Kami Anak Merdeka
Have you ever cried watching Leftenan Adnan, Bukit Kepong or Sarjan Hassan? If
you have, then we can be friends.
I accidentally happened to watch Operation Chromite on TVN last few
days and ended up crying because everyone died. Even though it is a Korean
movie but the content portrayed was likely the same with our local Merdeka
films. OC was a good movie though; truly, freedom is expensive, our Independence
wasn’t easy to gain. Numerous people had to die for us to live freely as what
we are currently having.
There was a time I was joking with my late paternal great grandmother who
was in her 90s, saying, "kalau Nani hidup zaman Jepun, boleh tak
eh hidup?" then I got lectured straight away. She said that if I
were to live during that time, I wouldn't even manage to survive. I solely
believe our grandparents, and ancestors are kind of people with strong heart
and persevering - because they had to endure hard times during colonials’ days
then it didn’t stop there, Malaya was invaded by the Japs later on.
To me, Merdeka isn't all about the holiday and watching the parade
annually but it's about remembering the sacrifices of the people who fought for
the nation. Countless blood, sweat and tears were made by our grandparents on
making sure their children would have better lives.
I have always amazed with my late paternal grandfather, who had
many friends from different races – based on his stories, it shows that they could
live peacefully in a town together; they would help each other even Chinese and
Indians were minorities back then, they would still be treated like family.
Being millennials, we get to hear stories before Merdeka was obtained from our grandparents besides than what we learned in Sejarah. Amazing
isn’t it, our grandparents could precisely remember days they had to go through because
it was too traumatic and awful times that they could not be erased and forgotten easily. It hurt so much to remember how many loses they had to bear, being separated
with loved ones, going through days of eating ubi kayu and no wonder, kemerdekaan
was everything to them.
I love reading biographies books by our local leaders and every book I’ve read, none of them hasn’t mentioned how they help each
other despite different races and that’s what makes our country unique from
others. Our grandparents lived in times where the British wanted to break us apart
yet, everyone came together for independence.
Even if Malays were the original native itself, but without
Chinese, and Indian, we wouldn't able to celebrate 31st August. My maternal grandfather
once told me, "Cina ni kalau kita buat baik dengan dia, berganda
dia akan buat baik dengan kita", why can't we still do the same
thing? Even if things are trying to create gap and spaces between us,
believe it or not, we will always come together when it comes to badminton, food,
football and festivals. We, Malaysians have a lot in common without we realize
because we are too focused on our diversity.
We should be grateful with the freedom that we have today and it’s
about time to set our minds free from racial prejudices and discriminations. Nevertheless,
the meaning of freedom doesn’t rigid to independence solely. We were given our
independence 62 years ago, and it’s our job to ensure our country is free from
poverty, free from corruption and free from misrule. If they could do so much
for our nation back then, imagine what we can do now.
Let’s stop hating on each other and continue striving on how to contribute
to making our Malaysia better each day. That’s what Merdeka is all about –
patriotism and what we want to do for our beloved country, Malaysia. Think
about what our ancestors have done and where we are today, and how we can move
forward based on our history. With love and respect towards one another, I
believe our grandkids in the future are able to breathe the same air as ours.
"I must ask non-Malays to be fair & be
considerate & not make unreasonable demands, for it is well to remember
that no natives of any country in the world have given away so much as the
Malays have been" - Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj
Salam Sayang,
Anak Merdeka.
2 comments
Reading your post make me crave for nasi lemak
ReplyDeleteI love the last quote
ReplyDelete