Rasa Sayang

My heart was in my mouth, a little prayer was said for a safe journey.When he finally docked and emerged with a smile,most people just like me felt relieved.

Compared to the others, our first Malaysian astronaut Sheik Muzaphar looks very happy to be in space. He keeps saying he wants to stay longer . Now, the time has come for him to come back, we wish him a safe trip home so that he can share with us his experience up there.

With the interest in science generated, hopefully, Malaysians will be more rational and scientific in their approach and not to be too dependent on mumbo -jumbo and what have you.

I know this is not the end of our space programme, I am sure more astronauts will be sent up there, maybe, our young people should start dreaming of being the first Malaysian on Mars.

Back on earth, what I find intriguing is the debate with our Indonesian neighbours as who actually owns the popular folksong “Rasa Sayang”.The slinging match started when Malaysian tourist officials use the song as part of our tourist promotion on TV.

The Indonesians say it’s theirs, we concur and it’s ours as well, after all we share the same ancestry. Many Malaysians have their roots in what’s now Indonesia, so it’s not only natural to share similar language but also to share many things like satay, batik, soto, kebaya and folksongs.

Who owns what can’t be determined strictly as people moved from one island to another.Those days they had no sense of international boundaries, and there were no immigration outposts either, and even now,some ethnic groups straddle both sides of the border. We even share the Sebatik island off Tawau together and this big island called Borneo.

The trouble, I think, is with the Indonesian media . They have suddenly discovered their new found freedom, so in the name of freedom, they write what they want. I suspect there is even an element of jealousy amongst the elites in Jakarta.

Why not?They are bigger and richer than us, yet the country that should be the leading light in the region finds it hard to accept the fact that their people have to come here to earn a decent living. We are also the first to help every time natural disasters hit them. So, when some of our officers go overboard in discharging their duties, especially when dealing with their citizens, they get very sensitive.

What to us is normal, after all, our officials are only doing their job, to Jakarta elites , it’s like rubbing salt into the wounds. A double whammy for them. Some people are saying only the Javanese elites in Jakarta are offended by all the incidents as they show them in bad light for not running the country well, the other Indonesians like the Bugis, Acheh,the Kalimantan and the Sumatran peoples are not so taken up with Jakarta’s emotional outburst as they closely identify with Malaysia and its achievements.

Some Indonesians in Malaysia do give their countrymen a bad name for breaking the laws of the country too often. On the other hand, our officers should be more tactful and they must also learn to respect the human rights of other people , because, too many of them tend to be too pompous and over-bearing. Power must be tempered with civility.

Say what you want, as far as people-to-people relations are concerned, we are still singing the “Rasa Sayang” together.