What are we fighting for?
In 1957, Malaya got its independence. I still remember the day although I was only 8 years old. It was nostalgic. We had become an independent country, off the clutches of Great Britain which had ruled the country for almost a century. But the British gave us a good educational system, good roads, transport and an excellent legal system. They also took away a lot of stuff from us but I do not intend to get into that here. There are many publications on the British rule in Malaya which are available at the bookstores. In 1963, Malaysia was formed and Sabah and Sarawak joined us to form the new entity. Singapore decided to break away. Today Singapore is far ahead of us and is a country to be reckoned with in many ways. Their universities are ranked higher than us. Their dollar is higher than our ringgit. Their cars are better than ours. Their transportation is better than ours. Their economy is doing better than ours. They have property in Malaysia. But we started earlier. How come?
I am not a politician but sometimes it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. It is simply because we are continuously badmouthing each other. As Malays, Chinese and Indians we are preoccupied with who is having what. We have not learnt anything at all. Our forefathers were much better. They fought for independence, not each other. It is a sad situation. We are getting deeper and deeper into the quagmire. Racial tones are becoming more apparent. Religion is taking centre stage. There is a great divide between the races, although we pretend its not happening.
My children, wife and I were born in this country. We do not have any other. Wewant to live here. We have no desire to migrate. Our fathers toiled to carve a foothold in this country. Why can't we do something about this? Why can't we live together peacefully? I said in my earlier blogs that the 50's in my area was such a beautiful place to live. It was kind of a 'kampong' quarters for government servants. All races lived there, and happily too.
I wish for this country to become more united. I wish that we could all go about our daily lives without fear of our neighbours. I put a twist to what Dr. Martin Luther King said, "I wish that one day our children would be judged by their content and not their ethnicity'. I wish for a lot, really.
I am not a politician but sometimes it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. It is simply because we are continuously badmouthing each other. As Malays, Chinese and Indians we are preoccupied with who is having what. We have not learnt anything at all. Our forefathers were much better. They fought for independence, not each other. It is a sad situation. We are getting deeper and deeper into the quagmire. Racial tones are becoming more apparent. Religion is taking centre stage. There is a great divide between the races, although we pretend its not happening.
My children, wife and I were born in this country. We do not have any other. Wewant to live here. We have no desire to migrate. Our fathers toiled to carve a foothold in this country. Why can't we do something about this? Why can't we live together peacefully? I said in my earlier blogs that the 50's in my area was such a beautiful place to live. It was kind of a 'kampong' quarters for government servants. All races lived there, and happily too.
I wish for this country to become more united. I wish that we could all go about our daily lives without fear of our neighbours. I put a twist to what Dr. Martin Luther King said, "I wish that one day our children would be judged by their content and not their ethnicity'. I wish for a lot, really.
posted by Dave's Delight | 11:53 PM
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