since i finished my degree in broadcasting in 2006? AM I ON A TRACK TO SELF-DESTRUCTION and would end up as an overweight, home-cracker??(as opposed to homemaker...i am so not that type)

24. O Allah O Mighty...Please show me the way. WILL THERE BE A RAINBOW AT THE END OF THIS DREADFUL STORM?

25. FOR now, have to, must be putting my positivity cap on..for I have only 6 months to go and in my current department records there has never been a successful MA candidate that finishes within less than a year...SO unprecedented it is deem impossible target to achieve....

ps: janna...yeap this post was referring to you albeit you're not the only one on my envy list for now..but yeah, i stumble upon your blog and it caused me this mood swing of self-pithiness and biting reality check on my life's sordidness. HOWEVER fret not, am still sane and below suicidal....LOL.

Malaysians Should Thank Anwar Ibrahim..

Salam. Shocking. Yes, I know..the title can be quite controversial..but I cannot help but to think about this one man and all the fuss that is around him. Yes, Malaysians favorite color now is Yellow. .....And it's all yellow, mellow..do not follow yo..LOL.

2. Apart from the infamous grainy black and white 20 something minutes of video..and the whole Ally McBeal court case drama from back in Sodomy I and Sodomy II, Datuk T Trios, Orange Book, 16
th September and now Yellow Tee Campaign..this tough guy does deserve a thank you from us all if anything..

3. Yes. If anything, Anwar Ibrahim should be commanded only because it was him (more like the incident that happened to him) that drove Malaysians toward a better sense of what politics is, the already politicians got revitalized from the comatose state they were in, many students aspire to be politicians, hundreds more likened themselves as political pundits...all inspired someway or another by this whole drama that many institutions set up new course or reformed existing related studies with that of strategic, defense, IR and the list of nomenclature continues..all but to learn, understand, embrace this uncharted waters of the nations politics's shift..or to the advocates of this guy what they term as "reformation".

4. Was I a fan? Not really, no..heheh but i vividly recall that time when he was sacked, I was in form 4 in a now one of the best cluster schools in the country. I, just as hundreds of thousands of people in the country was shocked, confused, angered by the incident.

5. And then I remembered going to school the next day, everybody in my class was rooting for this guy. Everybody was sympathizing him. Of course I do not think that my classmates back then figured this on their own, i mean we were just bunch of 16 years old high school kids...who had ever cared about the politics?? And i remembered because i was against this guy, that almost all that was in his 'fanclub' in my class do not want to talk with me for awhile especially when they would gathered and update their thoughts about the issue and if i ever wanted to joined them, they'd be like silence and ignored me until i go away..of course not all of my classmates back then was his supporter there are others that could be categorized as 'fence-sitters' Lol.

6. I for sure cared right about the incident of 1998. But i was the only one that was not on the same page as any of my classmates. Being a Dr. M' gen X..of course I could not believe all the accusations that this guy was throwing down Malaysians' throats.

7. So, the rage begins. The 'tsunami' effect took over...the 'change' movement gained momentum...and along the way right about the 'black eyed' incident, I was a 'convert' to this guy's camp. Yes, to me the notion that he was the victim sound just about right.

8. Fast-forward....we are seeing the whole scripts being played out all over again.

9. AM i still a fan? NO. I mean I hell do not know for sure that did he do what they say he did you know....the all..ummmmm X-rated actions and i do not want to delve in the subject.

10. WHY? you see...fast-forward from circa 1998 ...i'd like to see that i am more learned person now...i have enlightened myself with knowledge...LOL! OK sounds a bit pompous don't i? Simpler term= i've grown from juvenile 16 to almost 30 year old...so yeah, pretty much have a sounder, more reasonable , rational functioning brain to see that all this politicking that this guy and his compatriots are doing is doing nothing much BUT to break the country more, especially the Malays.

11. WAITTTT....don't dare to talk about race, it is Malaysia, 1Malaysia..we are 1 country. OK so yeah, that is the aspirations, the utopian theme..but it is still far-fetched if you ask me.

12. Because Race is always the issue. Religion is always the issue. However, to me...do we need to make this guy's dream to Putrajaya the issue still? Does he really matters? Is he the new religion that everybody has to profess if not we are damned and to hell we go??

13. Nay people! He is just a guy, a political motivated with self-interest to win over Putrajaya guy....and this applies to everyone in the opposition.

