If our national anthem is to be relied upon, we stand for a united and progressive populace, and a safely enthroned king.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with a king. I consider myself a mild constitutional monarchist. And there's nothing wrong with progression either. Who's against being a progressive?
The problem is, our national symbols never deal with what this is supposed to mean. The Americans make their stand clear: they believe that to be happy, to be progressive, to be [insert corny word with lofty associations here], you must be free.
Does the Malaysian nation believe its people can be happy if they are enslaved? If they cannot speak their minds, if they cannot think freely?
Just what does it mean to be a Malaysian? What do you have to stand for if you want to be a Malaysian? As it stands, foreigners sometimes have more rights than Malaysians themselves do.
In any event, our national anthem's lofty talk about progression continues to be a sham. Malaysia is one of the most regressive nations, if you look at our politics, if you look at our policies, if you look at our education, if you look at our society.
We've come a long way since independence, no doubt. But should we be happy with going two steps forward, while taking one step backward? Should we be happy with continually running the risk of decelerating, and eventually halting our progress?
I don't need to enumerate the reasons why we have to fear the death of Malaysia. But as long as Malaysians continue to stand for apathy and for regression, instead of the progressiveness our national anthem claims we stand for, it's difficult to see Malaysia climbing out of the grave it is digging for itself.
After all, what is our country coming to? It's gotten to the point where a virtual nobody can just be taken away by the police just because he dared to make a small difference and work for changing the country for the better.
I'm not a fan of fads. I don't like those buttons and banners people plaster all over their blogs and websites. But I will make one of my rare exceptions for this particular case that, though not that extraordinary, nevertheless should haunt the conscience of every Malaysian who believes in the progressive values we claim to stand for.
18/08/10
Of course, there's nothing wrong with a king. I consider myself a mild constitutional monarchist. And there's nothing wrong with progression either. Who's against being a progressive?
The problem is, our national symbols never deal with what this is supposed to mean. The Americans make their stand clear: they believe that to be happy, to be progressive, to be [insert corny word with lofty associations here], you must be free.
Does the Malaysian nation believe its people can be happy if they are enslaved? If they cannot speak their minds, if they cannot think freely?
Just what does it mean to be a Malaysian? What do you have to stand for if you want to be a Malaysian? As it stands, foreigners sometimes have more rights than Malaysians themselves do.
In any event, our national anthem's lofty talk about progression continues to be a sham. Malaysia is one of the most regressive nations, if you look at our politics, if you look at our policies, if you look at our education, if you look at our society.
We've come a long way since independence, no doubt. But should we be happy with going two steps forward, while taking one step backward? Should we be happy with continually running the risk of decelerating, and eventually halting our progress?
I don't need to enumerate the reasons why we have to fear the death of Malaysia. But as long as Malaysians continue to stand for apathy and for regression, instead of the progressiveness our national anthem claims we stand for, it's difficult to see Malaysia climbing out of the grave it is digging for itself.
After all, what is our country coming to? It's gotten to the point where a virtual nobody can just be taken away by the police just because he dared to make a small difference and work for changing the country for the better.
I'm not a fan of fads. I don't like those buttons and banners people plaster all over their blogs and websites. But I will make one of my rare exceptions for this particular case that, though not that extraordinary, nevertheless should haunt the conscience of every Malaysian who believes in the progressive values we claim to stand for.
18/08/10
1 comment:
Interesting stuff!!....We are eagerly waiting for your next post....Thanks a lot...Keep this informative post with us....
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