On August 31 1957, the Federation of Malaya gained freedom from British colonial rule and the nation of Malaysia was born. On that historic day, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj officially proclaimed our nation’s independence at Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. The shouts of ‘Merdeka’ have resounded through the years. In a few more days, Malaysia will celebrate her 69th year of independence.
When the people shouted ‘Merdeka’ 69 years ago, I believe they were rejoicing to be free from colonial rule. They were ready for a new challenge of building a new nation - Malaysia. Independence was achieved not by one person but through the unity of the Malays, Chinese and Indians as represented by Tunku Abdul Rahman, President of United Malays National Organization (UMNO), Tun Dato Sri Tan Cheng Lock, the first President of the Malaysan Chinese Association (MCA) and Tun V.T. Sambathan, fifth President of Malayan Indian Congress (MIC).
Today, as we look forward to celebrating our 69th National Day, we must not allow the shouts of ‘Merdeka’ to fade. It must be bolder, braver and even more confident. We have moved on as a nation for 69 years. In a man’s life-span, it is past infancy, childhood and even adulthood. At 69, it falls under the category of ‘Wargamas’ or Senior citizens. This is the phase of life when more wisdom and understanding should be displayed. In this long journey of 69 years, we must admit that we had our bad days and good days. We have had made wise decisions as well as suffered due to our various blunders.
Today, there is no colonial rule over us. However, there is a different kind of ‘rule’ over our nation. We cannot deny the constant issues of race and blatant discrimination thrown at our people. There is the fear of bullying in our schools, office politics, road rage or safety on our roads. Many lives have been scarred or even destroyed by such incidences.
We want to be free from that. We want to echo the shouts of ‘Merdeka’ and be free to use all our gifts and talents to build our beloved land. Surely, Malaysia has all the resources needed for progress and advancement. We just need to be very honest and let the best people serve in all the different sectors of need. As a nation that is almost 70 years old, let us all choose to exercise grace, restrain and respect towards one another. Let us put aside our childish ways of being easily angered, bickering or throwing tantrums. Only when all of us choose that path, then it will be truly ‘Merdeka’. Our early leaders from the different races have shown us the way when Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj led in the negotiations for independence with our colonial masters then.
So, let the shouts of ‘Merdeka’ resound loud and clear as we celebrate our national day soon. God bless Malaysia!
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Mei Wong (mwrejoice@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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