Happy Independence Day, Malaysia

A repost from a time when I still believed...

31st August of 1957. A truly meaningful day. Although I was absent during the official declaration of Malaysia's independence by Allayarhum Tunku Abdul Rahman (please correct me if I addressed his most imminence wrongly), I still feel blessed and fortunate. Every single bliss and joy we taste today is owed to that very fateful day. In this entry, I am going to state why am I so lucky to be a proud citizen of my country.

I am grateful to be a Malaysian because:

• Every race lives in harmony. This is the only multi-racial country that has no racial segregation/civil unrest (except the tragic May 13th incident).
• Centre to the best food on Earth. Char kuey teow, roti canai, laksa penang, nasi kandar, lontong, bah kut teh, nasi dagang, cendol, ais kacang, vade, tosay, teh tarik. Where else can you get all this, eh?
• The political issues and differences are not that serious. Even the government today is quite fair, no obvious political instability. Our country is considered pretty good compared to those that uses force and tyranny in extraditing away other races.
• The weather is great! It is not cold that you have to wear 3-4 layers of clothings or 7 layers in some places. Just a t-shirt can take you places. The only downside is the haze problem (thanks to Indonesia, no offence) which is only once a year, so it is not that bad. On the bright side, we have no major disasters like typhoon, or earthquakes.
• "Oi boss! Teh tarik satu. Roti telur tak mau bawang!". Mamak. So easy to get food. Anytime of any day. 7pm? 2am? They even have 24hrs now!
• Going to the theatre is so cheap. If you ain't no like the cinemas, there's always "Uncle Ho". For 10 ringgit, you get 2. Sometimes, it's even faster than the cinemas ;)
• Subsidised petrol. Although it is unknown how much longer this will go on.

Despite all these, there are still some areas that can be improved:

• Education. Many aspects to improve. What is the point of Moral Education? As if memorising the divine nilai-nilai murni can make a student kind, compassionate, etc.
• When will we come out with a car that is world-class or internationally accepted? At least make one that has its door lasting for at least 6 months.
• TM Net Strymyx. Self-explanatory.
• A political reshuffle. At least make sure the ministers are able to do their jobs properly and effectively. Or else we're going to have more bridges falling down.
• The congestion in the Klang Valley. Public transportation has room for a lot of improvement and innovation. A good industry to get into in the future.

Although my country is not perfect and has its own shares of flaws, this is still the tanah tumpahnya darahku. There is no place as interesting as home, as beautiful as home, as special like home...and there's simply no place like Home. Happy Independence Day!

(p/s: this entry is dedicated to the Malaysians who have forgotten their own state songs like Lagu Selangor and EVEN our national anthem, who doesn't know what it means to be...MALAYSIAN).