14. Wait. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that the government is without faults here, and the opposition is the way to go.

15. I am saying that, even if you 'X' the opposition, they are not going to make things right. Why? because they are a loose corporation. It is a fact that PKR is all about a man's dream to becoming the Premier of this country, it is a fact that the Rockets are about advancing secularism and championing one ethnicity (but no, they are not racist right? ;D ) ...and the other one...well, i reserved my comment for that one because i think the aspirations are true and good just perhaps ditched the Islamic extremism features if you want to get a national support (of course very unlikely because Malaysians are still very concerned with race and religion!)

16. One thing for sure, I find it is ridiculous for people to take to the streets and vent out their dissidents to the government. Yellow, Purple, White, Clean or NOT - demonstration is not the way to go. We are over barbarian era - diplomacy is the way, and if you really hate the current party then take it to the ballots and vent there!

17. Even more saddening, i foresee that the main quarters that will be the 'pencacai' are mostly Malays youngster, blinded by the name of democracy march or the Anwar's our new God beliefs...and while you are at it, the Indians too. BUT, we won't see the Chinese- except maybe a few of those familiar faces. BUT, the Chinese are smarts not to take to the streets and joined this so-called cause for a change!

18. So, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to see who's playing who in this game..and who's game of politics this really is....the Chinese - DAP. they are the mastermind in the opposition. OH wait, i'd be called a racist for this.

19. BUT tell me, who is controlling the economy?? Tell me, ask anybody who is not chinese, to take a walk in Sunway Pyramid Mall and try their luck at a simple job , no-brainer task such as a salesperson - you will find that most, MOST of the shops there unashamedly post a disclaimer of their vacancy banner with "ONLY CHINESE PREFERRED!" ( i know this, because i have tried scouting for part-time job not once, but thrice there..so tell me who is the kiasu race??) so who are the racist group here? Tell me, when dealing with these chinese traders or business even if it means simple ordinary thing like electrical services - they (Chinese) have different rates imposed with other race group than theirs that are mostly cheaper, so who is the racist ones here?? Tell me, what other democratic country in this world that permits vernacular school system than Malaysia? When the government wanted to take that away, those people rant and rave on the basis of preserving their cultural identity...what bull is that if not about race and yet we are still the one called racist??

20. and what is this talk about relinquishing the Malay Supremacy?? Even in the states that is dubbed as heart of democracy- they have the White Supremacy too. Look at Japan, though i know slightly different case cause they are of one race  country, a homogeneous - but the point is anyone who is not Japanese no matter how fluent your nihongo is, how excellent your nihon-no lifestyle practices are - you are still called a "Gaijin" and that means Alien people. Why? to differentiate them from others.

21. RACE does matter. RELIGION too. and in this country that is a melting pot of racial mix and religion, it is a bogey for racial tension. THAT IS THE FACT. Malays are the dominant. Malays and the indigenous people are the Bumiputra. We were here first. If this land is taken away from us, where are we to go?? BUT the other ethnicity, they have the mainland china and india for back-up and please don't be a hypocrite- most of them still regards themselves as part of their motherland.

22. Go back to the history of this country. Research and learn the constitution. Heed the advices of those who are learned in the subject of social contract such as renowned Prof. Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Khim.

23. I think, the government should introduced political science and law a compulsory subjects to pass SPM just as history subject. Because this three strings of subject make the perfect combo for enlightenment to our younger generation and not make them astray as blinded political followers.

24. Also, perhaps it is time for us if we really wants national integration to take place, then the ministry under DS Shahrizat should come up with an advocacy campaign that reads "LET'S HAVE INTER-RACE MARRIAGE" or while you are at it make it even more global - "Marry Me Malaysians" - so that we can produce a generation of mix-blood, mix-raced and when it's time for them to tick the box in filling up any registration form in this country, they have to tick all the boxes...now that's what we call 1Malaysia ..:)

25. Alas, be a rational citizen- don't be persuaded with ill-politicking and take it to the streets to prove a point, and yes Anwar Ibrahim ought to be thank for nothing but creating political awareness to our people albeit that does not make him the only reason we should be liberated for he is not God or even a God's gift like what his wife wants us to believe. And the government too has a role to play- get rid of those flimsy good for nothing type of politicians that are only in for the lights, cameras and most of all MOOLAH..but ain't doing much for the betterment of their own people.