Being an Anak Malaysia means truly blessed. I have a beautiful and bountiful country and I have enjoyed many, many years of good tidings but, like other people too, I have had my fair share of challenges in my growth as a Malaysian. My experiences and the values that I embraced during those memorable sixty-nine years remain the cornerstone of the attitudes, standards and perspective I hold today. I realized diversity is the unique strength of Malaysia and the development of a better tomorrow. A vital pursuit in my life from birth in 1950 till today is the formation of character, the building strong values and attitudes, where respect of others is fundamental and unity amongst our diversity population, a key priority for the creation of our true beloved Malaysia.
I remember on 31st August 1957, I was seven years old, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was standing with my grandfather, Tuan Haji Mat Desa bin Haji Mat Salleh, who worked as Engineman in-Charge at the Marine Department's Dockyard Office in Teluk Intan (then known, nostalgically, as Teluk Anson) to listen a special radio broadcasting. My grandfather was very excited and animated about something he said was happening in our country, Malaya then.
A man named Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra was going to say something that going to change everything we know about harmony, unity & independence. Everyone had one thing in common - happy and smiling faces. A voice started speaking. It was the man my grandfather had told me about, Tunku Abdul Rahman, who aptly said “Today, as a new page is turned, and Malaya steps forward to take her rightful place as a free and independent partner in the great community of nations, a new born and though we fully realize that difficulties and problems lie ahead, we are confident that with the blessing of Allah the Almighty (God), these difficulties will be overcome and that today's events, down the avenues of history, will be our inspiration and guide.”
I remember everyone, in raised, spirited voices chiming: “Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!” The day was 31st August, 1957. It was the day my country, known as ‘Persekutuan Tanah Melayu’ (Federation of Malaya) was born. Today, an enlarged country joined by Sabah and Sarawak in 1963, known as ‘Malaysia’.
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