In Mukah, there is this cafe called Kafe 1Malaysia.
I had never been inside, but then since today is the first ever Malaysia Day, I thought, why not go and have a look to see whether there’s some celebration going on.
Alas, the whole cafe is empty. Deserted. Only a couple of flies humming around in the lazy afternoon sun. The same applies to the whole Mukah town. Apparently the spirit of Malaysia Day had not caught on. One of my staff is even unsure why we are having this holiday. Okay, maybe here people lives so harmoniously that they don’t need a holiday or some celebration to remind them that we should treasure our independence.
Nevertheless, it is amazing that it took 47 years for those higher ups confined in their plush KL ivory towers to admit the fact that, well maybe, we can’t hide that elephant anymore.
That jumbo being the fact that the true day our nation achieved independence is Sept 16 and not August 31. Even though they called today “Malaysia Day” instead of “Independence Day”, lets just accept it and give them some face. It’s hard to admit a mistake.
And so today was the first ever Malaysia Day holiday. A day where all Malaysians are given the day off, so that they hopefully can search within themselves or online what actually is Malaysia Day all about. Or maybe to attend the various state and national levels govt sanctioned speech and dance combos.
Well, unfortunately I know, this is being optimistic thinking.
In Australia, Anzac day saw masses throng the streets to ponder and remember the sacrifices of their soldiers . The realistic truth is, Malaysia Day will see most people will just use the day to sleep in, play games and jalan-jalan cari makan. We just aren’t a country with first world mentality.
Do we have the spirit of 1Malaysia? Do we use this day to reflect and contemplate? To be thankful that despite being in an imperfect nation, we are still living in relative harmony?
Just wondering, in this Malaysia Day, what had you done?
Whatever, Happy first ever recognised Malaysia day.
1 comment:
Just imagine the transformation Malaysia has gone through over the years…it’s the Gamma City today!! I would love to explore all that this great place has to offer and relax in one of the good hotels in Malaysia.
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