Merdeka!

Without a common culture,we have come a long a way. Many had written us off, but, we are still up and about. We are a nation that is still in the making, there are still many shortcomings that need to be worked on.

Watching the just concluded Merdeka celebrations beamed live from Kuala Lumpur , my impression was that it wasn’t an all-embracing Malaysian affair, it looked very much like an UMNO show to me.

To be honest, I half expected it, after all Sabah came on board only six years later, the focus was more on Malaya Merdeka celebrations . Do I get the feeling that the caste system of the mind is alive and well in this country?

I saw this article in the Sunday Star written by Dzof Azmi on how Malaysia is now known the world over. He considers himself as a citizen of the world and proud to be Malaysian.

Let me quote him , “One thing I have seen over the years in reaction to Malaysia change from “Whazzat?” to”Ah..Twin Towers”. I remember as a young teenager having to explain to my friends in school where Malaysia was.”You know Singapore? It’s that really tiny bit at the tip of Malaysia.No..the southern tip”.

He was young then, now, he’s fully grown, you’d think he’d improved on his history and geography! For God’s sake,Malaysia came into being on 16 th September 1963, the new country now consists of the two Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak together with Malaya, after Singapore was booted out.Remember?

Need I say more?

Many people are cheesed off with this display of historical ignorance to put it mildly, but, it’s repeated over and over again.I think we need to be more precise when we talk about our own country’s history and geography so that we don’t send conflicting signals to the outside world.

As I thought this was a mindset problem prevalent in one part of the country, the Sabah Archives Director, Datu Tigabelas Datu Zainal Abidin,according to a news report has decided not to display the general broadmindedness and tolerance generally associated with Sabahans either.

When asked why the archives focused on the contributions of Tun Mustapha alone in the upcoming exhibition, and excluded the enormous contributions made by other Sabah leaders like Tun Fuad Stephens. Datu Tigabelas was quoted as saying because Fuad was half white!

Fuad had European ancestry, so what? To exclude him on that basis and to sideline the contributions he had made to Sabah is like saying Malaysia came into being in 1957.I don’t think we should be in the business of distorting historical facts.

There is the tendency to play God especially by those who have power in this country,we need to be more open and inclusive,after all, the country belongs to all of us. We are all Malaysians, aren’t we?Or, could it be that some people think they are more Malaysian than others?

Merdeka!